Following the Orioles' Grapefruit League season-ending 11-0 victory over the New York Mets, the club made its last two cuts to get down to 25 players, though the final roster will not be official until tomorrow.
The Orioles designated infielder Robert Andino for assignment and apparently will try to pass him through waivers and outright him to Triple-A Norfolk. The O's also optioned reliever Kam Mickolio to the Norfolk roster. The Andino DFA makes room on the roster for left-handed reliever Will Ohman.
Andino knew what was coming when the Orioles traded for infielder Julio Lugo on Thursday, but he got the official word a few minutes ago. The Orioles undoubtedly tried to deal him and could not find any interest.
"They're going to put me on waivers and see what happens,'' he said. "I guess I wasn't good enough. They feel more comfortable with Lugo. They say he's a better ballplayer than me."
Not sure that's exactly what they said, but the logic of Andino's comments was indisputable.
"It's obvious,'' he said. "They went out and got somebody else."
Andino hopes he gets picked up on waivers, but knows that the chances of that are fairly slim at this time of year. He has to accept the assignment to Norfolk if he isn't claimed by another team.
"I don't think I belong in Triple-A,'' he said. "For a backup, I thought I did pretty well (this spring). It's a business."
Mickolio also was understandably disappointed, since he figured to make the club until a groin injury contributed to inconsistent command at the end of training camp.
"I'm pretty mad at myself,'' he said. "For all the work I put in this offseason and then to have the groin injury in the last week...I'm not going to worry too much...just go down and work."
The minor leaguers and the minor league coaches have started heading out of town already. Major league camp is over, except for Brad Bergesen's intrasquad tune up tomorrow in the minor league camp.