Friday Bird Droppings

My fellow Birdlandians, I owe you an apology. I wrongly assumed that we would get steamrolled by the masses at Orioles Hangout, but you have proven me wrong. With the voting for the Mobbies reaching the halfway point, we are holding strong with Goliath. Today is our second consecutive day in first place in the Orioles category. We remain the underdog, to be certain, but my faith has been renewed thanks to your loyalty and tenacity. Please continue voting daily (including over the weekend!). To quote our favorite bubble blowing centerfielder, "We might as well just win this."

And while you're voting for us, don't forget the rest of the SB Nation ticket. Vote Testudo Times for best Terps blog and Baltimore Beatdown for best Ravens blog.

Question of the Day: In case you missed it, free agency rules are a little different this year, with everybody being granted free agency (no more filing for it) immediately and the exclusive negotiating window reduced to five days (instead of fifteen) after the World Series ends. That means, in theory, that there will be more hot stove news sooner...but walking-definition-of-conservative Andy MacPhail is undoubtedly still going to take his time. Is this a fatal flaw of our fearless leader, or merely a harmless (albeit annoying) quirk? -Andrew

Links!

Sparky Anderson, Hall of Fame manager of Reds and Tigers, dies at 76

Former major leaguer Wayne Kirby agrees to become Orioles' first base coach and outfield instructor 
T-Bone is out, Kirby is in. He'll be the first base coach and outfield instructor. So that's Kirby, Jim Presley, and Rick Adair who have been added to the staff. Juan Samuel is being brought back to coach third, and Mark Connor will probably be the pitching coach. That just leaves bench coach, which will hopefully go to Don Wakamatsu so that I can hear Jim Palmer try to pronounce his name on a regular basis. 

The Dodgers sign Jay Gibbons | HardballTalk
Well crap! Guess we gotta go with our backup plan of Carl Crawford. 

The View from Sarasota - Upgrades at Ed Smith Stadium
Roar From 34 has some recent pictures posted of the construction of the Orioles' spring home. Is it February 13th yet?

Tigers decline Peralta option; return possible | MLB.com: News
It looks like Jhonny Peralta will return to the Tigers, but would you be interested in him for the Orioles?

Giants decline Renteria's 2011 option | MLB.com: News
Or how about Edgar Renteria? He's only 57 years old. 

Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth out of Yankees offseason plans, Cliff Lee tops free agent wish list
As expected, the Yankees are going to give Cliff Lee the royal treatment in their attempts to woo him to the dark side, but they are apparently not interested in Crawford. 

Nationals lurking in Cliff Lee sweepstakes - ESPN Dallas
I wonder if "lurking" is different than "lying in the weeds," and if so, how?

School of Roch: Mata clears waivers; this and that (updated)
Bruce Chen wants a multi-year deal. He always was a jokester. 

Inbox: When will coaching staff be set? | orioles.com: News
In the latest edition of the Inbox, O's beat reporter Brittany Ghiroli answers questions about Buck Showalter's coaching staff, possible trades and how the pitching staff is shaping up for 2011. -duck

Orioles Insider: Mata outrighted to Triple-A
Frank Mata has been outrighted to Norfolk, which allows the Orioles to add Jason Berken back onto the 40-man roster from the 60-day disabled list. -duck

So vote for the open thread, because it doesn't even want to go to college, and it doesn't care, and as president it won't do anything. The only promise the open thread will make is that if elected it will immediately dismantle the student government, so that none of us will ever have to sit through one of these stupid assemblies again!