Monday Bird Droppings: Where we’re prepared for the Orioles to do nothing

Hello, friends.

There are now 106 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2018. The next few days could be exciting for fans of many other teams, what with the baseball winter meetings getting underway.

Things will be happening, as things have really started popping over the last week. That will only increase as all of the teams and agents get together in the same small space this week. The Orioles... well, they’re going to almost certainly make a Rule 5 pick on Thursday. Won’t that be exciting?

Hopefully the Orioles get things figured out a bit more than they have so far. Players are coming off the board. One rumor from the weekend is that the Cubs are focusing on Alex Cobb, after having already signed Tyler Chatwood. The Orioles will be running out of choices soon - and they’re not the only team left that’s still searching for starting pitching.

And the Orioles might not even be smart to plow on as if 2018 is an all in season! Maybe it’s time to rebuild. That’s not much fun to talk about, but it might be true. We’ll see how things look coming out of the winter meetings. It’s hard to imagine the picture getting much better for the O’s.

Around the blogO’sphere

Winter meetings could give Orioles clarity on Manny Machado’s long-term future with club (Baltimore Sun)
The Sun’s Eduardo Encina thinks that the next few days could be the time where the Orioles figure out whether or not they have any chance of working out an extension with Manny Machado. It’s a fateful few days.

Mancini won’t take spot on roster for granted (School of Roch)
In case you didn’t have enough of a reason to think that Trey Mancini is the best, here’s some more of him being awesome and humble.

In the AL East, the rich (in talent) often get richer (Steve Melewski)
Even Melewski’s having a hard time seeing how the Orioles get over the existing Yankees/Red Sox hump.

Dan Duquette should woo Jake Arrieta back to Birdland (Birds Watcher)
This is a horrible idea, although I respect the place from which it comes.

Orioles have to decide whether to compete or rebuild (Baseball Essential)
I think they’ve already decided, although we may not like the decision.

Birthdays and anniversaries

One lone former Oriole has a birthday today: The late Hal Brown, 1955-62 pitcher, who is no known relation to yours truly.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: Bill of Rights influencer George Mason (1726), composer Hector Berlioz (1803), novelist Aleksander Solzhenitsyn (1918), Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx (1958), rapper Mos Def (1973), and actress Hailee Steinfeld (1996).

On this day in history...

In 1282, the Prince of Wales of the day, Llwelyn ap Gruffudd, was killed in the Battle of Orewin Bridge against the English. After losing this battle, Wales effectively ceased existing as an independent sovereign entity.

In 1789, the North Carolina General Assembly chartered the University of North Carolina, which is one of the three oldest public universities in the United States.

In 1936, after he was refused the right to marry divorced Marylander Wallis Simpson, the abdication of the British throne by Edward VIII took effect, leading to his brother, George VI, becoming king.

In 1980, Congress enacted the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, which created what we now call Superfund sites.

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on December 11 - or at least, unless something happens later. It’s the winter meetings, so something might happen to some team, just probably not the Orioles. Have a safe Monday.