Baltimore placed 2B-R Jerry Hairston on the disabled list yesterday. Hairston fractured the fifth metatarsal (the bone on the outside of his foot, extending back from the small toe) of his right foot during an at-bat in the second inning of the Orioles' May 20th game in Anaheim. Reportedly, Hairston tripped on home plate after fouling off a Kevin Appier pitch and somehow landed in such a way that he broke the bone. He's expected to miss a minimum of six weeks and could miss closer to eight weeks. The 26-year-old may have screws inserted into the foot to facilitate the healing process.

While Hairston was in the midst of a career year, hitting .287 with a .387 OBP and .382 SLG on 45 H, 7 2B, 1 3B, and 2 HR with a 21:19 BB:K and 14/19 SB% in 157 AB, this injury probably made way for a better player to join the Orioles. Baltimore called up IF-S Brian Roberts to replace Hairston on the roster. In his third partial season at AAA, the 25-year-old was hitting .315 with a .401 OBP and .399 SLG on 56 H, 13 2B, and 1 3B with a 27:12 BB:K and 19/25 SB% in 178 AB at the time of his call up.

Roberts likely won't steal Hairston's job at second base. However, Roberts will start at second and leadoff while Hairston is out, and with a decent performance at the plate, Roberts should snatch the shortstop job from Deivi Cruz after Hairston returns. He's maintained a strong walk rate for years, and now he has increased his contact rate.

OF-L B.J. Surhoff is expected to return from the disabled list on Tuesday. He had reportedly fully recovered from the injury to his right hamstring and was set to leave the DL when he injured his left knee on Saturday. However, an MRI failed to reveal serious damage, so his return will only be delayed a week.

Unless he stuns the Orioles in the next week, 1B-R Carlos Mendez likely will return to AAA Ottawa to open a roster spot for Surhoff. Baltimore demoted 1B-R Jose Leon on May 18th in anticipation of Surhoff's return and then called up Mendez when Surhoff had trouble with his knee. Originally signed by Kansas City as a nondrafted free agent out of Venezuela in 1991, Mendez spent time in the Detroit and Oakland organizations before the Orioles signed him as a minor league free agent this past off-season. At the time of his promotion, he was hitting .384 with a .412 OBP and .558 SLG on 66 H, 14 2B, 2 3B, and 4 HR with a 9:20 BB:K and 1/2 SB% in 172 AB in the International League.

While the 28-year-old's numbers look impressive on the surface, there isn't much here that indicates he'll be able to replicate any of this production in the majors. Roberts' stats denote skills while Mendez's record shows a player in his physical peak, picking on competition with which he's comfortable. If Mendez had more position flexibility, I'd be in favor of giving him a bench role for a season or two but he's basically limited to first base. Leon was playing infrequently and unimpressively. If he does well at AAA, he'll rejoin the team later in the season when they have more at-bats available.

On Monday, Baltimore claimed SS-R Felix Escalona off waivers from Tampa Bay. Houston signed Escalona as a nondrafted free agent out of Venezuela in 1995, but lost him to San Francisco in the 2001 Rule 5 draft. Tampa then snatched him off waivers from the Giants prior to the start of last season. The Devil Rays kept him in the majors for all of 2002 in order to gain his rights, so they seem rather irresponsible to now let him slip away from the organization because they wanted a 40-man roster spot for RHP Jeremi Gonzalez. I doubt anyone would have claimed LHP John Rocker, if they'd wanted to toss him off the 40-man.

Escalona didn't have stellar skills in A+, so he obviously wasn't going to adjust well to a sudden jump to the majors. However, his A+ numbers display sufficient promise to warrant giving him a full season at both AA and AAA before writing him off. The 24-year-old was hitting .244 with a .320 OBP and .356 SLG on 22 H, 7 2B, and 1 HR with a 5:14 BB:K in 90 AB at AA Orlando in the Southern League when Baltimore lost him on waivers. He'd also spent ten days in the majors when injuries reduced Tampa's roster options. Unfortunately, the Orioles have now made the mistake of promoting Escalona to AAA to fill Brian Roberts' spot on the Ottawa roster. The last thing a Rule 5 pick needs after a season in the majors is to be rushed through his second chance in the minors. At this rate, he looks headed for a bench job after he turns 27.

Baltimore moved OF-R Marty Cordova to the 60-day DL to make room for Escalona on the 40-man, insuring that Cordova would spend the full eight weeks estimated for his recovery from surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow on the disable list.