Everybody knew that free agent Matt Wieters would not be reporting to the Ed Smith Stadium spring training complex along with the Orioles pitchers and catchers on Monday, but he was still conspicuous by his absence.
The locker that he had occupied every spring since the Orioles moved into the facility now has Welington Castillo's name above it and Castillo's new O's jersey hanging in it, which just made it all the more real.
"It's different, that's for sure, but it happens," said Zach Britton, who developed into the top closer in baseball over the past two years with Wieters as a regular presence behind the plate.