Perlozzo Tells Team to Buckle Down

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 27 -- It was with a hint of anger that Baltimore Orioles Manager Sam Perlozzo, stern face forward and hands on hips, confronted his players early Monday morning, moments before they took the field for a few hours of practice. Enough sloppy play, he told them. Players, especially those without a spot on the roster, must take these games seriously, he said. Most important, he concluded, it is time to respect the game.

Perlozzo's speech was quick, and by the end the anger had disappeared and his point was made.

"Sometimes we need that," shortstop Miguel Tejada said. "When you see your boss or manager talking to you like that it pumps you up and it makes you do something for him. It was exciting. We are a team and we need somebody to step up and talk the way he talks."

With less than a week remaining before the season opener, the Baltimore Orioles appear to need a few more practice games. While the roster is beginning to take shape, some Orioles appear vastly out of baseball shape, and though these Grapefruit League games are meaningless, even Perlozzo appears a bit worried.

"Basically the losses don't bother me, it's not going to mean anything," Perlozzo said. "But I want us to carry ourselves a little better. We need to turn it up a bit, I told them. It was more of a state of the union to see if we could play better baseball."

The state of the Baltimore union is this: Even in the final week of spring training the Orioles continue to tweak the roster, though a move that was made Sunday gives some clue to its makeup. Baltimore, a baseball official has confirmed, took catcher Geronimo Gil off the 40-man roster, exposing him to waivers. The Orioles will find out on Tuesday whether Gil is claimed by another team or whether Baltimore can send him to the minors.

Regardless, Gil won't start the season in Baltimore, meaning the Orioles will carry just two catchers, Ramon Hernandez and Javy Lopez, who will also see a significant amount of time at first base.

Baltimore, which already had an open spot on its 40-man roster, will likely fill its two roster vacancies with pitchers Jim Brower and John Halama, although it was still talking to several teams about minor trades.

With the Orioles carrying just two catchers, it appears there will be room for outfielders Nick Markakis, Corey Patterson and Luis Matos to make the team. One Orioles official said the team would have no problem carrying all three and letting each work his way into the lineup.

The club has little interest in free agent first baseman Carlos Peña, who was released by the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, or free agent reliever Jeff Nelson. The official said the Orioles would rather put one of their own young relievers on the roster than acquire Nelson, who pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings for the St. Louis Cardinals this spring.

Markakis, Patterson and Matos would join Chris Gomez and David Newhan on the bench and fight Kevin Millar and Jeff Conine for at-bats. Millar and Conine, who will see some time at first base, could get more at-bats if Lopez, who made his fourth error of the spring on Monday, continues to struggle.

Though Baltimore lost, 5-4, to the Florida Marlins on Monday, it appeared as if Perlozzo's talk had an effect. In the morning practice Tejada appeared more animated than he has all spring. He yelled at the top of his lungs while taking ground balls. He jumped up and down after committing a mistake. He sang while taking cuts before stepping into the batting cage.

"I thought the guys were a lot livelier," Perlozzo said. "Every once in a while you need a little bit of a wakeup call."