Thursday Bird Droppings: Where nothing is happening fast

Hello, friends.

There are now 118 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2018. The hot stove has been ice cold so far, but the signs are there that maybe it's starting to heat up. Well, at least a couple of people have signed, anyway. It's something!

If you weren't closely following last night, you might have missed that the Orioles are rumored to have begun extension talks with Jonathan Schoop. Hey, that's something interesting and exciting! A different source than the ones that sparked the initial report seems to have dismissed the initial rumor as nothing more than preliminary talks. So hopefully it's not the last we hear of that.

The fact that the Orioles have been dormant in November has been concerning in past seasons, but this time it's not so bad. Nobody else is really pulling off any signings either. It's not like good players and possible bargains are coming off the board left and right. Wednesday's big signing, such as it is, was reliever Yusmeiro Petit getting a two year contract from the Athletics.

When the starting pitchers get to signing, that's when the Orioles had better be involved. That hasn't happened yet. Today probably won't be the day either.

Around the blogO'sphere

Why a possible Manny Machado trade market might not develop well for the Orioles (Baltimore Sun)
Essentially, teams that are expected to be good are set at third base and several teams that could be bad could trade third basemen mid-year. Bad combo for the O’s - though they can sell Machado as a shortstop.

A few thoughts on Nick Markakis and how he'd fit Orioles (School of Roch)
It’s the “bring up Nick Markakis for no reason” phase of the offseason for the Orioles beat writers.

Prospect profile: Ademar Rifaela had breakout '17 (Steve Melewski)
You won’t find Ademar Rifaela on a top Orioles prospects list, but he had a nice year and it’s worth at least keeping him in the back of your mind for next year.

Having room on the 40-man roster is great, but some of the reasons why are concerning (Baltimore Baseball)
Dan Connolly on a problem that results from the Orioles having nonexistent high minors depth.

Chalk Manny Machado's poor 2017 up to bad luck (Fangraphs/Rotographs)
Let’s hope the headline of this article is correct and that the last sentence of it is not correct.

Birthdays and anniversaries

On this day in 2000, Mike Mussina signed with the Yankees. For some reason, some people blame Mussina for this rather than Peter Angelos or the Orioles front office of the time.

One lone former Oriole has a birthday today: 2000 utility infielder Mark Lewis. It's also the birthday of 2015 first round pick DJ Stewart, who hopefully has a spot on the Orioles in his future.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: Historian and saint Gregory of Tours (534), satirist Jonathan Swift (1667), television's Dick Clark (1929), Sesame Street co-creator Joan Ganz Cooney (1929), movie man Ridley Scott (1937), singer-songwriter Billy Idol (1955), two-sport star Bo Jackson (1962), and actress Kaley Cuoco (1985).

On this day in history...

In 1803, in New Orleans, Spain officially transferred the Louisiana Territory to France, who would go on to sell it to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase less than a month later.

In 1872, England and Scotland played the first ever international football match. The two sides played at Hamilton Crescent in Glasgow and ended in a 0-0 draw.

In 1939, the Winter War began as Soviet forces invaded Finland and bombed several cities, including Helsinki.

In 1982, Michael Jackson's Thriller was released worldwide. The album went on to become the best-selling in history, a record that it still holds to this day. No 21st century album has sold even half as many copies as Thriller.

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And that's the way it is in Birdland on November 30 - or at least, unless something happens later. Hey, you never know. Have a safe Thursday.