Jose Mesa a free man at age 74 (AP)
Mesa hasn't really been any good since 2002. You may or may not recall that he began his MLB career as a starter with the O's in 1987, pitching pretty horribly overall. In 1992 the O's sent him to Cleveland for Kyle Washington, who never made it to the show. In 1994, the Indians put Mesa in the bullpen, and in 1995 he had an all-time great relief year, posting a 1.12 ERA and 46 saves. He was never that good again, but he's held on for a long time.
Familiar players Jose Mesa has been traded for: Mike Flanagan (the deal that brought him to Baltimore from Toronto), and Steve Reed (1998, with Shawon Dunston to San Francisco for Reed and Jacob Cruz).
He started with the O's, hopefully he'll finish elsewhere. He still insists he's 39 years old.
Look! Someone is having a good postseason! AHHHH POUNCE POUNCE POUNCE (Sun)
Rick Maese has a nice senior picture that he uses for his profile photo. Look, I like Paul Konerko, too, and I'd love to see him at first base and batting cleanup for the O's next season, but (1) I don't think he'll leave the White Sox, and (2) he is not worth a terrible contract, which Maese seems willing to accept in order for it to look like things have changed. If the Orioles were to break the bank for Konerko, I figure they'd get complacent. "Well, boys, we've done it again! Our Orioles will surely compete with this addition! By the way, someone tell him to get rid of that goatee, this is a baseball team, not a gang of thugs."
There is a price I wouldn't pay for Konerko is all I'm saying. I know I say a lot that we have money and should do something with it, but I don't mean liberally dole out bad contracts. We aren't the Yankees, which means two things. The first is that we can't stockpile enough bad contracts to make a team good in spite of itself, and the second is that a bad contract would hurt us more than it does them. We have money, but not Steinbrenner lunatic money. But sure, I'd love to get Konerko. I don't see it happening.
The Yankees will keep Cashman after all... (Sun)
...and they'll hire Larry Bowa as third base coach (AP)
In an offseason of change, it appears nothing will really change for the Yankees after all. Well except hiring that raving idiot to coach third base. Maybe he will also be assigned the role of Guy Who Kicks Dirt and Yells so that Torre won't have to wake up from his naps anymore on questionable calls.
Finally, congrats to SB Nation's own John Sickels on the birth of his new son, Jackson.