Hurler Tracey impresses in side session for O’s

Tracey looked around the clubhouse of his new team, the Orioles, Sunday and saw hope.

The Orioles claimed Tracey off waivers Friday, giving the team a pitcher they actually coveted a year ago before the trade deadline.

“Any time you get a chance to get a fresh scene and new blood, it’s great,” said Tracey, an eighth round selection for the White Sox in the 2002 amateur draft. ”It’s kind of like a rebirth in your career, a chance to start over, new people, a new environment and go from there.”

Tracey was involved in a controversy last year when he declined White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen’s request to hit Rangers’ third baseman Hank Blalock in a retaliation move. After getting Blalock out, Guillen pulled Tracey and the pitcher fell out of favor with the temperamental skipper.

Tracey allowed four hits and three runs last season with a 3.38 ERA.

Tracey said there were no regrets about his time in Chicago.

“Absolutely no regrets,” Tracey said. “Regrets leaving friends and people that are close to me, but they’re fine and I’m fine. Rebuilding, but you never know when you can catch lightning in the bottle.”

The Orioles got a preview of Tracey Sunday as he took part in a side throwing session at the team’s Fort Lauderdale complex.

Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo said Tracey had a “good power arm,” and showcased a slider and changeup with an “explosive fastball that we need to harness a bit.”

“It was only one short side session, but [pitching coach] Leo [Mazzone] was pleased with his fastball,” Perlozzo said. “We’ll probably get him on the side one more time and see where we are with him.”

Tracey could wind up in Triple-A Norfolk because of the short amount of time left in spring training.

“From our standpoint, we’ve been watching him for a while and felt that for $20,000 it was worth the claim for us,” Jim Duquette, the team’s vice president of baseball operations, said.