Wednesday Bird Droppings: A quiet holiday week

Nov 23, 2022 - 12:10 PM

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Good morning, Birdland!

Major League Baseball teams sure do take their time before diving into free agency, don’t they? In other leagues, deals are getting announced almost the second the window opens. It happens in the NBA and the NFL. In professional soccer there will be deals agreed to even sooner than that. But in baseball, it’s a slow burn.

Of course, the proximity of the start of free agency to the end of the season complicates things. In baseball, it’s almost immediately after the World Series ends. Asking a team and player to make a commitment that quickly is a tall task.

On top of that, the holiday season is underway with Thanksgiving this week, quickly followed by Christmas and New Year’s Eve/Day. Life can be complicated.

But if history is any indication, we should expect baseball moves to get more frequent after this week. Thanksgiving will be in the rear view, and the Winter Meetings will be looming.

This year’s Winter Meetings take place December 4-7 in San Diego. By that time, teams should have a better idea of where they stand from a budget perspective, and players and their agents should understand what the market is looking like for their talents. Both of these things add up to more movement.

The Orioles should be part of that movement, but who knows. They have not been solidly connected to any specific free agents yet, just the idea of a solid starter and maybe more.

As for today, enjoy a day of work where no one really expects you to get much done. It’s basically a holiday, so maybe just watch a little World Cup, send an email, and call it a day.

Links

A few random Orioles facts from 2022 | Roch Kubatko
We do love a fun fact! It gives you the ability to really dig into a topic you find interesting and then weird out your friends with how much you care about a silly little baseball team.

The case for the Orioles going all-in on a top free agent pitcher this winter | Jon Meoli
Since the O’s have invested so much draft capital into hitters in Mike Elias’ first four years, it makes sense that that would fill the pitching gap with free agent spend.

The Orioles infield: Five questions on who plays where, who gets added | The Athletic
My personal belief is that the Orioles infield is going to be manned by players they already have. Maybe they go get a veteran utility type, but the starters at the four spots will be people they already have.

In wake of Hurricane Ian, O’s Minor Leaguer gives back in Florida | Orioles.com
Some nice, feel good stuff as we head into the holiday.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Brandon Snyder turns 36 today. An Orioles’ first-round pick in 2005, the corner infielder would play just 16 games with the big league squad between 2010 and ‘11.
• Justin Turner celebrates his 38th. His big league career began with the Orioles, where he made his way into 17 games between 2009 and ‘10. Since then, he has become an All-Star and MVP candidate with the Dodgers.
• Adam Eaton is 45 years old. The righty pitched in eight games for the 2009 Orioles.
• Ryan McGuire turns 51 today. His Orioles career was brief, just 17 games in 2002.
• The late Todd Cruz (d. 2008) was born on this day in 1955. A member of the World Series winners in 1983, Cruz played two seasons with the Orioles as an infielder.
• Another posthumous celebration for John Anderson (b. 1929, d. 1998). He pitched in four games for the 1960 Birds.

This day in history

This has been a pretty slow date in Orioles history, according to Baseball Reference. Here’s a few things have had occurred outside of Birdland:

1976 - Jacques Mayol becomes the first man in recorded history to reach a depth of 100 meters undersea without breathing equipment.

1992 - The IBM Simon, referred to as the first “smartphone,” is introduced at COMDEX in Las Vegas.