Sunday Bird Droppings

Orioles sign Francisco Peguero to 1-year contract
It's official, as Francisco Peguero has signed his one year contract. I was really sweating how that free agent negotiation was going to turn out. Whew.

Orioles could use a lesson in sports marketing - baltimoresun.com
"The Orioles signed an unheralded middle reliever, surrendered outfielder Nate McLouth and pitcher Scott Feldman without a fight and began informing season ticket holders that the price of poker is going up. Throw in the highly unpopular Jim Johnson deal earlier in the week and it's clear that this offseason if off to a bang-up start." The O's has raised the ire of Peter Schmuck, and he's got reason to be mad.

School of Roch: Taking the hot stove to warmer climate
Meetings, meetings, meetings. And a list of free-agent closers that will make you cry.

Commentary: Bargain-hunting Birds sitting out free agency again? - Carroll County Times
"Many ranked the Orioles’ performance last offseason as 30th-best out of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball. Hard to believe acquiring Alexi Casilla, Danny Valencia, Conor Jackson, Travis Ishikawa, Chris Dickerson, Freddy Garcia, Josh Stinson, and Jason Pridie didn’t translate into a deep playoff run, huh?" And we're going to wish we signed guys even that good by the end of this winter, methinks.

Happy Birthday to former Orioles Jose Leon and The Moose, Mike Mussina. Today in Orioles history, "in 1996, the Orioles sign free agent P Jimmy Key to a 2-year contract." On an unrelated-to-baseball note, it is also the ninth anniversary of passing of Darrell Abbott.

Consider this your NFL Open Thread.