Tuesday Bird Droppings: Where Orioles rumor season is underway

Hello, friends.

There are now 134 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2018. Two more days remain for the nine qualifying offer free agents to decide whether or not they will accept offers from their former teams. Reportedly, all nine will decline the offer this year. The Orioles would lose their third-highest pick to sign one of those players.

Later on today, the winners of the BBWAA Manager of the Year awards will be announced. Safe to say that Buck Showalter will not be factoring into that contest this season. As to who will win, who cares? If it has nothing to do with the Orioles, it doesn't get on my radar. Cy Young - also Orioles-less - and MVP await later in the week.

Today is something like the unofficial kickoff of hot stove season for the Orioles as there is at least one O's-connected rumor that's floated out there. More on that when we get to the links momentarily. It's Zach Britton day!

Around the blogO'sphere

Dodgers and Cubs interested in Orioles closer Britton (FanRag Sports)
Don’t panic yet, because the closest we get is “The Orioles are said to be willing to at least listen on Britton” - which isn’t exactly a glaring sign he’ll be traded. But it’s something.

Britton figures to stay in bullpen in 2018 (School of Roch)
I have a lot of sympathy from personal experience for “It’s the offseason and I have absolutely no idea what to write about,” which is a genre that this article definitely slides right into.

Will Mychal Givens' role become more prominent in the future? (Steve Melewski)
If something did happen with Britton - or even just if he leaves as a free agent in a year - Mychal Givens sure seems to be headed for a later inning than he’s been getting.

Though he didn't win Rookie of the Year, Mancini's season was important for Orioles (Baltimore Sun)
There’s never a bad time to say good things about Trey Mancini.

Will Trey Mancini deliver bigger things in 2018? (ESPN)
Jeff Sullivan, writing for ESPN, does not believe Mancini will be able to duplicate his success next season. I hope that he will be proven wrong.

Birthdays and anniversaries

On this day in 1973, Jim Palmer won the first of his three Cy Young awards. He posted a 2.40 ERA over 296.1 innings and was runner-up for the MVP award in that season.

One lone former Oriole has a birthday today: Failed video game maker Curt Schilling.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: Glorious Revolution beneficiary William of Orange (1650), steamboat inventor Robert Fulton (1765), composer Fanny Mendelssohn (1805), composer Aaron Copland (1900), five-time Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault (1954), and Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker (1975).

On this day in history...

In 1851, Herman Melville's Moby-Dick was published in the United States.

In 1889, journalist Nellie Bly set out to travel around the world in less than 80 days. She made it around the globe in 72 days.

In 1960, Ruby Bridges became the first black child to attend an all-white elementary school in Louisiana. She had to be escorted to and from school by four U.S. Marshals.

In 1965, American forces initiated their first major battle in Vietnam, the Battle of Ia Drang. Five days later, more than 200 American soldiers were dead in history's first large-scale helicopter air assault. This battle is depicted in the 2002 film We Were Soldiers.

In 1982, Poland's jailed Solidarity leader was released after eleven months of imprisonment near the Soviet border.

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And that's the way it is in Birdland on November 14 - or at least, unless something happens later. Hey, you never know. Have a safe Tuesday.