Will Cade Povich start the season with the Orioles? | MAILBAG

Question: Cade Povich was the Orioles’ best starter last September. Why isn’t he getting more build-up by the team. Have they already made up in their mind he’s starting the season in Triple-A? From: Richard Kalwarski

Answer: Richard, the Orioles know that they’re not going to make it through the season with just five starters — Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez, Dean Kremer, Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano. I think they value Povich highly, and while he might start the season at Triple-A, you saw last year that injuries happen. Albert Suárez ended up starting 24 games, which was not in the plans on Opening Day.

Povich will probably get to start many games, and fans shouldn’t be obsessed with the Opening Day roster because those 26 players will be augmented by perhaps another 26—or more.

Question:. I know a number of your local subscribers harp on getting key players signed to extensions and it’s easier said than done. I am wondering if Elias or Mr. Rubenstein can approach the players directly just to pulse their interest or are the O’s required to go through their agent first? From: Phil Cooke

Answer: Phil, players have agents for a reason, and agents don’t want their clients negotiating directly with team management. If Mike Elias or David Rubenstein approached a player directly, I’m sure he’d immediately be in contact with his agent. There’s no rule against it, but I can’t imagine that the Orioles would attempt to bypass an agent.

Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.