Friday Bird Droppings

The smell of fresh cut grass, dogs cooking on the grill, frosty adult beverages (enjoyed...responsibly)...baseball is coming, friends.

...though, Wichita State, huh?

Price throws 4 scoreless, Rays tie Orioles 4-4 - Yahoo! Sports Nothing to see here...

Gus Triandos, beloved ex-Orioles catcher, dies at 82 - baltimoresun.com Maybe the greatest O's catcher you've never heard of? In 13 major league seasons he threw out 215 baserunners, good for an astounding 47%.

SCF to battle Baltimore Orioles on Friday, use own pitchers | Florida Spring Training | Bradenton Herald Markakis will DH for the Manatees, Urrutia will take the field for the Birds.

Rockies to designate catcher Ramon Hernandez for assignment | HardballTalk Another twist in the incredibly frustrating career of Ramon Hernandez.

Richard Justice: O's confident they'll be back in the hunt | MLB.com: News Talent, grit, Buck and Bundy...who could ask for anything more?

Baltimore Orioles believe in 20-year-old third baseman Manny Machado - ESPN ...and Manny, too!

PressBox: Will The Orioles' Starting Rotation Hold Up? I've kind of wondered about this myself, but this is a different conversation than we were having a couple weeks ago, right?

School of Roch: Is Roberts lined up to bat ninth? Lineup roulette with the Professor.

Rule 5 Draft Highlights, 1999-Present: MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com A little love for O'Day and the Horseface.

It is the birthday of Juan Bell (brother of George, pretender to the throne of Cal, bounty from the trade of Eddie) and Alex Ochoa. I would guess that Ochoa's #35 rating on the 1995 Baseball America prospects list would rank him as one of the top Orioles positional prospects in that area.