BALTIMORE -- Armed with nothing more than the stat sheet and some common sense, Orioles manager Dave Trembley successfully talked Kevin Millar into taking two days off.

Millar has been struggling in September, but he has been one of the team's most active players, and Trembley decided he could rest the first baseman and get some team business done simultaneously.

Trembley started Aubrey Huff at first base Thursday and rookie Scott Moore there on Friday, giving himself a chance to gauge his alternate options. All three players will be back next season, and Trembley needs to know where Moore can play. Huff and Millar will likely be shoehorned into similar roles next year, but Moore could be anything from a reserve to a starter.

"I've got Moore playing first base, and I didn't want him to face a lefty. They've got two lefties going the next two days," Trembley said before Friday's game. "He'll get a look at Spring Training. ... He's got an upside."

Millar, who may be running out of upside, played well enough to trigger several incentive clauses in his contract. The veteran activated a vesting option worth $2.75 million for next season and also earned $800,000 in incentives based on games played and plate appearances.

The first baseman is one of a few Orioles to play in at least 20 games for every month this season. Millar's numbers dropped across the board in the season's final month, when he registered season lows in batting average (.216), on-base percentage (.317) and slugging percentage (.352).

Despite that late-season dip, Millar will finish with numbers that are extraordinarily similar to last year's performance. Millar finished with 15 home runs, 64 RBIs and 64 runs in 2006 -- this year, he has 16 homers, 62 RBIs and 60 runs scored. He's been slightly less effective in all three important rate stats, but Millar will be back for a third-season encore.

Millar entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning on Friday, going 0-for-2 with a hit-by-pitch.

Talking points: Once the season ends, Trembley expects to forget about it. He said Friday that once Spring Training starts, he'll have nothing more to say about the '07 season. Trembley wants to move forward, and he's not sure how to do that if he's constantly expected to explain what went wrong this year and how he can be better prepared in the future.

"I'm letting it go. I'm not talking about 2007 anymore," he said. "I'm not going throw anything in anybody's face and try to rub salt in anybody's wounds. Everybody knows what's happened here, but it's going to be gone."

Having said that, Trembley clarified that he was speaking about his dealings with the media. He reserved the right to use the experience as motivational fodder for his players and said he's already thought about doing exactly that.

"I'm going to use it to re-enforce a lot of things I think are important, that I'm convinced could be helpful in making it better," he said of his plans for next season. "It will be a motivator for me, because I'm convinced [that] there's a certain way to do things and there's a certain amount of commitment [needed]. I've got one chance to do it, and I'm going to do it."

The favorites: Trembley's team has played against all of the playoff teams, and he said he's taken that experience and turned it into one potential favorite -- the Los Angeles Angels. Trembley said he thinks the leaders of the American League West division are the most well rounded team, and he spent a few moments ticking off their respective strengths.

"They've got very good starting pitching. They've got speed in the lineup," he said. "They've got a very good back of the bullpen. They manufacture runs and they can beat you with the three-run homer. They run the bases very well."

Always on the mind: Some of his players may try to forget about the season, but Trembley won't stray too far from baseball. Over time, he said, his wife has learned that his attention span can only last so long.

"We'll be driving down the street and she'll know," he said Friday. "She'll nudge me and she'll be talking, but I won't hear a word she's saying. She'll say, 'Oh, I know you're thinking about your lineup.'"

Quotable: "I'll still be thinking baseball. I'll be thinking baseball on Thanksgiving day. I'll be thinking baseball every day." -- Trembley, on his offseason plans

Coming up: The Orioles and Yankees will play the middle act of their final series on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. ET. Daniel Cabrera, who took a no-hitter deep into the game last year against New York, will be matched up against veteran southpaw Andy Pettitte.