Chris

Widger

Because Widger’s $700,000 salary is guaranteed, Flaherty needs to clearly outplay him in order to make the team. That probably won’t happen. Flaherty might head back to the Devil Rays if he’s released.

The Tigers must be unimpressed with Bill Haselman. Chris Widger and John Flaherty are both available, but since Widger is a recent free agent on a major league contract, he could reject any deal.

He could throw yesterday, but he still lacked complete feeling in the finger. Widger likely will be sent back to the minors soon to make room for Joe Girardi on the roster.

Widger, who was hitting .184/.264/.263 in 76 at-bats before being cut by the White Sox last month, replaces Javy Lopez on the roster and will take over as Ramon Hernandez’s backup.

He’ll try to catch on as a backup elsewhere, but he might have to spend a month in the minors before becoming some team’s No. 3 catcher in September.

With Jason Varitek (knee) on the disabled list, some other catching options include Mike Lieberthal, Javy Lopez, Henry Blanco, Josh Paul and Kelly Stinnett. Widger was recently let go by the White Sox, while Stinnett was released by the Yankees.

Widger suffered a pinched nerve in his neck last week, but with Ramon Hernandez returning the Orioles lineup Monday, Baltimore is covered behind the plate.

It says a lot about the Orioles that Widger, who was 4-for-50 since the start of July and hadn’t batted in two weeks because of a neck injury, was the first choice off the bench to hit against Mike Myers.

Widger’s improvement led to the removal of Danny Ardoin from the roster today. “Everything should be OK,” Widger said. “I think I can play right now, but if I do something to it I’d be back to square one. So we’ll give it another day or two.”

Widger had been designated for assignment 10 days ago.