Bourn's finger and pointing out the changing outfield picture

SARASOTA, Fla. - A second trip to Fort Myers in three days. If only I had brought gray pants for the occasion.

Michael Bourn will stay back in camp as usual while his broken finger heals. He isn't required to wear pants, but he's likely to break out a pair of shorts.

Hand specialist Dr. Brian Schofield examined Bourn on Friday. I'm sure he wore pants.

"Everything is healing fine," Bourn said. "Liked the way it looked and still on a good time schedule, so we'll see what happens once I go and see the doctor again. And we'll take it from there."

A follow-up appointment hasn't been scheduled. The splint came off Friday, long enough for Schofield to X-ray the finger.

"He looked at it and said it looks fine, it's healing fine," Bourn said. "You just wait."

Bourn appreciated the chance to sit down with Schofield and gather more information.

"He's the guy that they like and we had a good conversation," Bourn said. "He said he likes the way everything's healing. Taking care of it pretty good. Just let it heal. Time is the thing, letting it heal, so I'm going to go with what he says and take it from there."

Bourn's got plenty of time on his hands - both of them. He seems to be in good spirits despite an injury that eliminated any chance of making the team out of spring training.

The Orioles don't expect Bourn to play in spring training. Manager Buck Showalter estimated that Bourn won't be ready before mid-April.

"Whatever the doc tells me," Bourn said. "That's kind of hard to say. Hopefully, that's the case, but I don't know exactly until they let me get back on the field and do baseball activities."

The Orioles were careful with J.J. Hardy's back, Chris Tillman's right shoulder, Zach Britton's left side and Chris Dickerson's right foot. They kept Seth Smith out of the lineup yesterday because of a sore right hamstring. They're not taking any chances with Bourn's right ring finger.

"They said it could deform your finger, but I don't really care about my finger being that," Bourn said. "Right now, I don't, but I guess I probably would when I get older. We'll see what happens. I do want to let it heal. I do want it to be healthy before I come back and then I'll go play baseball."

Bourn's break removed a left-handed hitting outfielder from the camp competition, but let's give a warm welcome to Pedro Álvarez, who agreed yesterday to a minor league deal and is changing positions.

The Orioles signed Bourn as part of their defensive upgrade. Álvarez gets failing grades for his defense and now he's learning to play the outfield. It seems crazy on the surface, but they view it as a low-risk deal.

Álvarez's power attracts the Orioles like a moth to a flame, and they won't jump out of the way when a player they like falls into their laps. That's what happened with Álvarez. A minor league deal for a guy with his track record? And if the outfield experiment fails, they move on from it.

This is a nice insurance policy in case of an injury. The Orioles still don't have Hardy at shortstop, Tillman in the rotation or Britton in the bullpen. Bourn won't get an at-bat this spring. Reliever Logan Ondrusek probably will undergo season-ending elbow surgery. Of course, the Orioles are prepared for the worst. Of course, they live by the "what if?"

It's possible that the Orioles are getting Álvarez ready for another team, though that's not the initial intent. His contract includes opt-out clauses. There could be an opportunity in the majors elsewhere while the Orioles have only the International League to give him.

The assumption is that Álvarez is willing to continue his outfield education at Triple-A Norfolk, no matter how hard it is to picture him riding buses and living the minor league life. There's no obvious spot for him on the Orioles' 25-man roster without an injury creating one. Mark Trumbo is projected to get most of his at-bats at designated hitter because the Orioles are enamored with Craig Gentry, who would platoon with Smith in right field. Joey Rickard could platoon with Hyun Soo Kim in left.

If Trey Mancini is challenged to stick with the Orioles through April, how is Alvarez supposed to do it? And don't talk to me about Rule 5 picks.

Don't frame the outfield picture because it might change. The Orioles reviewed Angel Pagan's medical records in November or December and weren't comfortable with them, but they selected Auneury Tavárez and Anthony Santander in the Rule 5 draft, traded for Smith and re-signed Trumbo in January and signed Bourn and Gentry after players reported to camp.

Bourn is on the shelf and Álvarez is in the outfield. Just another spring training for the Orioles.