Thursday Bird Droppings

Colby Rasmus and the Orioles - Camden Depot
Jon thinks we had the trade chips to get Colby Rasmus, based on what the Jays pulled off.

MLB Trade Rumors: Erik Bedard Generating Wide Interest - Baseball Nation
Our old friend, Monsieur Bedard is coming off the DL this Friday and attracting trade deadline interest. If he went to the Red Sox, I would cry until his utter disdain for the media and public attention turned the situation into a hilarious black comedy.

Matusz admits that he wasn't "mentally prepared" for the start of the season - baltimoresun.com
Matusz: "It wasn’t necessarily that I wasn’t physically prepared, but I wasn’t mentally prepared. I was working with two pitching coaches that I didn’t know and they wanted to change things I’ve done for my whole life. Rick Adair and Mark Connor had great intentions of helping us young guys get better. That was the goal, that was the plan. Mentally, I wasn’t prepared to make that happen. Right now, I’m trying to find myself, getting back to what has made me successful through my entire life."

Some of the greatest O's starters began their careers in the pen - Roar From 34
"The reliever-turned-starter model speaks to the patchwork nature of the Birds' rotation this season. To borrow a popular NFL phrase, it's become "next man up" for Baltimore pitchers. This all-hands-on-deck approach in 2011 was once the norm in Baltimore and the sport generally, but for different reasons."

Will the slumping Mariners save the 1988 Orioles from infamy? - baltimoresun.com
The M's snapped their losing streak last night, proving that our 21 games of misery will forever stand alone in infamy.