There are only 10 days before pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota, Fla., to embark on a new baseball season (the reporting date is Thursday, Feb. 19, their first workout is Friday, Feb. 20 and the first full squad workout is Wednesday, Feb. 25).
The exhibition games don't begin until March 3, so there will be a couple weeks of stories about players preparing for game action before the Grapefruit League schedule starts.
And then, of course, there will be stories about how the players are doing during the spring games – which often means little when the regular season rolls around. That's especially true with this club, which has just a few roster spots that are undecided, particularly if everyone is healthy.
Last month's FanFest likely got those baseball juices flowing again for many fans and players. For reporters, it's a good primer to discuss some topics with players before spring training begins in earnest.
This past week we wrote about some of the more compelling issues that came out of FanFest. But here are some more quotes – gathered by the hard-working Jon Meoli -- that maybe you hadn't seen in the past week.
And maybe these pearls can bridge the gap until you see your first images of pitchers throwing bullpen sessions in Sarasota next week.
Bud Norris on working with pitching coach Dave Wallace and bullpen coach Dom Chiti: "They gave me the confidence to go out there and play. You learn a lot every year. You can retool your game and kind of figure things out, but truly, the confidence every day. Wally, out in the bullpen every day, good or bad, he says you've got your stuff today go get 'em. Chiti, what he did with the bullpen group and just keeping them loose. It's a collective group out there, especially the staff, and that gave me the confidence to go out every fifth day and do my job."
Norris on the Orioles' winning attitude: "It's all about playing baseball with confidence and going out there and winning games gives you a lot of confidence. Teammates next to me, coaches, everybody was just bred with that in you. You go out there and play and be confident. Having a 90-plus-win season, winning the division series was outstanding. So, like I said, this is meaningful baseball. This is the kind of baseball you want to play."
Norris on the Orioles' rotation: "We don't have big star guys, we like to go out there and be gritty like the city of Baltimore and just play the game. We had five starters [with] sub-four [ERAs], which is pretty special."
Infielder Rey Navarro on signing his first big-league deal this winter with the Orioles: "It's something great that happened to me this year. … I feel excited about that."
Navarro on a preference between shortstop or second base: "I started growing up playing shortstop, I signed as a shortstop, but they moved me to second base and I feel I love to play defense. I feel great at second base, too. For me, I don't have a problem because in winter ball, I just played second base. I feel great playing both."
Infielder Ryan Flaherty on the feeling going back to spring training: "I think everyone is ready. That last day in Kansas City really, you know, it's a good thing to get that far, but you don't forget that feeling of being that close after that last game. It's just more motivation to come back this year."
Flaherty on the losses of outfielders Nick Markakis and Nelson Cruz: "The show goes on, and there's a new guy who's going to step up and fill Nick's spot and fill Nelson's spot. Obviously, big shoes to fill, but the weight gets distributed around the lineup."
Reliever Darren O'Day on losing to Kansas City in the ALCS: "I still don't think I've forgotten about it. That's something you want to remember, I think. I think after the last game, we all kind of sat around and it was pretty low. I didn't want to forget that. It's motivation the rest of the offseason. I think opening day will be time to put it behind you, but for now, I want to keep that impression."
O'Day on more potential free agents departing Baltimore after this season: "There's definitely a sense of urgency. You like to keep a team together forever, but it's not feasible in today's game. These guys pay attention to what's going on, there's a lot of guys that could take off after this year and we've got a pretty good team here for a few years. We'd like to continue that as long as we can."
Reliever Brian Matusz on the bullpen after it lost lefty Andrew Miller: "We've got both left-handed, right-handed arms. Everyone's gained a year of experience. We've brought back basically everybody except for Andrew. We have the pieces; I think it's going to be another good bullpen this year."
Right-hander Kevin Gausman on pitching in the playoffs: "That was awesome. I think any time you pitch in the playoffs, especially in that atmosphere. It was crazy here and in Kansas City, also. So pitching in those types of environments, and also Jeter's last game, those things, those are things that you can't really compare anything to unless you do it. I feel like maybe the next playoff game, I'll kind of know what to expect."