This is the sort of lyrical prowess you needed to make it in the early 1980s.

Today is the birthday of your most excellent leader, Stacey. Happy birthday, Stacey! Sorry for no Érik Bédard.

More photos » Lynne Sladky - AP

Your Offseason O of the Day: Billy the Marlin Penicillin

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13 DAYS.

And slim pickings out there, but it's that time of year. 

O's prospect Brian Parker suspended 50 games | MLB.com: News
Because there haven't been enough Orioles suspended for prohibited substances, right? (first mentioned by matman008 in the Bédard thread yesterday) -zk

Rebuilding blocks include trades, free agents, homegrown talent - USATODAY.com
USA Today takes a look at rebuilding teams. Nothing you haven't heard before about the Orioles, plus reviews of the Mariners, Indians, A's and White Sox.

Baseball Nerd: Wrong - Keith Olbermann
An interesting column I stumbled across by Olbermann muses on the 1995 strike, and whether its replacement players (including Kevin Millar) should be held ou of video games as a result. Bizarre, but a good read. -zk

On February 5 in CC history: 

• The worst seven weeks of the year (2007)
• Thanks and farewell, Brian Bob? (2008)

All the world will be your enemy, Open Thread. And when they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you; digger, listener, runner, Thread with the swift warning. Be cunning, and full of tricks, and your people will never be destroyed. 

More photos » Ted S. Warren - AP

BUH DARD :-(. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

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Érik Bédard, why have you forsaken us?

Ok, so it's not official yet, but it appears that Bédard is headed back to the Seattle Mariners on a one year deal.

MLB.com's Jim Street first reported that the Mariners are interested in re-signing Bédard:

I have now heard that the deal is a one-year $1.5 million base salary contract that includes a shipload of incentives.  Bedard, you might recall, made $7.5 million last season.

Later, the News Tribune out of Tacoma, WA talked to Bédard about the possibility of returning to the Mariners and Bédard showed great interest although he said no offer has been extended. Some rosy quotes from the surly Canadian:

"They' ve done a phenomenal job this off-season," Bedard said. "Getting Cliff Lee? Man, with Felix (Hernandez) and Lee at the top of the rotation, how are you ever going to lose?"

"I'd love it - put me down as No. 3B, because Ryan (Rowland-Smith) could be No. 3, he's ready," Bedard said. "I'd love to be back in Seattle."

Finally, at about 4 p.m., Jon Morosi of Yahoo! tweeted:

Source confirms that Bedard is close to a one-year deal with the #Mariners. #MLB

I've wanted Érik Bédard to return to the Orioles since the day he became a free agent, and now it looks like it probably won't happen. Bédard is hardly a sure thing. He's rehabbing from labrum surgery and he won't be ready to pitch until late May/early June at the earliest. If he'll return to form or even close to it remains to be seen. But I still wanted him.

The Orioles have a lot of promising young pitching and a few veterans, but you can never have enough pitching. The idea of having Bédard as depth in the middle of the season and the idea of seeing him in the rotation with Brian Matusz and Brad Bergesen and Chris Tillman made me a giddy Orioles fan. I even learned how to make the accent aigu for him!

Even though Bédard hasn't been close this off-season to returning to the Orioles, I still sort of feel like I lost something. That's what I get for getting my hopes up. But I suppose if Bédard isn't going to be an Oriole, Seattle is a pretty decent place for him. If he can return and be effective, a rotation including Felix Hernandez, Cliff Lee, and Bédard is straight up ridiculous.

More photos » Rob Carr - AP

Your Offseason O of the Day: Mike Gonzalez (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

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TWO WEEKS TO PITCHERS AND CATCHERS!

Throwing Strikes With Chris Tillman
Tillman answered questions for baysox.com, lots of interesting stuff. He looks up to Jeremy Guthrie because he's "not too old," he made fun of Brian Matusz for being so excited about his bobblehead, and actual stuff about baseball too. -Stacey

Who deserves to be bronzed? - ESPN
Rob Neyer is talking baseball statues and puts Cal Ripken at the top of the list of those that are missing. -Stacey

Sarfate Clears Waivers
He's been assigned to AAA Norfolk and has received an invite to Spring Training. -Stacey

Melewski talks with Mike Gonzalez
Steve Melewski interviews Mike Gonzalez about coming to Baltimore. -Stacey

MLB offseason buzz - FOX Sports on MSN
Former Oriole Kris Benson is trying for a comeback in the NL and expects to be with a team "within the next few weeks" according to his agent. -zk

Baltimore Magazine - Single In Smalltimore
Orioles' head groundskeeper Nicole Sherry is one of this year's singles profiled in Baltimore Magazine. Her profile isn't so bad but I don't know where they find these people because most of them sound like d-bags. -Stacey

On February 4 in Camden Chat History: birdman on Daniel Cabrera (2006), MLB.com slaps SC in the face (2007), Thanks and farewell, Erik (2008), Not so enthused [about Bedard trade] (2008), Obama vs Clinton (2008), Burres no longer our problem. (2009). Yeah, I pulled extras, because there was a lot of chatter in 2008. -zk

More photos » Alan Diaz - AP

about 1 month ago: FILE - In this Aug. 14, 2009, file photo, Colorado Rockies' Garrett Atkins follows through on his solo home run against Florida Marlins' Josh Johnson in the seventh inning of a baseball game in Miami. Atkins and the Baltimore Orioles finalized their $4.5 million, one-year contract on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

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Continuing the review of Orioles and their divisional rivals by position, here is my ranking and rundown of the first basemen in the AL East:

1. Mark Teixeira (Yankees) - Orioles fans are quite familiar with Mark Teixeira (and it's fair to say he knows how we feel about him). In 2009, the switch-hitting Yankee co-led the AL with 39 HR and hit .292/.383/.565. He'll likely be just as good in 2010, another big bat in a lineup full of big bats. I don't really have much to say about Mark Teixeira, except that I still get annoyed when I think about all of his double talk.  

2. Kevin Youkilis (Red Sox) - For all of the hoopla surrounding Teixeira, I honestly don't think he's all that much better than Kevin Youkilis. Offensively Teixeira is clearly superior thanks to his power but Youkilis gets on base a ton, has a killer eye for the plate, and if you put any stock in clutch stats it's worth noting that he hits the best when there are two outs and runners in scoring position. And as far as defense goes Youkilis is the better player (don't let Teixeira's gold glove fool you). Over the past three years Youkilis has put up UZR/150 of 10.3, 4.0, and 15.2 at 1B and his career UZR/150 at 1B is 6.5. Teixeira, conversely, put up a -5.2, 9.3, -4.1 and has a career UZR/150 of 1.7. If you're a fan of the Fielding Bible, Youkilis makes the top ten for first basemen nearly every year. Teixeira doesn't. 

3. Carlos Peña (Rays) - While Peña isn't as complete a player as Teixeira and Youkilis, he's very good and I always feel a little bitter when I see his name. It's nothing against him, rather the bitterness is directed towards the Orioles. I searched high and low on the internet for the quote from Peña where he said the was in talks with the Orioles but they couldn't work anything out and thus he ended up with the Rays, but I couldn't. Did I dream that? Anyway, apparently the Orioles and Peña just couldn't come to terms so he signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for $800,000. Over the past three years Peña has played 422 games and put up a line of .252/.382/.553 with 116 home runs. Orioles first basemen in that same time frame have hit .263/.337/.442 with 64 HR. Good job, Orioles. Anyway, Peña is likely to hit at least 30 HR in 2010 and he's coming into a contract year so who knows. 

4. Lyle Overbay (Blue Jays) - Lyle Overbay is no star but he's had a very solid major league career. He'll be 33 years old in 2010 and is coming off of one of his most productive seasons. The way the Blue Jays lineup has shaken out he'll probably be one of their most productive players. 

5. Garrett Atkins (Orioles) - And now we get down to it. Atkins has been discussed to death here. I am hoping hoping hoping that Atkins makes the comeback that Andy MacPhail seems to think he's capable of. Atkins may be on the wrong side of 30 and coming off three straight years of declining production, but he's ours now so let's all pretend like he has a chance of being good.

More photos » Rob Carr - AP

Your Offseason O of the Day: 3E1N (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

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Guthrie, Bergesen remain motivated | MLB.com: News
Good news, Jeremy and Bradley are still going to try really hard to pitch well. -Stacey

Camden Depot: Keith Law on the Fan Tonight
Keith Law was on local radio tonight and Camden Depot captured his comments on the O's young players including Wieters, Matusz, Britton, Tilman, and Arrieta. -Stacey

Melvin Mora Wants Rocktober - SportsUntapped.com
I don't know anything about this website but it made me wonder what Melvin will do on a team that has guys with more postseason experience than him? I mean, that was his thing. Now all he has left is bunts. -Stacey

Inbox: Will Tejada fill in at shortstop? | orioles.com: News
Fordin weighs in on Tejada-as-Izzy-backup, Josh Bell, Lou Montanez, and more. -zk

Ripken's opinion on going from short to third
Just in case Miggi is reading, I thought this might be helpful. -Stacey

On February 3 in CC History: Matos signs; Javy agrees to stay (2006), Super Bowl picks (2007), JP pwns Rick Maese (2008), duck on Doucheira (2008 bonus!), Orioles sign Wigginton (2009)

That's my life, I don't apologize for that. But I always thought that when it was your time, that you would be the one to hold the strings. Senator Open Thread, Governor Open Thread, something.