Minor League

Baseball Blue Jays: Reassigned P John Frascatore to minor- league camp. Brewers: Added 3B Tony Fernandez, P Ben Sheets and OF James Mouton to 40-man roster. Designated P Kane Davis for assignment. Cardinals: Released OF Quinton McCracken and 3B Shane Andrews. Placed former Orioles P Garrett Stephenson, P Jason Christansen, P Luther Hackman and C Carlos Hernandez on 15-day DL retroactive to March 23. Devil Rays: Optioned P Jason Standridge to Double-A Durham and IF Jace Brewer to Single-A Charleston.

The Orioles' top position player prospect, Jonathan Schoop, was placed on the seven-day minor league disabled list Thursday with a lower back strain. The 21-year-old Schoop, who raised his stock after strong offseason performances in the Arizona Fall League and the World Baseball Classic, is hitting .268/.331/.386 with three homers and 18 RBIs in 34 games at Triple-A Norfolk. The injury isn't expected to be serious. Schoop is the Orioles' No. 3 prospect according to Baseball America behind pitchers Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman.

The Orioles have purchased the contract of 24-year-old minor leaguer Peter Fatse from the Newark (N.J.) Bears of the independent Can-Am Baseball League, according to the Bears' team website. Fatse played for the Pittsfield (Mass.) Colonials of the Can-Am league last season, hitting  .279/.345/.418 with 12 doubles, five home runs, 41 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. Newark aquired him in October through Pittsfield's dispersal draft. In affiliated minor league ball, he's never played above the high single-A level, when he hit .250/.322/.303 in 132 at bats with the Marlins' Florida State League team in Brevard County.

Orioles left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada, who is recovering from last May's Tommy John surgery, will make his first minor league rehab start for Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday afternoon at Lehigh Valley. It will be the first time Wada pitches in a minor league game since last April, when he lasted just 2 2/3 innings in a minor league rehab start for Norfolk. Wada, a former standout in the Japanese Pacific League who signed a two-year, $8.14 million contract before the 2012 season, has yet to pitch in a regular season game for the Orioles.

Right-handed reliever Matt Lindstrom's minor league outing, his first game action since re-tweaking his hamstring, was quick and effective today. Lindstrom pitched one inning, recording four outs against the Orioles' Triple-A team. He struck out two batters, including Orioles 40-man player Josh Bell. Lindstrom said he went through the first three hitters he faced quickly in about 9-10 pitches. He said he felt his velocity was good and there was no pain in the hamstring, which is in his pushing-off leg. He threw all his pitches, including his split-fingered fastball and his slider.

The Orioles announced their minor league coaching staffs for the 2012 season, most notably making official the hiring of longtime minor league manager Ron Johnson as manager of Triple-A Norfolk. Johnson was the first base coach for the Boston Red Sox the past two seasons. Also of note, the team announced that former Orioles player Mike Bordick, who this month joined MASN as a color analyst, will remain with the organization as special assignment instructor. Ex-Orioles pitcher Scott McGregor, formerly the pitching coach at short-season Single-A Aberdeen, will be the minor league rehabilitation coordinator working out of Sarasota, Fla. Former Orioles pitcher Alan Mills will take over McGregor's spot in Aberdeen.  Former Norfolk manager Gary Allenson will be the manager at Aberdeen.

Lefty Dontrelle Willis, who signed a minor league deal with the Orioles late in the spring, left a game for Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday afternoon after throwing his ninth pitch in relief. Willis told the Virginian-Pilot that he had been dealing with pain since spring training and felt a knot in his forearm from the beginning of his outing Wednesday. “I tweaked my forearm,” Willis told the newspaper. “I've worked hard. Maybe it's overuse. " Given the fact he is trying to become a reliever and make a new team, Willis called the setback “frustrating, especially in the new position I'm in.” Willis was examined by the club's trainer, and the injury does not seem to be too serious.

The Orioles acquired more minor league pitching depth Sunday, sending minor league outfielder Ronnie Welty to the Philadelphia Phillies for 22-year-old right-hander Julio Rodriguez. Rodriguez, who is 6 feet 4 and 200 pounds, spent last season at Double-A Reading, going 7-7 with a 4.23 ERA in 29 games (22 starts).  Drafted by the Phillies in the eighth round out of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy in 2008, Rodriguez was selected to last year's Futures Game in Kansas City. He was also a mid-season Eastern League All Star in 2012 and a Florida State League All Star in 2011.

The Orioles continued their offseason efforts to tap into international scouting -- the Asian market in particular -- by signing their first South Korean pitcher. The team has signed journeyman right-hander Eun Chul Choi to a minor league contract, Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette confirmed Friday. The 6-foot-5, 255-pound Choi is a mostly unknown commodity. He pitched in the in Veracruz Winter League in Mexico last offseason. His only experience in the United States is a three-outing stint in the independent Golden Baseball League pitching for the Orange County Flyers in 2008, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

The Orioles reassigned a pair of non-roster invitees, catcher Jose Gil and infielder Nuiman Romero, to minor league camp on Thursday. The moves leave 51 players remaining in big league camp, 14 of them non-roster invitees. Romero was 4-for-11 with and RBI and a walk in 12 Grapefruit League games. Gil was 0-for-10 with five strikesouts in seven spring games.  

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Orioles left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada's recovery from Tommy John surgery is expected to take a significant step forward next week. Wada is slated to make one more start in extended spring training on Friday and after that he will likely be assigned to one of the team's minor-league affiliates to begin a rehab assignment. On Friday, Wada will go between five and seven innings and throw about 80 pitches, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "He looks good," Showalter said.

BOSTON -- The Orioles traded veteran reliever Luis Ayala to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday, receiving minor league left-handed reliever Chris Jones in return. But the move was less about unloading Ayala than it was allowing the Orioles the opportunity to keep Rule 5 pick T.J. McFarland while moving to a seven-man bullpen. It lets the team go to back a four-man bench after playing short-handed since Saturday. The Orioles purchased the contract of outfielder Chris Dickerson from Triple-A Norfolk, and he replaced Ayala on the 40-man and 25-man rosters.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Orioles designated hitter Wilson Betemit underwent successful exploratory arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Wednesday. The procedure isn't expected to extend Betemit's initial recovery time of six to eight weeks from a Grade 2/3 posterior cruciate ligament tear in the knee. “They went in just to look and repair a couple of minor things, so everything in there was good news," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Thursday. “The anterior cruciate ligament is really good and the PCL looks like it's going to heal.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Despite pitching with a blister on his middle finger that prevented him from throwing breaking balls, Orioles right-hander Jake Arrieta felt good about his final tune-up before Friday's regular season home opener against the Minnesota Twins. Arrieta threw five innings against a collection of Orioles minor leaguers, throwing fastballs and changeups exclusively. Arrieta said the blister should be fine by Friday. “Just didn't throw the slider or the curveball today because those two pitches put pressure on the inside of my middle finger and it needs a couple days for that nail to grow out and let that skin to generate, but I'm all good to go,” Arrieta said.” Just fastball changeup [today]

Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman went five innings and allowed one unearned run in his final spring start Friday, a 6-1 exhibition win over the State College of Florida. Tillman, who was placed on the disabled list with abdominal soreness, said he supported the Orioles decision to place him there to start the season. “It is what it is," Tillman. "I was hurt. I did miss an amount of time enough time to not get ready for one of the early games. I don't disagree with it. " Tillman, who threw 81 pitches against SCF on Friday, allowed one unearned run on two hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The Orioles have signed right-hander Freddy Garcia to a minor league contract in an effort to see whether the 14-year major league veteran can add to the organization's pitching depth. The 36-year-old Garcia, who spent the past two seasons with the Yankees, will report to Triple-A Norfolk and receive five to six starts there before the organization choses whether to purchase his contract. Garcia was released by the Padres on Sunday. “We're going to take a look at him for a few starts in Triple-A,” Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said.

Left-hander Dontrelle Willis , who left Triple-A Norfolk's game Wednesday after nine pitches, has been placed on the seven-day disabled list with a left forearm strain. Willis, whom the Orioles signed to a minor league deal late in spring, told the Virginian-Pilot that he "tweaked" his forearm yesterday and had been experiencing pain since spring training. “I've worked hard. Maybe it's overuse," Willis, who is being converted into a reliever, told the newspaper.

The Orioles made a move Thursday night that likely solved their Opening Day roster logjam - for a few days, anyway. Right-hander Chris Tillman was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left abdominal strain, retroactive to March 22, the earliest date a transaction can be backdated this spring. That means Tillman is eligible to come off the DL on April 6 and pitch the fifth game of the season against the Minnesota Twins. It also means the Orioles have an extra roster spot to play with for the first four days of the season, which likely will allow Rule 5 left-hander T.J. McFarland and infielder Ryan Flaherty - two players who have been on the roster bubble since camp opened - to make the club.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- In his final spring outing, Orioles right-hander Jason Hammel, who will likely be the team's Opening Day starter, threw five innings against the Tampa Bay Rays' Single-A minor leaguers on the back fields of Ed Smith Stadium. Hammel allowed three runs -- all earned -- and three hits, striking out six and walking three. Unofficially, he threw 76 pitches, 47 strikes. He initially struggled through a 23-pitch first inning that was ended after just two outs, but he overwhelmed hitters with his fastball-changeup-curveball combo as the outing progressed.