Showalter on Red Sox/Yankees spending: "They run out of money yet?"

SAN DIEGO - While Orioles fans wait to see what winter additions their team will make, other American League East teams have been more active. The Boston Red Sox are back to spending big money and the New York Yankees may join them. They are not alone. While Boston signed Hanley Ramirez for $88 million and Pablo Sandoval for $95 million, the Yankees gave former Oriole Andrew Miller $36 million. Toronto signed catcher Russell Martin for $82 million and traded for Josh Donaldson. Manager Buck Showalter repeated a familiar line here yesterday. He basically said the Orioles' payroll is competitive and the team tries to out-opportunity other teams. This is what he said when asked about spending by other teams in the AL East. "They run out of money yet? God bless them, that's the system. If we were in their shoes, we'd do the same thing," Showalter said. "What are you going to do, throw your hands up the in the air? That's all right. It can be done. We just have to be good at some things that allow us to compete with them." Since the Orioles won the division by 12 games in 2014 and lead the AL East in wins over the last three seasons, maybe they have found a winning formula. "To some extent," Showalter said. "We learn things and tweak things. We all make mistakes and learn from them in life. I don't know. We're not going around and trying to emulate them. It works for them." I asked Showalter about the Orioles' offense yesterday. We know the team can hit homers, even without Nelson Cruz, but we also know the team is lacking in speed and in players with high on-base percentages. So I asked Showalter if it's important to get more speed or high OBP players to better balance the team's reliance on the longball. "No. I'm not always saying, jeez, this guy, there is no such thing as a perfect player. Hitting is hard to do," Showalter said. "If you try to teach walking in your organization, you are going to fail, that's been proven. You can't take until you hit. "I was talking to one of the best hitting coaches I've ever been around in the offseason. He said base on balls is just a byproduct of a good approach. "If you try to teach walking in your system, it doesn't work, it just doesn't work. It's a mentality and an approach to hitting. What are you going to do, rob Peter to pay Paul? "We'll see if it shows up. Something we preach a lot in the minor leagues, the approach and things. You can see some of the young players we're getting through our system bring that. That is one of the things we're going to miss with Nick (Markakis)." Meanwhile, when the Orioles signed infielder Rey Navarro to a major league deal Nov. 22 and said they intend to play him at second base, one of the first thoughts was that he could be competition for Jonathan Schoop at second. The answer seems to be no, at this point. Dan Duquette mentioned Navarro yesterday as the second baseman for Triple-A Norfolk and then Showalter threw some praise Schoop's way during his press conference. "Real proud of Jon," Showalter said. "He got a little bogged down, little tired at the end. It's a challenge for young players physically. I think he's got a chance to only get better. I don't think there's anyone in the American League that turns the double play better than him. "It was what allowed us to keep running him out there. He was a difference-maker defensively. We'd like to see him take a little jump from what he learned this year. That is another way we can get better is Jon bring some areas of his offensive game up. He is certainly capable."