Hearing from Duquette, Showalter and Lavarnway

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette continues to explore trades, in part to get the pitching staff down to 12 players and give manager Buck Showalter a full four-man bench.

The Orioles also are trying to move Ryan Webb, who was designated for assignment earlier today. Webb was in uniform and signing autographs for fans beside the visiting dugout.

"We're just trying to get our team in shape to start the season," Duquette said. "Sometimes it takes a little more time than spring training. So that's what we are doing. We're just trying to get our roster shaped up so we have the appropriate number of pitchers and the appropriate number of players, so that Buck can maneuver in a ballgame."

Duquette acknowledged that consummating a trade now is more difficult because teams have set their rosters.

"For the last 10 days, we've had trade discussions with several teams," Duquette said. "Some of those discussions will continue into the season, but most of the clubs got a lot of their personnel decisions resolved. We've got another move we have to make because obviously we don't want to go with our bench short and having too many pitchers."

Duquette knew that Webb would decline an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk.

"The players have their rights that they accrue based on their service time and they have the right to decide based on the negotiated decisions in the basic agreement, so that's really their choice," Duquette said.

The Orioles will remove Chris Davis from the suspended list before Tuesday's game. They have 39 players on the 40-man roster after the Rangers claimed Rule 5 pick Logan Verrett off waivers, so they don't need to clear a spot. However, catcher Steve Clevenger is expected to be optioned. The Orioles will stay with 13 pitchers for Tuesday's game unless Duquette can make a deal.

"I know what I think we're going to do," Showalter said. "We'll see what happens today. We'll eventually get to 12 pitchers, we all know that.

"I had a good conversation with T.J. (McFarland) yesterday. He's excited about getting a chance to start. Kind of adds to that group of guys between Double-A and Triple-A that we're excited about."

Showalter said he anticipates that outfielder David Lough will be the first Oriole to come off the disabled list on Saturday.

"I'm not sure about J.J. (Hardy) yet. Matt (Wieters) won't be far behind them," Showalter said.

Showalter expects infielder Jimmy Paredes to be ready when eligible on April 16.

Asked whether we can expect lots of roster moves this season, Showalter said, "I hope not, but obviously there are going to be some along the way. Most of the things we're doing now are injury-related."

Catcher Ryan Lavarnway made his first opening day roster after the Orioles selected his contract today.

"I'm thrilled to be activated," he said. "It's my first opening day, so happy to be here. However it had to work out, I'm glad it did.

"My wife is here. I think it was convenient that it's on the way up, so we didn't have to alter our plans, especially because it was so last minute. My family's back at home. I'm sure they'll watch the game."

Lavarnway was excluded from the roster submitted yesterday at 3 p.m., but he was told to stay with the club.

"There wasn't a lot of communication as far as all the way to me," he said. "I don't know what kind of moves they had to make paper-wise. That's above or below in pay grade, however you want to look at it. I'm not involved in it. I'm not involved in how it works. I was just told to get on the bus to come here, and then during the workout yesterday they kind of said, 'You're not active today. There's a move we have to make tomorrow.' I found out yesterday right before practice."

Lavarnway got a crash course this spring in becoming familiar with a new pitching staff.

"I'm pretty happy with where we're at," he said. "Obviously, it's a learning curve going forward every day. Now that the season's started, it's a little bit different. You're going to be facing the full lineup every day instead of five innings with a couple guys out of it, so it's a little bit different. I'm pretty comfortable where we're at to start and we'll go forward from here."

The Blue Jays are starting Mark Buehrle, Aaron Sanchez and Drew Hutchison in the Orioles' home-opening series at Camden Yards. The Orioles are listing all three spots as TBA, but we've been told previously that Bud Norris, Ubaldo Jimenez and Chris Tillman are starting.

The LUNGevity Foundation has named the Orioles the April LUNGevity Hero for their active participation and support in the quest to end lung cancer.

The Orioles' longstanding commitment began as a tribute to their former public relations director and LUNGevity advocate, Monica Barlow, who died from lung cancer in 2014 at the age of 36. The Orioles turned their grief into action, raising awareness and vital research funds for the disease.

Their efforts encouraged Major League Baseball to select LUNGevity as the beneficiary of their 2014 Winter Meetings Auction, which raised more than $176,000.