Tuesday Bird Droppings: Where starters are signing, but not with the Orioles

Hello, friends.

There are now 105 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2018. It's also two days until Dan Duquette's Christmas, which is to say, the Rule 5 draft. Will anything else happen with the Orioles at the winter meetings? Ah, now that's the question.

At least there are things to talk about. How connected certain rumors are to reality is another story, of course. There was a report that the Phillies have been calling about Manny Machado. That's interesting, if not exciting, because the prospect of the Orioles giving up on 2018 isn't fun at all. Then again, neither is the idea of their trying and failing to compete in 2018 and losing their best players for nothing.

Another player where the Orioles name has come up is pitcher Matt Harvey, who's unsurprisingly being dangled by the Mets after being hurt and bad for two straight seasons. That's basically the number one thing to ask with the Orioles and a potential pitching acquisition. Is he bad enough to be in their price range? In Harvey's case, maybe:

Harvey threw 92.2 innings in each of the past two seasons and has combined for a 5.78 ERA. No one should be opposed to the Orioles trading Brad Brach in order to get their hands on a player with more potential impact on games. Is Harvey that player for 2018? It's not looking likely. But it's a dumb enough trade that I can imagine the Orioles doing it.

We'll see what today brings at the winter meetings. It probably won't bring the Orioles signing a starting pitcher, but maybe they'll surprise us.

Around the blogO’sphere

Duquette talks Orioles and starting pitching needs - and what those quotes may mean (Baltimore Baseball)
Although I’ve linked this article first, don’t read it if you’re having a good day so far, because that will end in a hurry.

Orioles expected to go trade route for hitter (School of Roch)
Some kind of lefty platoon bat to serve the same function as Seth Smith except maybe with better defense would be OK - but the O’s would get a bigger boost if only Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo played better.

ESPN's Keith Law on Manny Machado and the search for pitchers (Steve Melewski)
Law doesn’t think the Orioles will trade Machado unless “someone blows them away” - he offers one scenario where the Cardinals may try to do so.

The Orioles may have a good reason for not pursuing Ohtani (Fangraphs)
Here’s Fangraphs’ Paul Swydan giving more credit than I give to the Orioles for their possible reason in not at all attempting to pursue new Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani.

Orioles offering unique experiences in MLB winter meetings auction (Baltimore Sun)
You can bid on a chance to play chess with Manny Machado or paint landscapes with Caleb Joseph. There’s almost a 100% chance that Joseph can do a spot on Bob Ross impersonation, right?

Birthdays and anniversaries

On December 12, 1993, the Orioles signed Rafael Palmeiro as a free agent, which was a whole lot more exciting and interesting than the second time they signed Palmeiro.

And in 2007, the O’s completed the trade that sent Miguel Tejada to the Astros for Luke Scott, Matt Albers, Troy Patton, Dennis Sarfate, and Michael Costanzo. The next day, the Mitchell Report, in which Tejada was named, was released, and within six months he was revealed to be two years older than was believed.

Andy MacPhail could do some trades, you guys.

One lone former Oriole has a birthday today: 2010 first baseman Garrett Atkins.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: Wells Fargo and American Express co-founder Henry Wells (1805), Warner Bros co-founder Harry Warner (1881), singer Frank Sinatra (1915), longtime Price is Right host Bob Barker (1923), actress Regina Hall (1970), actress Mayim Bialik (1975), and The Wire actor Gbenga Akinnagbe (1978).

On this day in history...

In 1901, in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Guglielgmo Marconi received the first ever transatlantic radio signal - the letter “S” in Morse code.

In 1937, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japanese forces attacked and sunk an American gunboat, the USS Panay, after which the Japanese apologized, claimed they did not see the American flags, and paid an indemnity.

In 1939, Finnish forces dealt a defeat to the Soviets in the Battle of Tolvajarvi, the first big Finnish victory in the Winter War.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on December 12 - or at least, unless something happens later. It’s the winter meetings, so hey, it might! Have a safe Tuesday.