Brad Brach on Everth Cabrera: "As far as I know he's a great teammate"

SARASOTA, Fla. - When the Orioles take the field this morning for another spring workout under an overcast sky, infielder Everth Cabrera is expected to work out at his third position since signing his one-year deal.

Cabrera took ground balls and made throws at shortstop on Wednesday and slid over to second base yesterday. Manager Buck Showalter said Cabrera probably will move to third base today and eventually will shag fly balls in the outfield.

Though he's a candidate to wrestle the second base job from Jonathan Schoop, Cabrera is being evaluated as a utility player in the early days in camp. He's played 461 major league games at shortstop, 12 at second base and one at third. He played 184 games at shortstop in the minors, 178 at second, 10 at third and seven in the outfield.

"He brings a lot of energy, that's for sure," said reliever Brad Brach, a teammate in San Diego from 2011-13. "He's diving all over the field, runs the bases, he likes stealing bags. He's a ball of energy, that's for sure. He's a good fielder, has a lot of range at short.

"I've never seen him play any other positions, but yeah, he's real athletic and definitely a sparkplug when he's on."

Brach is aware of the baggage that Cabrera carried into the Orioles clubhouse. He's hoping that his friend isn't judged too harshly by fans in Baltimore, that they will look past the 50-game suspension in 2013 and arrest a year later.

"I don't know anything different other than he's a great teammate," Brach said. "He works hard, he's there every day, one of the first guys there. I don't know any different besides that, so yeah, it's unfortunate that all those reports have come out and stuff because that's all people will probably think about.

"As far as I know he's a great teammate."

And one who can provide an element that's been missing with the Orioles.

"Any time you can get a guy who can swipe potentially 40 bags in a season," Brach said, "that's definitely a huge addition."