Looking at lingering questions as spring training remains on hold

The eventual implementation of a new collective bargaining agreement and the abolishment of the lockout that began on Dec. 2 are going to leave plenty of questions spread across baseball's landscape.

Answers may be staggered like the players who arrived in camp last spring. Or perhaps we'll be educated with one big news release.

The date of the CBA and how much of spring training is lost are going to be factors.

Will the sacrifices be confined to exhibition games? Four days remain before Major League Baseball's deadline to avoid impacting the regular season.

Let's focus on spring training here.

* The Orioles are setting up their minor league camp, with pitchers and catchers reporting on Monday and position players on March 8. They'd like to keep a standard arrangement with the major league camp at the Ed Smith Stadium complex running simultaneously with the minor leaguers at Twin Lakes Park.

Can they do it? And how will they handle their non-roster invites who may be redirected to Twin Lakes?

* The Rule 5 draft wasn't held in December because the lockout forced the cancellation of the Winter Meetings. Only the Triple-A phase was untouched.

When will the major league phase take place? Are we actually going to see players who worked out in the morning pulled off the field and moved to another team's camp?

It's bound to happen, right?

* MLB expanded rosters to 30 for the beginning of the truncated 2020 season, which began in July and was boiled down to 60 games.

A delay to the 2022 season could inflate rosters again and influence how competitions unfold. The Orioles might be able to carry an extra reliever or two. They might be able to deepen their bench, with bubble players heading north for opening day.

* There are concerns within the industry that visa issues will keep international players out of camp.

Every spring training seems to bring at least one delayed arrival. How hard will it be for the Orioles to get everyone in Sarasota on the appointed report dates?

What are the report dates?

* The industry also is braced for hyperactive free agent and trade activity after the 40-man freeze is thawed.

Executives were prohibited from negotiating major league contracts and attempting to strike deals with other clubs. That energy was funneled to other areas - minor league signings, international signings, the Triple-A Rule 5 draft, concerts.

How quickly can executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias patch the holes that remain? How many free agents will be left out in the proverbial cold or forced to settle for one-year contracts?

* The Orioles avoided arbitration by reaching agreements with outfielder Anthony Santander ($3.15 million) and pitchers Jorge López ($1.5 million) and Paul Fry ($850,000). They tendered contracts to pitchers John Means and Tanner Scott and first baseman Trey Mancini.

The usual next step would be exchanging figures and learning the date of a potential hearing. The Orioles have been in file-and-trial mode, unless you prefer file-and-go. I like the rhyme.

Either way, that doesn't leave much room to negotiate.

There's zero room during a lockout.

How is MLB going to handle these hearings with a new time frame? How will the Orioles?

* Media access hasn't been the same since March 2020. The clubhouse closed because of the pandemic, with players brought outside of the workroom upon request. Camp closed on the 12th, after an exhibition game in Fort Myers was canceled.

The clubhouse, back-field workouts and workroom were closed to the media in 2021. The few reporters who traveled to Sarasota were confined to the press box. Interviews were conducted on Zoom.

The rules for major league camp in 2022 haven't been finalized.