Saturday Bird Droppings: Where the hot stove is still ice cold

Hello, friends.

There are now 123 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2018. There’s also now one month until Christmas. In recent years, the O’s have done most of their free agent shopping after Christmas. We’ll see if that continues this year.

So far, the team isn’t exactly missing out on a hopping market. No team has done a whole heck of a lot. There’s the common belief that the uncertainty that had been surrounding Shohei Ohtani was impacting the market. Maybe that’s true, and if it is, it’ll hold true for at least another week, because he won’t be posted until December 2 and the deadline to sign him will be December 23.

What does it mean for the O’s? It’s not like they were going to be signing Ohtani. Maybe it doesn’t mean anything. They’re going to sign who they sign. And whoever they going to sign, they probably won’t be doing it today, or even getting close.

Around the blogO’sphere

Orioles will continue quest to balance lineup (School of Roch)
The “Orioles need more left-handed hitters” lineup seems to be repeated every offseason, even in offseasons where it isn’t true. This may be one of them where it is true.

Could Harvey’s innings ramp up to the Bundy plan? (Steve Melewski)
The MASN duo’s obsession with the idea that Hunter Harvey might pitch in Baltimore this year is, to me, totally bizarre.

What are the internal options for the 2018 rotation? (Baltimore Baseball)
Don’t look at this if you’re still in a good mood from Thanksgiving, or if you hate slideshows. I normally don’t link slideshows ever, but hey, it’s two days after Thanksgiving.

Minor League Transactions update (Baseball America)
Baseball America observes that the Orioles have made eight different trades giving away international signing bonus money this year. Every other MLB team has combined to make 13 such trades.

Is Chris Tillman a worthwhile reclamation project? (Reviewing the Brew)
I’m always curious what fans of other teams think about recent O’s players. Here’s a Brewers blog pondering Chris Tillman.

Birthdays and anniversaries

One lone former Oriole has a birthday today: 2014-15 infielder Jimmy Paredes.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: one-time richest American and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835), Mercedes-Benz co-founder Karl Benz (1844), baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio (1914), children’s book author Marc Brown, no relation (1946), actress Christina Applegate (1971), and actress Katie Cassidy (1986).

On this day in history...

In 1491, the Treaty of Granada ended the siege of Granada, with the re-conquering Spanish capturing the last Moorish stronghold in Spain.

In 1863, General Grant’s Union army broke the siege of Chattanooga after routing Braxton Bragg’s Confederate troops at Missionary Ridge in Tennessee.

In 1952, the murder-mystery play The Mousetrap, by Agatha Christie, opened in London. This play is still running today, making it the longest continuously-running play in history.

In 1986, Attorney General Edwin Reese announced that revenue from covert weapon sales to Iran were diverted, illegally, to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on November 25 - or at least, unless something happens later. You never know when the Orioles will actually wake up from their Thanksgiving coma... although it probably won’t be today. Have a safe Saturday.