Wednesday Bird Droppings

1 more day until pitchers & catchers report! Overblown excitement abounds! er...maybe not. Anyway, it is one step closer to actual base-a-balla being played. And that, friends, is a very good thing.

For those fools parted of money in exchange for Orioles season ticket plans, today at 10 am you can buy Opening Day tickets. One ticket per number of seats on your plan. Booo, stinginess on the part of the Warehouse. Onto the links...

Orioles negotiating, but have not signed Korean pitcher Suk-min Yoon - baltimoresun.com
In another episode of how the Orioles' offseason turns, Korean right-hander Suk-min Yoon posted a photo on Twitter Tuesday night of him wearing an Orioles hat. But there is no deal in place, yet.

Orioles’ interest in Ervin Santana "has increased" | HardballTalk
Sigh....

Should Orioles Give Up First-round Pick For Veteran Help?
No.

A Suggestion to Improve the Qualifying Offer System | FanGraphs Baseball

Or, players could just start calling team's bluffs and accept the QO. No player has accepted a QO as of yet. Teams seem willing to gamble that a player's (and agent's) desire for multiple years is greater than getting paid ~$14m for one year. Will teams become more shy about offering the QO if they see players start to accept them?

School of Roch: Orioles top spring training storylines

The only spring training storyline that matters is: how many days until Opening Day?

AL East offseason checkup | FOX Sports on MSN

For all the talk of the O's doing next to nothing this off-season the Blue Jays have done even less. How is that possible?

Bud Norris looking to show Orioles true self in 2014 | orioles.com: News

If Bud can just give the rotation 170-180 IP of 4.00 ERA pitching that'd be pretty darn swell.

Top 20 impact prospects for 2014 - ESPN

In$ider article. Where will Goose nest on this list? Who gets an honorable mention?

How Paying Established Closers Saves Teams Money

Don your research caps.

Prospect Watch: Lex Rutledge

I had the privilege of watching this young achiever pitch multiple times in '13. Certainly one of the more impressive arms in the system. He should be an excellent replacement for Patton/Matusz come 2015.

Many a Bird born on this date: backup Catcher Chris Snyder, Adam Stern (who I have zero recollection of), Don 'Full Pack' Stanhouse, and Pat Dobson.

On this date in 2002, one day after purchasing the Expos from Jeffery 'King Joffery' Loria, MLB announces Frank Robinson will manage the future Nationals squad.

What kinda job is that gonna be, Mike, writing an opinion on high stakes Open Thread?
Hon, you're the one that told me I should use my Open Thread skills in the court room.