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I just returned home after MASN's Playmakers show - and a quick stop at Panera in Eldersburg, where my daughter practically worships the chicken noodle soup. If I could fill the bathtub with it, she'd promise to clean her room for at least a month. And that includes picking up the wet towels.

It's under consideration.

As I've written previously, the Orioles expect most of their activity to come after the winter meetings.

Teams are most interested in the Orioles' relief pitching, but they'll first explore the free agent market in hopes of not having to surrender any players in return. Relievers often go off the board first - you see how Jeremy Affeldt already has signed with the Giants - and that's not an area of concern for the Orioles (an unusual development given their yearly overhaul).

The Orioles haven't made any offers to free agents, and haven't been pressed to do so.

Their shopping list hasn't changed: Starting pitching is the No. 1 priority, followed by shortstop and first base. In that order.

I don't sense that the club is averse to handing out a five-year deal for a pitcher, but there are obvious concerns about A.J. Burnett's injury history. The Orioles would love to have him, but they're not going to match or exceed the reported five-year, $80 million proposal that the Yankees are prepared to launch. It's just deemed too risky for him. And I seriously doubt that Burnett would accept fewer years to play in Baltimore, though I don't know the guy personally.

Contract negotiations with Nick Markakis are further along than the Brian Roberts talks, but the two sides aren't close enough to an agreement that you need to check back daily. There's still quite a ways to go.

Roberts' situation is like the chicken-and-the-egg. The Orioles want to know if he's interested in staying, and he wants to see what they do in the off-season. But what the Orioles do in the off-season depends, at least in part, on whether Roberts wants to stay.

So whose move is it?

Do I believe that Mark Teixeira is really interested in playing for the Washington Nationals. Absolutely not - unless they significantly outbid the Yankees, Angels and everyone else, and somehow convince him that they're on the verge of contending.

This is the time of year when players and agents express interest in every team - including a few in the independent leagues. It's bigger news if someone comes out and says, "No way am I ever going to play for them! I'd rather drown in a bathtub filled with chicken noodle soup!"

It's not considered smart business to discourage potential suitors and reduce the market. Agents love for teams to drive up the price, and Scott Boras will gladly invite the Nationals to do so with Teixeira, though I doubt that the Yankees and Angels are sweating.

A reader asked about the World Baseball Classic rosters. The Orioles don't know how many of their players will be included, and they don't have a say over who stays with them in spring training and who goes, but they expect the departures to be minimal. They don't anticipate that the rotation will be stripped bare again.