This time last year, Aubrey Huff and Melvin Mora were heading into their contract years with significant momentum.
Huff was the 2008 Most Valuable Oriole and the American League Silver Slugger Award winner at designated hitter after batting .304 with 32 home runs and 108 RBIs.
Mora hit 23 homers and tied his career best with 104 RBIs while batting .376 in the second half of 2008.
One disappointing season later, however, Huff and Mora are without jobs as spring training approaches. The Orioles have shown no interest in bringing back either.
Neither says he is concerned - yet.
"I'm not worried about it. I did the same thing with the Orioles" as a free agent in 2007, Huff said. "It seems like every year it gets later and later. I don't know why it is. I'm just chilling out. I haven't heard anything. I've talked to my agents, and they're pushing teams and looking around. But it seems like unless you are a [Matt] Holliday, [Jason] Bay or [John] Lackey, you have to fall in line."
Huff, 33, batted .241 in 2009 with 15 homers and 85 RBIs. He was traded to the Detroit Tigers in August and ended the season dismally, hitting just .189 with two homers in 40 games as a part-timer.
"It was frustrating," Huff said. "I was expecting to be an everyday player, but it just didn't happen. ... There's no doubt when I played, it wasn't pretty. There are no excuses performing like I did, but I have been an everyday player my whole life, and the whole situation took me by surprise."
Typically of Huff's easygoing style, he's not stressed about the lack of suitors. He is heading this weekend to Las Vegas to hang out with friends.
"Something will come along; it always does," Huff said. "And if it doesn't, it wasn't meant to be."
Mora, meanwhile, said several clubs, including the Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Angels, have contacted his agent. Last month, Mora said, he spoke to Rockies manager Jim Tracy at length on the phone, and he said he talks regularly with Mets ace Johan Santana, who wants him to play for New York.
Mora said he is letting his agent handle the negotiations.
"I know I don't have a job, but it's because I like to take my time and do what's best for my family," he said.
The most difficult part of this offseason hasn't been the uncertainty, Mora said, but living among so many Orioles fans and knowing he won't return.
"Right now, it's hard for me to live in the area that I made my entire career. We'll go outside to a restaurant, and people say: 'I can't believe you are going to go away. You don't want to leave, right?' " said Mora, who lives in Bel Air with his wife and six children. "It's like they are so used to seeing me there. I know it's going to end this year, but I am an Oriole always, you know that."
Mora, 37, had one of his worst offensive seasons in 2009, hitting .260 with eight homers and 48 RBIs. He also clashed with Dave Trembley, publicly accusing his manager of "disrespecting" him.
Mora said he's not sure whether that outburst hurt his market value this offseason, but he wants other teams - and especially Orioles fans - to know he isn't a malcontent.
"I don't like people out there to think that I'm a troublemaker; I am not a troublemaker," he said. "If this guy is so bad, then why did the Orioles keep me around so long?"
More than anything, Mora said, he would like to prove that last year's drop-off in power numbers had more to do with his inability to lift weights after having shoulder surgery in December 2008 than any deterioration in skills.
This offseason, he said, he has been working out feverishly, running, lifting weights and adding an extra 5 pounds of muscle. He worked with his usual hitting instructor in Venezuela and has taken infield and outfield practice in case he is asked to be a utility player, which is a real possibility.
"I look at myself as a third baseman right now, but if something is out there and they want me to be utility, I'll have to see what they offer," Mora said.
Ultimately, Mora said, if he can't find the right situation, he doesn't have to play. The same can be said for Huff, who was asked whether he thought he might be forced to sign a minor league deal this winter.
"You never know, but I hope not," Huff said. "If that's the case, I don't know what I'd do, to be honest with you."
Farm team staffs announced
The Orioles on Thursday announced their minor league coaching staffs for the 2010 season. Gary Allenson (Triple-A Norfolk), Brad Komminsk (Double-A Bowie), Orlando Gomez (Single-A Frederick), Ryan Minor (Single-A Delmarva), Gary Kendall (short-season Single-A Aberdeen) and Einar Diaz (Rookie-level Bluefield) will serve as managers.
Allenson's Norfolk staff includes Mike Griffin (pitching coach) and Richie Hebner (hitting coach), while Kennie Steenstra (pitching) and Moe Hill (field) will be at Bowie, and Blaine Beatty (pitching) and Denny Hocking (field) will coach at Frederick. Troy Mattes (pitching) and former Orioles outfielder Mike Devereaux (field) will be with Delmarva.
Former Orioles Mike Bordick (offensive instructor), Leo Gomez (field coach for Bluefield) and Calvin Maduro (pitching coach for Gulf Coast Orioles) will also work with the organization's minor leaguers.