Roster

US Lacrosse has announced the 25-player U.S. Women's National Training Team roster, including several players with ties to the Baltimore area, that will represent Team USA at the Sunday, Jan. 27 exhibition against defending NCAA champion Northwestern at the Champion Challenge, a US Lacrosse event. Team USA will square off against the Wildcats at 11 a.m. at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The U.S. squad will also take on national champion runner-up Syracuse on Jan. 26. Team USA was selected from the standing 38-player roster composing the 2012-14 U.S. Women's National Team, and these 25 players will train with Team USA in preparation for the July 2013 Federation of International Lacrosse World Cup in Oshawa, Ontario.

It was a bad day for Baltimore area pitchers on the Orioles' major-league roster.Righthander Dave Johnson and lefthander Mike Linskey were dropped in moves designed to keep space open for possible maneuvers during the winter meetings, which open in two weeks. At the same time, the Orioles added catcher Cesar Devares, putting the roster at 38, two below the limit.Yesterday was the last day for major-league clubs to add minor leaguers who otherwise will be available in the Rule V draft.The biggest move involved Johnson, the unheralded Middle River native who made a late splash in 1989 and was the Orioles' top winner with a 13-9 record a year later.

When your team has a perfect record, including a five-game sweep of your nearest rival, trimming the roster can be a daunting task. So, when U.S. women's hockey coach Ben Smith had to cut three players from a roster of 25 this week, he chose to keep those athletes who earned gold medals four years ago in Nagano. Smith released defenseman Nicole Uliasz and forwards Brandy Fisher and Kathleen Kauth. Cutting Kauth was especially painful. The Brown University graduate lost her father in the attack on the World Trade Center and was the sentimental favorite of some Olympic athletes to carry the American flag at the opening ceremonies in Salt Lake City on Feb. 8. "It's tough," said A. J. Mleczko, a defenseman from the 1998 squad who made the cut. "We've all grown pretty tight.

The Orioles today announced that they have purchased the contract of outfielder Midre Cummings Triple-A Ottawa. He will take the roster spot of first baseman Rafael Palmeiro, who is serving a 10-day suspension for violating Major League Baseball's steroid policy. Cummings, 33, batted .280 (58-207) with 12 home runs and 33 RBI in 57 games for Ottawa. He missed the first two months of the season after breaking his right ring finger in an exhibition game on March 22. Cummings batted .217 (5-23)

The Orioles continued to pay interest on their $65 million signing of Albert Belle yesterday afternoon as young relievers Ryan Kohlmeier and Chad Paronto were lost to waiver claims by the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians. With a space reserved for the de facto retired Belle on their 40-man major-league roster, the Orioles also outrighted utility player Mike Kinkade to Triple-A Rochester. However, Kinkade may choose to become a free agent - leverage he will likely exercise - meaning his term with the Orioles concludes after a season in which he briefly auditioned as heir to third baseman Cal Ripken before finishing with a .275 average and 16 RBIs but without a position.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - As the first lineup cards of spring training are written out for today's intrasquad game, the Orioles also begin to see their roster taking shape. Though many of the images are crisp, others remain hazy, with sharper focus coming as the daily routine expands beyond the assorted meetings and drills. This much is clear: The Orioles want to keep 12 pitchers, two catchers, six infielders and five outfielders. The trick is figuring out where to categorize players such as Melvin Mora, Jeff Conine and Jay Gibbons and narrowing the various competitions in camp, with a fifth starter, closer and backup catcher among the unsolved riddles.

About half of the Washington Redskins can rest easy knowing their spot on the roster -- and position on the depth chart -- is safe. Then there's the other half that will get a final chance to make a lasting impression in tonight's final preseason game against the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Logjams at wide receiver and running back likely will receive the greatest attention from the Washington coaching staff, which must trim the roster to 53 players by Saturday night. It's a process that coach Joe Gibbs does not anticipate with great fervor.

Three years ago, first baseman Calvin Pickering was honored as the Double-A Eastern League's Player of the Year. Two days ago, he was selected to the Triple-A International League's postseason All-Star team. Yesterday, long since removed from the Orioles' 40-man roster, Pickering was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for a player to be named. Don Buford, director of minor-league operations, said the club might be interested in signing Pickering over the winter when he becomes a six-year free agent, though a reunion seems unlikely.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Orioles designated hitter Jay Gibbons has repeatedly said he has come to terms with his 15-day suspension for violating Major League Baseball's substance-abuse prevention program. Gibbons, who admitted to using human growth hormone, won't be eligible to play his first game until April 15, giving the Orioles a little more than a month to mull over a potentially difficult decision about one of their longest-tenured players. With a crowded outfield and plenty of designated-hitter types on their roster, the Orioles don't appear to have a role for Gibbons.

Rudy Gay, Archbishop Spalding's blue-chip forward who had a meteoric rise from a top 100 Division I prospect to a top 10 national recruit, announced yesterday that he had chosen Connecticut over Maryland to play college basketball. Gay narrowed a lengthy list of schools to the Huskies and Terps about a month ago. He said his decision was influenced by the Terps' young roster - Maryland has five freshmen and four sophomores this season - and his ambition to one day go pro. "It definitely impacted my decision, because when I get there [college]