Quick hits from MacPhail (w/quotes)

I'll post quotes shortly, but here are some topics that president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail addressed a few minutes ago - after he mocked all the false rumors that have been swirling. He even dropped a "kicking the tires" reference with a roll of his eyes. According to MacPhail: * We shouldn't expect any trades or signings to be announced tonight. * No trade talks are dead at this time "until they (players) go off the board." * No deals with free-agent relievers have been completed pending a physical. * He's more optimistic right now about re-signing Koji Uehara than he was earlier today. * He's had more talks with agents than rival executives. * He expects Nolan Reimold to be part of the spring training roster, though he smiled and reminded us that "there's always the unexpected." Here are the quotes I promised you: On whether he feels like he's gotten close to completing a deal today: "We're trying to do some things. We've had conversations, we've gotten close on some things. We're still working on trying to figure out how we can improve in different areas, have some offers out. We just have to see how it plays out." On whether something could happen tonight: "I don't think so." On whether he's optimistic that the club can lock up a few relievers: "You never really know because you only influence half the equation, so you never know exactly what's on the other end, and they don't like to tell you exactly what's on the other end. So my conservative nature would be such that you don't know. You just make your offers and you get a sense of things, and a lot of times your sense is wrong, and sometimes your sense is right and things change. Maybe something you thought was coming your way doesn't evolve that way. That's why I'm generally very careful about what I say, or try to be." On Ty Wigginton's two-year deal with the Rockies: "Wiggy did a nice job for us. And I'm glad to see Wiggy get the deal he did, to be honest with you. I think once he saw us get the everyday third baseman and the potential of landing a different first baseman, the at-bats were going to be, in all likelihood if we stay healthy, reduced for him. And that was important to him, to go somewhere where he could get a lot of at-bats. They were kind enough to come in here and talk to us, and we said, 'Look, if you can get that, you've just got to do it.'" On whether Jason Bartlett is still in play for the Orioles: "We're trying to do what we can about shortstop, and that includes Cesar (Izturis) and that includes others as well. We'll just have to see how that plays out." On whether there are any options that no longer exist: "Not until they go off the board." On whether he's met more with agents than team representative: "It has been a significantly larger percentage of agent time than club time, and the club time at this stage is a lot on the phone and not sit down here because a lot of the preliminary stuff you've already gone through." On whether he's met or contacted the agents for all the free agents he's targeted: "We probably got that landscape done before we ever set foot in Orlando, in terms of contact. We've gone from room to room or they've come in here. There's been no shortage of agent traffic." On whether he's more optimistic about re-signing Koji Uehara now than he was in the morning: "Yeah, I would say so, but again, that doesn't necessarily mean anything." On whether he's confident that he'll have more news to announce in the next few days: "We're trying, but you just don't know what other people's timetables are. If you look at the history of these meetings, a lot of times these guys will go back, collect all the information, meet with their clients and make their decision next week after the meetings. So we don't really control the timeframe." On Nolan Reimold's status: "We've seen two Nolans. We're hopeful that the Nolan we get back will resemble more the 2009 one than the 2010." On whether he fully expects Reimold to be at spring training: "We'll see. Yeah, I do. There's always the unexpected, but sure."