Notes and quotes from today's press conference

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said today that nothing has changed since Saturday regarding free agent first baseman Chris Davis.

Duquette was responding to a question posed to him during the press conference for reliever Darren O'Day, who, I'm happy to report, had no problem buttoning his orange No. 56 jersey.

Manager Buck Showalter also attended today's press conference before returning to his Dallas home. Duquette headed back to his office, where he will continue his attempts to acquire an outfielder and starting pitcher. Special emphasis remains on a left-handed bat.

"The club is continuing to recruit players for the 2016 team," Duquette said. "We're going to continue to work this week and into the first part of next week. I think Wednesday (Dec. 23) is the last day and then the industry shuts down until Jan. 2, so between now and next Wednesday we're going to try to add some players to the ballclub."

Duquette won't reveal any offers or interest in specific players, including Korean outfielder Hyun-soo Kim.

Darren O'Day presser Duquette Buck.jpg"We've been working on adding some pitching and also some left-handed hitting to balance the roster, so hopefully we can do something in that area between now and the break," Duquette said. "That's what we're shooting for."

Is there more pressure now to get deals done as players come off the board?

"There's more players signing now, which I think is a good thing," Duquette said. "The market is moving in all areas. Some of these prices, especially for the pitching, has been absolutely staggering. There's more free agent players on the market, so I think you'll see some of those players sign between now and next week."

Duquette could pursue another reliever despite re-signing O'Day to a four-year, $31 million deal. I just don't sense that it's a top priority compared to other needs.

"We've been trying to get the best value we can get in the pitching market and signing Darren was a big help toward us maintaining one of the strengths of our team in the bullpen," Duquette said. "We're going to continue to try to build on that strength."

Trading a reliever is "a possibility," Duquette said, but he downplayed the likelihood of subtracting from the bullpen.

"We're more focused on adding players to the team - pitching, outfield, left-handed hitting depth to the organization," Duquette said.

The Orioles are expected to announce more minor league signings this week, including outfielder Alfredo Marte and left-hander Jeff Beliveau.

"We're still working on some depth signings to our team," Duquette said.

O'Day, who showed off a new bushy mustache that extended beyond the corners of his mouth, is taking aim at Hall of Famer Jim Palmer's franchise record of 558 games. Reliever Tippy Martinez is second with 499 games. O'Day has appeared in 273 over four seasons.

"When we were negotiating with Brady (Anderson) and talking, we were talking about the idea of legacy," O'Day said. "If I came back and was able to put four more years up that I could sneak up on Palmer's games appeared record with the Orioles, which, if you think about it as a starter, that's just crazy.

"That means a lot in this day of free agency, that guys change teams so much and for me to be able to be on one team for that long would be really something special to me. And to be able to creep up such a historic franchise's leaderboard would mean even more."

It also would mean a lot to O'Day if he can talk Davis into re-signing.

"It's a powerful thing when you have players reach out to guys that could possibly join the team and I look forward to doing that," O'Day said. "No. 19, he's actually a mustache enthusiast, so I'm hoping that maybe he'll see a picture of this and think that he couldn't stand not seeing it for a while. So maybe he sees it and thinks that's where I want to play.

"Chris is a good friend of mine. And every free agency situation is different. And he's going to do what's right for his family. That being said, I'm going to do everything I can to get him to come back because I think he's a difference-maker. He's got a rare skill set that you don't see everywhere, so he makes our team better.

"He's a great teammate, a good friend. And I've been talking to him a little bit, just kind of relating my experience to his. There's a couple differences in that, notably zeros. But we've been friends talking about it, going through it, bouncing ideas off each other."

"As far as our immediate business, the club is still looking for left-handed hitting to balance our lineup and we're looking to strengthen our pitching staff and add depth to the organization, so that quest continues," Duquette added.

I'll post more later today from the presser.




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