March 6, 2013

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — On a cool day with winds blowing out, Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter decided to give his most trusted relievers their first work of spring training.

Russ Canzler crushed two homers and drove in six runs behind rotation hopefuls Jake Arrieta and Zach Britton as Baltimore cruised to a 19-7 win over Team Spain at Ed Smith Stadium on Wednesday.

When he finally could see it, smell it, and feel the dirt of the baseball field underneath his cleats, Cuban outfielder Henry Urrutia stopped for a moment and took a deep breath of satisfaction.

MLBTR’s offseason in review series is just getting started, but the AL East is now complete. Click here to see how the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Blue Jays and Orioles navigated their respective offseasons. Here are some more links from the division… The Red Sox aren’t close to bumping up against MLB’s luxury tax, as Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com shows. With commitments in the $163MM range, the Red Sox have $15MM separating them from the $178MM threshold. Ichiro Suzuki explained to Ken Davidoff of the New York Post that he wanted to re-sign with the Yankees because of the team’s…

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — It was ironic that Ivan DeJesus Jr. was the Pittsburgh Pirates’ starting shortstop Tuesday when they routed Spain’s World Baseball Classic team 10-0.

DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) — In their last two games, the Baltimore Orioles have hit eight home runs, and it’s not the big stars who are hitting them. Conor Jackson and Steve Pearce, who may be fighting for the same roster spot, have five.