Day Two of the Winter Meetings

SAN DIEGO - If Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette really had a sense of humor, he would have greeted reporters in his suite yesterday while wearing a Blue Jays cap. Too soon? It's pointless to keep asking Duquette about his reported desire to join the Blue Jays as president/CEO. He isn't going to confirm it and he isn't going to provide a stern denial. He's just going to stress that his focus remains on the Orioles. Keep squinting while reading between the lines, but don't give yourself a headache. The first official day of the Winter Meetings was productive in the sense that Duquette met with agents and executives and got a better feel for the market. He seems more confident in signing a free agent than pulling off a trade, though the landscape can change in an instant. Duquette is less inclined to take on a big salary and deal away players. Better to sign someone to play the outfield, work out of the bullpen or improve the catching depth. To ease the concerns of some fans, the Orioles still feel good about Matt Wieters' chances of being behind the plate on opening day. He's playing catch. He hasn't experienced any setbacks. The Orioles also managed to reduce their 40-man roster to 37 players by outrighting infielder Steve Lombardozzi and left-hander Pat McCoy and losing left-hander Scott Barnes to a waiver claim. The Orioles couldn't find a trade partner for Lombardozzi and no one claimed him off waivers. Duquette brought in McCoy and Barnes to give the club more left-handed relief options, but he got only one of them through waivers. Here's the current 40-man roster, which will grow by at least one player following the Rule 5 draft: Pitchers Tim Berry Brad Brach Zach Britton Dylan Bundy Wei-Yin Chen Oliver Drake Eddie Gamboa Kevin Gausman Miguel Gonzalez Tommy Hunter Ubaldo Jimenez Brian Matusz T.J. McFarland Bud Norris Darren O'Day Chris Tillman Ryan Webb Tyler Wilson Mike Wright Catchers Steve Clevenger Caleb Joseph Michael Ohlman Matt Wieters Infielders Ryan Flaherty J.J. Hardy Manny Machado Rey Navarro Jimmy Paredes Jonathan Schoop Christian Walker Outfielders Quintin Berry Alejandro De Aza Alex Hassan Adam Jones David Lough Steve Pearce Henry Urrutia Duquette said he's reluctant to trade a starting pitcher, which leaves six for the five openings in the rotation. I understand why the Orioles want to keep a cushion, but I'm still curious how a sixth starter would fit. Would Kevin Gausman go to the bullpen or Triple-A Norfolk? Would Ubaldo Jimenez go to the 'pen? The Orioles would deal Jimenez if they found a team willing to take on his salary, but that's a difficult match. Plenty of clubs are interested in Wei-Yin Chen for the exact same reasons that the Orioles want to keep him - left-handed, coming off a 16-win season and making only $4.75 million in 2015. I want to close this morning's entry with a few comments made by manager Buck Showalter, who stood among the PR representatives from all 30 clubs yesterday and talked about Monica Barlow and the LUNGevity Foundation. He hadn't prepared a speech. He didn't need one. It came straight from the heart. "We talk about the impact that people have in everybody's lives and we all have been touched by Monica, but the biggest thing I take right now is how much she'd like that she's been able to get everybody in Baltimore Orioles colors today. She'd love that. "She was tough, but she was fair and she impacted my life. And I think the thing I've taken out of this whole experience is how quickly it can change. I know Ben (Barlow) was talking about it during the walk, the fundraiser for LUNGevity, that even in a week's time and two week's time and a month's time, how many treatments become available that are better. It's not something we're doing that might happen 10 years from now. It could happen tomorrow, it could happen a week from now. "They have treatments two weeks from now that weren't there, the experimental things that weren't going on. You think this is just something that may impact down the road, but it could be tomorrow or next week and somebody won't have to go through the loss of a Monica Barlow, which still affects all of us. "She would not be happy with this much attention on her, but if you say it was impacting other people's lives, she would be OK with it. I'm still ticked off about Monica being gone. They say it will all be revealed to you. Well, I'm looking forward to hearing this answer to why she was taken. So when I come to things like this, it makes me feel a lot better about it."