I took this photo back on 9/5/10.

Teams are doing their final hedge-trimming around now, and the Orioles are keeping up with the Joneses and are making cuts today. Several players are expected to, well, not make the team, so let’s see who’s been cut so far and make some guesses about what the team will look like by the end of the week.

Mark Hendrickson (left) was cut today. He has the option to opt out of his contract if he doesn’t want to go to Norfolk, so we’ll have to wait and see if he feels like he could be more useful to another club. He does appear to like Baltimore, however, as I mentioned in a previous post some time back, so I’m not entirely sure if he’ll decide to opt out of his contract and become a free agent or not.

I took this one on 9/13/10.

Nick Green and Clay Rapada were also optioned down this morning. They’ll start off the season in the Minors, so you might see them again at some point this year if they’re needed. (Nick Green, as I’ve mentioned before, can even serve as a pitcher in a pinch, although those would be extreme circumstances.)

Ryan Drese was cut this morning, but he’s expected to accept an assignment to Norfolk. Not much to say there.

Randy Wynn, Rick VandenHurk, and David Riske were actually the first three names to come out this morning. VandenHurk and Riske actually left camp last night, but there’s no word on why (I did see something about Riske leaving for personal reasons). Showalter is really high on Riske, so he might stay in the organization. VandenHurk is out of options and would have to clear waivers before reaching Norfolk, so a team looking for pitching could pick him up. I can actually see him being picked up, too.

More cuts are coming later, or so I’m told, so we’ll have to wait before I can update you on those. Zach Britton is starting today’s game and there’s no word on whether he’ll be optioned back down to Norfolk after his start or not, but I can see it happening considering that Tillman and Bergesen have Major League experience. I’ll update you when I know!

EDIT: Pat Egan and Nolan Reimold have also been optioned down.