Showalter on Davis, the offseason and hitting coach search

Orioles manager Buck Showalter recently played golf with Chris Davis in Texas, and the first baseman revealed that he's received a therapeutic use exemption for Adderall for the 2015 season. Major League Baseball suspended Davis for 25 games on Sept. 12 following a second failed test for the drug. Davis apparently had the exception with the Rangers, but was denied with the Orioles. "That's just what he told me," Showalter said this morning at the 36th annual OriolesREACH Holiday Party for Kids at Dave & Buster's at the Arundel Mills Mall. "I don't know if it's the same thing. It's a good thing. Yeah, he told me he was approved for it." Makes you wonder why he wasn't approved in 2014. "It makes you wonder why publicly," Showalter said. Davis has one game remaining on his suspension and won't play opening day. The Orioles can keep him off the 40-man roster until the second game. "Especially after the second Rule 5 we took with that pick on the roster," Showalter quipped. "That's a great rule, isn't it? We've been carrying 41 the whole year." "He'll take a day off. It'll be his last day off of the year, hopefully." The Orioles still haven't found external replacements for outfielders Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis and left-hander Andrew Miller, and free agent possibilities keep coming off the board. "I'm not going to say, 'This is where were we last year at this time,' " Showalter said. "We were actually further behind last year. Well, we were never behind, but I like the idea of another year's development of our young players. It's so convenient to talk about Matt (Wieters) and talk about Chris and talk about Manny (Machado), but I still look at that as, if it happens ... it's if, not when. I don't assume that physically that they're ... if it's April 15 instead of April 1 or whenever opening day starts... To be continued, to be determined. "We set the groundwork for a lot of things. And there's a lot of things that don't work for us. Knowing what works and what doesn't. You see the medicals, you see the scouts' reports, you see the information that you gather to try to make good decisions. You don't make it public. There are good reasons for everything. It's a lot harder to say 'no' sometimes than 'yes.' These people that fashion themselves as deal makers because they give more money than everybody else, that's not a deal maker. You give another two years on a contract and a lot more money, what's that got to do with being a deal maker? "We've got a lot of people who are interested in coming to Baltimore. I'm proud of that. We're all proud of that. They may not be headliners right now. It's good to see Stevie (Pearce) here, Brad (Brach). There's two good examples of opportunity guys. I don't know if people were watching, but Brad Brach pitched really well last year. Steve Pearce was as key a part of our club as anyone else. The whole world could have probably had them last year at this time. It's a lot more fun the way we do it. I can tell you that now." Outfielder Michael Morse came off the board today, with the Marlins signing him to a two-year deal. The Orioles weren't going to offer more than one due to his health history. Without mentioning specific players, Showalter said, "I haven't seen one yet where I said, 'Golly, I wish we would have done that.' I know Dariel Alvarez and Christian Walker and Dylan Bundy, and I could keep going, are pretty happy the way the offseason is going for the Orioles. I'm sure Steve Pearce is and Brad Brach. We're not coveting everybody's guys just to say I've added a charm to my bracelet. I like the charms that are on the bracelet right now." The Orioles could make a decision on their new hitting coach later this week. Charlie Manuel, their first choice, is expected to remain in the Phillies' front office. "Moving, inching," Showalter said. "One guy we want to consider, make sure he's not available before we go forward, when we get that confirmation here shortly. We'll go to 1A, 1B. "I'll tell you what I found, there aren't many people who want to do it. It's turned into a real challenge physically. You're in the cage all the time. We talk about, we got rained out of BP, it's a day game after a night game, you hit in the cages. Well, they're in there for three hours. If you take somebody off your current staff and make him a hitting coach and you take him away from what else they do, what they do well... "We don't let just anybody into the fraternity. It made me realize how little I've actually done this other than the initial time. We've been pretty stable with the coaching staff. We've had some medical challenges with our pitching coaches. We have some good candidates, but it's hard. I've approached people you'd think I would approach. A lot of them go, 'You mean every day? You mean seven days a week for the whole season?' Well, yeah. 'I'm not going to do that.' It's not a celebrity in-and-out thing. It's an everyday by there sun up, sun down. It's a challenging job." First base coach Wayne Kirby is an appealing option, but the Orioles don't want to take him away from his current duties, including his work as an outfield and baserunning instructor. Former Orioles Mike Bordick and B.J. Surhoff weren't interested. "You start with all the Orioles guys first that I think would want to do it," Showalter said. "Bordy's not leaving MASN. B.J.'s not there in his life. We kicked tires on all those guys." Note: The Orioles signed right-handers Chaz Roe and Jesse Beal, and outfielder Matt Tuiasosopo to minor league deals. No word on whether spring invites are included. Beal was previously in the organization as a 14th-round pick in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. He was 2-1 with a 3.48 ERA in 23 games, including five starts, this season at Single-A Frederick.