The O's made a number of roster moves on Tuesday. The best of them was dumping catcher Keith Osik and adding Robert Machado as the backup. Machado is a superior hitter to Osik (that's not saying much) and should at least be able to get a hit here and there when he gives Javy Lopez an off day (which is more than Osik could do).

Rick Bauer was also optioned to Triple-A Ottawa to make room for Jose Bautista in the O's pen. Bautista pitched 1 2/3 innings last night and pitched well initially before getting hammered. When asked about rushing Bautista executive vice president Jim Beattie said, "We probably are, but under these circumstances, it's the right thing to do. We really felt it would be nice to have a power arm in the bullpen. And we wanted to give him a chance." The O's still believe Bautista can be a starter but after seeing him last night it looks like he'll need to put on some more muscle before he could throw 180+ innings in the majors. The best place to do that, in my opinion, is in the minors and not in a major league bullpen.

The O's also recalled Jose Leon from Ottawa yesterday. He'll be used off the bench and will make the occasional start at first base.

The only move I wish we didn't have to make is the designation of rule 5 pick Jose Bautista for assignment. He definitely wasn't going to get much playing time on the O's bench this season but since the O's think they have a shot in the division right now they've dumped him to use that roster spot on a major leaguer (or someone closer to a major leaguer than Bautista is right now). If Bautista doesn't get picked up by another team he'll go back to the Pirates to play in High-A or Double-A.