Castillo's commitment, Wieters' legacy and more from Davis

The most encouraging part of yesterday's conference call with Welington Castillo involved his commitment to improving his defense. He's focused on the right aspects of his job. It's the only way he's truly going to fit in with the Orioles.

"I know my part, I know what to do. My No. 1 job is being on the same page with the pitchers and try to do my best behind the plate," Castillo said.

"I know that I can hit a little bit and we have a lot of guys in this lineup that, that's what they do, so my focus is going to be playing really good defense and manage a pitching staff and win games. That's going to be my focus. It's not going to be anything different than just play the game, just go out there and have fun and compete."

And learn a new pitching staff, which shouldn't be an enormous challenge for a guy who played for three teams in 2015.

"The more that you spend time with them the better you're going to be, but it takes a little bit of time to build that relationship with a pitching staff," he said. "It wasn't easy two years ago with three different pitching staffs, but I think it's going to be easier now because of spring training we'll have time to work together with the pitching staff.

"It's an amazing pitching staff, the bullpen is really good. I'm really happy and looking forward to working with them."

* The market for Matt Wieters remains unclear as teams have filled their catching needs via free agency and trades. Is it the Braves? Are the Angels still in the picture?

It won't be the Orioles in 2017.

How will Wieters be remembered in Baltimore? The best catcher in franchise history wouldn't be a stretch, not with four All-Star appearances and two Gold Gloves. But he never could live up to the ridiculous hype after the Orioles made him the fifth overall pick in the 2007 draft out of Georgia Tech.

The next Johnny Bench. Mauer with power. He didn't ask for it and it's hounded him throughout his career.

Wieters never hit more than 23 home runs or totaled more than 83 RBIs, his highs coming in 2012 and leading to a 21st-place finish in Most Valuable Player voting in the American League. He owns a career .256 average. But he hit 20 or more home runs in three consecutive seasons and possessed one of the best arms in the game.

The best catcher in franchise history also will be labeled by his critics as perhaps the biggest disappointment given such lofty expectations. How many other players get such contrasting reviews?

Trust me when I say that, like Nick Markakis, Wieters will be one of those players who's appreciated more after he leaves. You don't know what you've got until it's gone.

This isn't a knock on the Castillo signing. He made sense for what the Orioles were willing to spend and for how many years they were willing to commit. They just need Chance Sisco to do his part at Triple-A Norfolk and live up to his billing as the catcher of the future.

You know how cumbersome those billings can be, but he isn't the first.

* During Thursday night's interview with Chris Davis on 105.7 The Fan, I broke the news to the first baseman that the Orioles again are picked to finish in last place in the American League East. The season already is over and it's only the middle of December.

Three playoff appearances and no losing records in the last five years and they still don't get any love.

"I just think we're not necessarily a really sexy team," Davis said, ruining my calendar idea.

"We don't have a lot of, like, superstar big ego players. Each and every year, the guys that we have do a great job of coming together and really trusting each other, no matter if we're picked last.

"I would be shocked and maybe even a little worried if someone picked us to win the division. I feel like every year it's getting earlier and earlier when they're starting to predict the Orioles to finish last, but that's fine. It doesn't matter what they predict. You still go out and play the season."

Davis hopes to do it in better health, a hand injury challenging him for most of the summer.

"It bothered me," he said. "I started noticing it more I guess in May. That's when it started becoming more painful. After the All-Star break, I was kind of hoping those few days would give me a chance to get back to neutral and give it a chance to heal, but July and August, that's when it started blowing up and I was like, 'Man, this is not good.'

"I guess after a while you just kind of get used to how it feels, but once it started getting worse and started blowing up and getting pretty swollen, that was just something I had to battle through every day."

Before Davis headed out the door, I couldn't resist asking how he'd feel if Jose Bautista, labeled "a villain in Baltimore" by executive vice president Dan Duquette, actually signed with the Orioles.

"I'll tell you one thing," Davis said, "he's going to have to get a new number."

Mic drop.

Shameless plug alert: I'm doing "Wall to Wall Baseball" from noon-2 p.m. on MASN if the weather allows it. Something about ice. Sounds like a good time.