Latest on Hendrickson

The Orioles placed a call yesterday to reliever Mark Hendrickson's agent, Joe Urbon, and were waiting to hear back from him. There isn't much to report beyond that little nugget. Teams no longer will hold exclusive negotiating rights with their free agents after Thursday. Hendrickson would like to re-sign with the Orioles, who are interested in keeping him. Manager Dave Trembley speaks highly of the left-hander, who became a valuable member of the bullpen as the season progressed - both as a situational lefty and a multi-inning guy. He also turned in three straight quality starts after being forced back into the rotation in late September, but he's viewed strictly as a reliever if he returns. With only a few days remaining before other clubs can start talking to Hendrickson, it figures that he'd want to check out the market and see what might develop. I still think he'll be included on the Orioles' Opening Day roster, but it does make sense to wait. He signed a $1.5 million deal last winter. Maybe he can do better this time around. Meanwhile, FOXSports.com confirmed yesterday that the Orioles have contacted the agent for left-hander Billy Wagner. And that agent's name is Bean Stringfellow, who listed the Orioles among the teams who are interested in signing Wagner as a closer next season. This also makes sense. Former bench coach Dave Jauss kept praising Wagner during our conversation outside the clubhouse late in the season. He seemed very impressed (while also noting that Wagner doesn't throw as hard as he used to), and I assume he wasn't alone. And the Orioles need a closer. Meanwhile, the Ravens reminded us last night that one half of football is usually enough to beat the Cleveland Browns. And they might want to sign a kicker pretty soon, since everybody else has one.