Brady Anderson is back where he wants to be

Brady Anderson was officially hired this week as special assistant to Dan Duquette, even though he has been doing some work for the club before that and did some work for the Orioles last year. "Last year, I had a condo at Triple-A (in Norfolk). You need to go everywhere. We have minor league affiliates close to Baltimore and you have to be willing to grind it out and go back to the minors. I like being in the trenches," he said. "I was around (the big league club) quite a bit last year also. I was here four and a half months last year in Baltimore and also had a place in Virginia. I will probably spend more time, obviously now working some in meetings and with Dan personally. Andy (MacPhail) and I didn't have that type of relationship. It's not that I had a bad relationship with Andy, but we just didn't work together as much as Dan and I will." Anderson has had a group of Orioles players that have seen him this winter in California for help with their workouts. The list included Brian Matusz, Chris Tillman, Tommy Hunter, Rick VandenHurk and Scott Beerer. Jeremy Guthrie came out last week and Adam Jones and Nolan Reimold may join the workouts soon. Anderson was asked if Matusz is making progress. "With Brian, I've been working more on maximal strength, you need to improve that first. When strength drops, power drops. Baseball is a power sport, it's not really an endurance sport even though the season is long. The activities that take place in the game are power related," Anderson said. Anderson said Matusz certainly learned last year that he was not in his best physical shape and now is working to get there. "That is one of the additional benefits," Anderson added. "Players are not robots and when they are not prepared, they know it. When you are not performing because you are not prepared, mentally it's a drag. It's spiraling downward and that is something you take care of in getting stronger. "It's like a different human as far as far as his mentality, his dedication and the raw numbers. What type of athlete he is, he's not the same." Anderson said he is working exactly for the team that he wants to be with. "I never tried to get a job with another team. This means everything. I did everything I could when I was a player to remain in Baltimore. I didn't ask to be released. Working for the Orioles makes perfect sense," Anderson said.