The time has come to begin thinking about the playoff roster

The Orioles are saying all the right things. They are not taking their big American League East lead for granted. They are not looking too far down the road. Yet in some respects, they likely are looking down the road and I think they should be. The time has come for the club to begin to look at some players on what is now a 33-man roster and it is time to begin the decision-making process for the final spots on what will be a 25-man playoff roster. The O's have some decisions to make in their bullpen, possibly at third base and maybe in the outfield. Last night, there was no reason to rush Darren O'Day out there in the eighth inning when they had a perfectly good chance to take a look at Ryan Webb and Evan Meek. Buck Showalter said some relievers were unavailable and some of those pitchers should get some down time now with a 16-man pitching staff. Meek pitched to an ERA of 1.17 from May 11 to the end of the Triple-A regular season this year. He was also a pitcher Showalter used in the eighth inning on opening day this year. Webb pitched to an ERA of 3.80 this season for the Orioles. He had a 1.65 ERA in May and June. It is not like Showalter used some A-ball pitchers. For me, it is more important for the Orioles to select the right 25 players to try and win three playoff series in October than it is to push for every win now to try and get the best record. All that does is gain you one extra home game in one series. The Orioles want to win three series come October. For those that say nothing is clinched yet, you are completely right. Mathematically the Yankees and Blue Jays still have a chance. Realistically they have almost none. Showalter has a chance now to look at Meek, Webb, Joe Saunders, Kelly Johnson, Jimmy Paredes, Quintin Berry and Alejandro De Aza. And he should do just that. Don't worry. Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, J.J. Hardy and other regulars will still be out there pretty much every night. The Orioles can use the final 22 games to try and compile their best record while also working to put together their best roster to go for it come October. It makes perfect sense to me that they do exactly that right now.