Guess I picked the wrong day to write a column in the morning and take a long lunch. The Orioles did, indeed, announce their next round of cuts, optioning Josh Bell, Rhyne Hughes, Brandon Snyder and Michael Aubrey to the Triple-A Norfolk roster, reassigning Dennis Sarfate, Frank Mata, Josh Perrault and Jonathan Tucker to the minor league camp and optioning Pedro Florimon to the Double-A Bowie rosters.
The O's also announced earlier today that Dave Stockstill has been named Director of International Operations and his brother, John, has been named Director of Player Development. They've basically switched positions, and the move -- which will become effective April 5 -- has been widely expected for the past several days.
Of course, the biggest news of the day has not happened yet. Brian Roberts will make his first exhibition appearance tonight against the Minnesota Twins at Ed Smith Stadium, leading off and playing second base.
Here's the Orioles lineup:
Brian Roberts 2B
Miguel Tejada 3B
Nick Markakis RF
Matt Wieters DH
Adam Jones CF
Luke Scott 1B
Nolan Reimold LF
Craig Tatum C
Cesar Izturis SS
Chris Tillman RHP
Injury update: Koji Uehara, who is struggling with another hamstring issue, threw off flat ground again today and apparently threw harder than his last workout, but manager Dave Trembley said a few minutes ago that Koji was unable to complete his running progressions, so his status remains very uncertain.