Saturday Bird Droppings

It's the first day of the off season, and with the Cardinals just wrapping up their 11th World Series win last night, there isn't much in the way of news for the Orioles this morning. Craig "Tater Tot" Tatum was claimed by the Astros, so he'll be (not) mashing taters for another team next year. Jake Fox, the greatest baseball player in Spring Training, and Chris Jakubauskas, were optioned to AAA. 

I heard the tail end of an interview with Keith Law on 105.7 yesterday in which he confirmed that he's also heard rumblings that Tony LaCava is most likely the guy for the Orioles. He went on rave about LaCava, especially about his player development skills. He admitted that he's probably biased because he worked for LaCava in Toronto, but we all know that KLaw isn't one to mince words, so it was very encouraging to hear. 

Monday is the last day of Andy MacPhail's contract, although that's just a formality. But hopefully that date means we'll hear the announcement of the new GM soon. We need someone to get in here and begin wheeling and dealing! 

And now, a few links:

Avid baseball collector, O's fan Walker passes away | The Daily Times
"Brooks Robinson was her favorite Oriole player and he just thought the world of her," Green said. "Brooks even sent her a letter of condolence when her husband died." -duck

Changes coming to O's cap and jersey | School of Roch
A (not the) cartoon bird is coming back, and not as part of alternate uniform. Details on the new bird will come out in mid-November.

Showalter should be a draw for new GM | Amber Theoharis
Amber's take: "Strong-willed should never be confused with difficult. If anything, it's a character trait you want in a manager. I doubt any GM ever wrote 'weak-willed' down as a desirable qualification for a skipper."

Latest Orioles GM Candidate Should Scare True Fans of Club: A Fan's Perspective | Yahoo! Sports
This guy is like, "please please please please please no Stockstill." I know, dude. I know.