NEW ORLEANS -- From Mark Belanger to Cal Ripken Jr., the Orioles have been know for their shortstops. And now they have acquired former MVP Miquel Tejada for six years and $65 million.

For just the fourth time this weekend, the podium in the media room was used as the Orioles announced the signing of the free agent yesterday. Tejada, 28, has a .270 career batting average with 156 home runs in seven major league seasons.

"He continues the tradition of great Orioles shortstops. We're tickled pink to be adding his bat in the middle of the lineup," said Mike Flanagan, the team's vice president for baseball operations.

The Tejada signing is the first of what should be a busy season for the Orioles, who have money to spend on the free agent market.

Lobbying

The crossroads of the baseball universe this weekend is the marble-floored lobby of the New Orleans Marriott, where the steady stream of talk, talk and more talk creates an unceasing buzz.

Hundreds of baseball writers, general managers, managers, coaches, various team executives, players agents and job-seekers move in and out of the area but the drone remains constant. Gossip is swapped.

Rumors are floated. Questions are posed. Notes are compared. Analysis is spun. Stories are told. Backs are slapped. Cell phones chirp.

It's a who's who of baseball, except for the Yankees, of course, who don't attend the meetings as yet another indication that they are in a league of their own.

Keep an ear open and there's plenty of hot topics carried on the breeze: the Brewers payroll has shrunk to about $28 million; the odds are 50-50 that Roger Clemens won't retire and will instead pitch with former teammate Andy Pettitte in Houston, and won't that be a formidable tandem for the Pirates to face; left-hander reliever Scott Sauerbeck is close to a deal with the Cubs, who made the playoffs with an influx of ex-Pirates; Reggie Sanders rejected a $6 million, two-year deal offered by the Tigers, who then gave the contract to Rondell White; Kenny Lofton will get at least $3 million from the Yankees, who may sweeten the deal with a second year; Vladimir Guerrero wants an eight-year deal; what was Bill Singer thinking when he uttered the remarks that got him fired by the Mets just after he left the Pirates to become a special assistant; shouldn't the Pirates, Reds and Brewers be headquartered at the Hilton, where the minor-league meetings are being held.

The temptations of the French Quarter beckon from just outside the hotel door, they might as well be across the ocean. The lobby is the only place to be.

Rule 5 losses

The Pirates could lose up to seven players today in the Rule 5 Draft, in which minor-leaguers of a certain age may be claimed by other organizations. But general manager Dave Littlefield said he is comfortable with keeping three spots open on the 40-man roster because the Pirates plan to fill them with free-agent signings that will fill holes in the lineup.

None of the players, including left-handed pitcher Frank Brooks and center fielder Rich Thompson, was expected to make the team this spring.

"I'd love to be able to keep them all. These are tough decisions that are part of roster management," Littlefield said. "Just because they're selected doesn't mean you've lost them."

A player selected in the major-league phase must remain on the 25-man roster for the entire season or he will be returned to the club that lost him for half of the $50,000 drafting price.

Three-team trade

Left-handed pitcher Mark Hendrickson went from Toronto to Colorado to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in a three-team trade that sent left-hander Joe Kennedy to the Rockies and right-hander Justin Speier to the Blue Jays.

Hendrickson, 29, went 9-9 with a 5.51 ERA for the Blue Jays last season while leading all AL rookies with 30 starts and finishing second in wins and third in innings.

Speier, 30, was 3-1 with a 4.05 ERA in 72 relief appearances last season and had nine saves. Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi thinks Speier, Aquilino Lopez and Kerry Ligtenberg can combine to finish games.

Kennedy, who was Tampa Bay's opening-day starter, went 3-12 with a 6.32 ERA. He made 22 starts before finishing the season with 10 relief appearances.

Blum to Devil Rays

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays acquired switch-hitting infielder Geoff Blum from the Houston Astros in exchange for right-hander Brandon Backe.