"With contract talks at an impasse, the Orioles have moved away from Adam LaRoche and renewed discussions with fellow free agent first baseman Derrek Lee, according to multiple industry sources.

The development comes less than a week after the Orioles appeared to settle on LaRoche, the 31-year-old who hit .261 with 25 homers and 100 RBIs for the Arizona Diamondbacks last season, to fill their first-base vacancy. According to sources, the Orioles were negotiating almost exclusively with LaRoche's agent, Mike Milchin, last week, but the two sides have been unable to reach an agreement.

It isn't clear whether the holdup is LaRoche's reported insistence on a three-year deal while the Orioles would prefer not making that long of a commitment, or the player simply having better, more lucrative offers and not wanting to play in Baltimore.

Either way, the renewed talks this week with Lee's agent, Casey Close, appear to indicate that the Orioles aren't as confident as they once were in signing LaRoche. However, that could change quickly, as there remains mutual interest, according to sources.

Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail wouldn't comment on specific options, though he remains confident that the club can upgrade at the position.

"We're working towards it, exploring our options," said MacPhail. "We'll have something in place before the season starts."

The Orioles originally had hoped to agree to terms with a first baseman and have him take a physical to finalize the deal before team executives break for the Christmas holiday, but MacPhail said, "I think the ship has sailed on any physicals prior to the holidays.""