Hearing from Buck Showalter at FanFest

Orioles manager Buck Showalter isn't keeping close tabs on Chris Davis or his negotiations. He can't escape the questions, but he won't be consumed by them.

"I don't dwell on it. I don't spend much time on it. I really don't," he said at today's FanFest.

"We have been and will be competitive to a point. They've got to make a decision, how much is enough, and the game will move on without me, you, him and the Orioles. We'd like to have him, but we'll be fine either way. I know there are probably a couple of people named Christian Walker and Trey Mancini who hope we don't. So do their parents.

"Everybody likes and respects Chris and where he is in his life and career, and they have decisions to make just like Darren did. I don't dwell on it. I really don't. We all have our own personal thoughts about it, but not really my job right now. If he's here or not here, then it becomes my job, but we've already taken some steps to be covered there one way or the other. The first one was when we drafted Christian and Trey, and now we've traded for (Mark) Trumbo and Steve Pearce is still there. We've got a number of possibilities there.

"We'd like to have Chris first, but if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen."

Showalter said he hasn't talked to managing partner Peter Angelos about the negotiations.

"That's his business and Dan (Duquette's) business," he said. "I don't want players hearing me talking about all these things we have to do. We have good people.

"The biggest thing we have to do is get better at starting pitching. It was the biggest difference between the two (seasons) in a nutshell. Chris (Tillman) has got to revert to form, Miguel (Gonzalez) has got to revert to form, Gaus (Kevin Gausman) has got to pop when we take the governors. Ubaldo (Jimenez) was about as solid as we could ask, and we've got to find somebody to take (Wei-Yin) Chen's place if he doesn't re-sign with us. He's not out of the question, either. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of propaganda out there about him, but there will be.

"Right now, I'm looking at first base from within our organization until something changes. Same way with our pitching. We've got 28 pitchers going to camp right now."

Here's more from Showalter:

On having his coaching staff back and hiring an assistant hitting coach: "It wasn't easy. It was something that the organization stepped out on. It's been very consistent. I've said many times I think it's the best staff that I've been around and we're getting ready to add to it here shortly. We spent most of the day yesterday in interviews and I'm looking forward to finishing that off here shortly. We're down to three and it's going to be real hard to pick. But to be able to have that continuity with the players and with the staff, it means so much. It doesn't happen very often. It just doesn't.

"Because their work is coveted, it was a challenge to get them all signed back. We had people knocking on their doors, every one of them. The confidence I have in them and they have in me and the organization, it's like a couple of them said, they never walked away from an unfinished fight before and that's where they feel like they are. They want to finish business next year."

On whether the in-house first basemen are ready if needed: "We'll find out. You know what's going to happen in the spring. They're going to make sure they've got their gray pants and they're going to get plenty of ABs. We can out-opportunity other teams and people know that and that's why we're constantly getting calls about going to camp with us. Trey and Christian will get all the at-bats they want. And we'll see what happens with Pearce and we'll see what happens with Mark (Trumbo).

"We're planning on Mark focusing mostly at first base in the spring, depending on what we do. There are some other possibilities out there, too. We're not done."

On receiving a standing ovation from fans at the season-ticket holders Q&A: "You don't ever take that for granted. The biggest thing is they're cheering for the Orioles and the competitiveness. I think it was big last year to win the last three games against the Yankees. It was a proud moment for me, as challenging and frustrating as the season was. Those type of things I think people appreciate, our team. Not me. The way the players compete.

"That's what I keep telling them all the time. It's not really that hard of a job description, but it's surprising how many people can't bring it. I think people appreciate the effort and the way the guys care about competing, and they and I don't take it lightly, the support we've been given."

On Gausman: "If you look at the process young pitchers go through, he's done everything to go where he needs to go. We're going to take the governors off and when he comes out of a game now, it's going to be because the opposition wouldn't let him continue. The pitch counts, the innings, he's ready to do what the challenge of the season brings.

"I'm not going to sit here and part the water and say he's definitely in the rotation, but it would have to be injury-related and have to be just a really some other factor. I'm not going to kid you all about that. We plan on him being one of our starters."

On Darren O'Day: "Darren is one of those guys that he wants to return the commitment that we made to him. He wants to be a really good pitcher for us for the next four years. And maybe beyond that. He'd like to finish here. It didn't have that much to do with where his wife was working and this and that and whatever. We felt comfortable committing to a guy that the contract didn't drive him.

"Now he got a great contract and deserved it, OK? This guy deserved to be paid at the level, whether it was us or ... I was very proud that we were able to do it and that's another support of ownership and the respect of the role. But the biggest challenge I've got with Darren now is making sure he doesn't think that he's got to do anything differently. Like he's got to be in charge of the Macy's Day parade or whatever. All he's got to do is be what he was."