Monday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles can start signing nobody

Hello, friends.

There are now 142 days until Orioles Opening Day 2018. A whole lot of not much is going to happen today where the Orioles are concerned. Today is the deadline for teams to extend qualifying offers to their departing free agents.

As all of the Orioles who have hit the market were not worth it, they don’t have any tough choices to make... unless it’s going to be whether to sign another team’s player, eventually. But nothing would stun me more, truly, than if the Orioles signed a player as soon as they can.

Our selection of Orioles stories to talk about today suggests that Orioles reporters are well aware that there’s nothing going on quite yet.

Around the blogO’sphere

O’s Tanner Scott impresses at Fall Star Game (Orioles.com)
Four strikeouts and no walks in two innings pitched for Tanner Scott! Is that allowed? It’s definitely not the usual Tanner Scott experience - he threw far too many strikes. Let’s hope that becomes the new normal.

Predicting spots for top 25 free agents (MLB.com)
Jim Duquette thinks that the Orioles are going to be interested in every starting pitcher and that they will sign... uh, Jason Vargas. I just can’t wait.

That’s really it for fresh O’s stories heading into today. Now excuse me while I indulge my peculiar fondness for writing about high school teams with Orioles mascots who win stuff.

Perennial favorite Avon wins IHSAA 4A volleyball title (IndyStar)
The ladies of the volleyball team of the Orioles of Avon High School in Avon, Indiana have come home from the state tournament with some hardware. Congratulations to them!

OK, and here’s one about former Oriole Chaz Roe.

Sunday Notes: Chaz Roe on his slider (Fangraphs)
Roe said, “It’s really more of a backup cutter.” And I guess now we know why the Orioles didn’t keep Roe around.

Birthdays and anniversaries

On this day in 1969, Mike Cuellar won a Cy Young award after finishing in a tie with Denny McLain of the Tigers.

In 2011, the Orioles hired Dan Duquette as GM, even though he had been out of baseball since 2002.

There are two former Orioles with birthdays today. They are: 2003 infielder Deivi Cruz, and 1982-85 reserve Leo Hernandez.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: scientist George Ent (1604), Polish geologist Stanislaw Staszic (1755), saxophone inventor Adolphe Sax (1814), American composer John Philip Sousa (1854), actress Sally Field (1946), trumpet virtuoso Arturo Sandoval (1949), Mystery Science Theater 3000’s Trace Beaulieu (1958), and Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang (1968).

On this day in history...

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States. In 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected president of the Confederacy.

In 1944, plutonium was first produced at the Hanford Atomic Facility. This was later used in the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki.

In 1962, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution that condemned apartheid in South Africa, calling for all member states to cease military and economic relations with the country.

In 1995, Art Modell announced that he had signed an agreement to move the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on November 6 - or at least, unless something happens later, which you never know, it might! Have a safe Monday.