Dan Duquette on Edwin Jackson and Miguel Castro

The Orioles officially signed veteran big league right-hander Edwin Jackson today. He passed his physical, signed a minor league deal and now will report to extended spring training in Sarasota, Fla.

Jackson, 33, has played for 11 teams over his 14-year major league career, most recently making 13 starts with the Padres last summer after the Marlins released him. He made eight relief appearances with Miami, going 0-1 with a 5.91 ERA in 10 2/3 innings, and was 5-6 with a 5.89 ERA in 73 1/3 innings with San Diego.

As some point, the Orioles will send him to Triple-A Norfolk, where he is likely to pitch as a reliever.

"He's been a reliever the last couple of years," Orioles vice president Dan Duquette said this afternoon. "He could probably fill in as a starter if he was asked to do that job. We've got a couple of starters there. But he could fill in as a starter if it was required."

Right now, Jackson needs some time to build up arm strength and innings before he pitches in a minor league game.

"He probably needs a spring training period like everybody else," Duquette said. "But he's been throwing. He sent us some video and he looked good. He's always been healthy, a big strong, physical guy."

Jackson was the third pitcher the Orioles have acquired over the last two days. Yesterday, they traded for left-hander Andrew Faulkner from the Texas Rangers for a player to be named or cash. To get Faulkner on the 40-man roster, the Orioles released Dariel Álvarez. Faulkner, 24, will be optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.

Today, the Orioles added right-hander Miguel Castro from the Colorado Rockies for a player to be named or cash considerations. Pitcher Joe Gunkel was designated for assignment to create room on the 40-man roster for Castro, who has been optioned to Double-A Bowie.

The 22-year-old Castro was a key piece in the Troy Tulowitzki deal with the Blue Jays on July 28, 2015. Castro is 0-3 with a 6.12 ERA in 37 relief appearances in the majors and allowed 10 runs and 18 hits in 14 2/3 innings last year. The Rockies designated Castro for assignment earlier this week.

"Castro has good size. He's young. Has excellent pitches and we think he could be a good major leaguer," Duquette said. "If you look at his record, he went from being a starting pitcher in A-ball (in 2014) to a reliever in the big leagues (in 2015). He went from first grade to fourth grade and skipped a couple of steps in between."

These pitchers the Orioles have acquired have options remaining and the club keeps stockpiling pitchers that someday could find themselves on the shuttle between Baltimore and Norfolk.

"The optionability of the pitchers is helpful to manage this staff day-to-day and have the strongest team ready to help us," Duquette said.

I asked Duquette if the Orioles will re-sign Álvarez.

"We asked unconditional release waivers on his contract," Duquette said. "So he's on waivers right now. Until he clears waivers, it is really not appropriate to address his situation with the team."

But it still appears likely that the Orioles will bring Álvarez back on a minor league contract at some point. If, as expected, Álvarez undergoes Tommy John surgery, his conversion to pitcher could potentially be over and he could be a full-time outfielder again.