Showalter trying not to think about potential loss of free agents

The tarp came off the field briefly while the grounds crew applied more drying compound. Rain continues to fall, though not as heavy, and the game remains in a delay. The obligatory Bugs Bunny cartoon already has run.

Pitching prospect Branden Kline is in Baltimore today after having his right elbow examined by team orthopedist Dr. Michael Jacobs. Kline seemed to be in good spirts as he awaited next week's appointment with Dr. James Andrews.

Kline, who turned 24 yesterday, felt some tightness in the elbow while throwing in the fall instructional league. He received a platelet-rich plasma injection in May after Andrews examined him, and he may need to undergo ligament-reconstructive surgery.

Adam Jones is a finalist for the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award as voted upon by his peers. Miami's Dee Gordon and the White Sox's David Robertson also are finalists.

The Orioles confirmed the signing of Australian left-hander Alexander Wells, who will report to the instructional league. He received a $300,000 bonus.

Manager Buck Showalter stays focused on the remaining games on the 2015 schedule while more attention shifts to the pending free agents and possibility of drastic changes inside his clubhouse. He tries not to think about it. The media leaves him no choice.

"We'd like to keep everybody, obviously. I think everybody shares that," he said. "Let's see where it goes. We all have our own personal feelings about it. You can probably guess what mine are. Some things you reach for because, let's be frank, it makes your job easier. But you also know what your job description is."

Comments made last night by Matt Wieters and Chris Davis came across as though they're soaking in what could be their final days in Baltimore. Wieters hit his 100th career home run in Game 2 and stated, "I wanted to hit 100 before this year's over, so no matter what happens in the future I hit 100 as an Oriole."

Showalter said he didn't see the quote. He avoids reading newspapers and websites.

"I would be real glad if he got his 101st as an Oriole and his 102nd and 103rd. That's the way Matt feels, too," Showalter said.

"That's a mature thing. We always take things in that you don't know how things are going to work out. They're not oblivious to the way baseball business world works after the season, but I also know what personally they mean to all of us and to me especially. I can talk about that for hours. And I don't become cold to it. Sometimes, I wish I was a little more.

"I sat down with Matt before this homestand, wanted to know how he wanted to handle this last week. I know he wants to catch on Sunday if Joaquin cooperates. I try not to think about it too much. It's tough, it's tough. It's the world we live in. It does tug at me, so I try to stay away from it."

Showalter has gone through the process with the other teams that he's managed, but it feels different in Baltimore. He's managed here longer than anyplace else.

"Yeah, there are some differences. There are some differences," he said after a long pause. "Everything is different.

"I have a lot of confidence that Dan and everybody has their arms around that. My job is to manage these four games and try to put our best foot forward, which we didn't do in the first game. We sat down together a little bit between games real quickly yesterday and that's where I've got to stay focused, on that stuff. Sometimes, it happens before it gets to this point, sometimes it doesn't. We are where we are."

The Orioles extended shortstop J.J. Hardy last year right before the playoffs, but so far they haven't reached agreements with any of their pending free agents.

"Monday we'll talk," Showalter said. "That's not my area. We'd all like to have everything. Part of us in society just don't like change, period. If you knew if not this, than what, you might look at it in a different way, but we don't know what. So we like things that we know are pieces. I'm very careful about trying to critique things that I'm not supposed to be in on, but we all play that way. We all talk about it. We don't know. You don't like to talk about it but it's real and it's there and you've got to ask about it.

"You're talking about a lot more than (Davis and Wieters). Steve Pearce, Brian Matusz. I could go on and on. Guys that are arbitration eligible. Miguel (Gonzalez). It's not just those five, four, three guys everybody wants to talk about. There's a lot more than that.

"I know them all. I think Brad Brach is arbitration eligible, (Zach) Britton is arbitration eligible, (Ryan) Flaherty, (Jimmy) Paredes. I know (Junior) Lake's out of options next year. A lot of decisions. I'm sure our guys have it wired about the order in which those decisions need to be made."

Meanwhile, Showalter continues to write out his lineups without Jones, who's being treated for spasms and tightness in his back. The Orioles could just shut him down, but they haven't reached that point.

"I plan on day-to-day being the way it is," Showalter said. "There's nobody who posts up through tougher challenges than Adam. I talk to him every day about it. 'How are you doing? Better, worse, what are you feeling?' And if he doesn't play the rest of the season, he doesn't play the rest of the season. I may ask him today if he wants me to do that."