Friday Bird Droppings: Where the GM-less GM meetings are over

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Baseball’s general manager meetings in Carlsbad, Cal. wrapped up yesterday, and while not much usually happens during the event, the San Francisco Giants made some news by hiring Farhan Zaidi as head of baseball operations this week. That leaves the Orioles as the only major league team that doesn’t have a chief decision maker in place.

Exactly one month from now, MLB’s winter meetings will kick off in Las Vegas, and that’s where the action usually is. (The winter meetings, not Vegas. Well, actually, both.) As clubs wheel and deal, and gobs of players find new destinations, will the Orioles be ready to join in on the fun? Surely they’ll at least participate in the Rule 5 draft that caps the week, a tradition the O’s have been involved in for what seems like centuries. But it all depends on when the Orioles actually make a hire, and how quickly that new person can get up to speed.

So, fear not! This offseason may be a total snoozefest so far, but there’s the slight possibility that something mildly interesting may or may not happen at some undetermined date in the future. If that doesn’t get you fired up, what will?

Links

Graham wraps up general managers meetings - School of Roch
Acting general manager Brian Graham says he laid groundwork at the GM meetings for whomever ends up as the Orioles’ new head of baseball operations. I’d say Graham did pretty dutiful work for someone who might not know what his job is once the new person takes charge.

Analyzing the Orioles’ rebuild: Where they went wrong and how bad is it? – The Athletic
Dan Connolly grades eight components of the Orioles’ rebuild, and the best grade he gives for any of them is a C. So, yeah, things are going great.

Rebuilding Orioles need to look within, not at free agents - Steve Melewski
Steve Melewski recommends the Orioles mostly stay out of the free agent market. That might be a moot point, because what decent free agent would want to sign with the Orioles in their current state?

2018 Top 30 Prospects - Orioles Hangout
Orioles Hangout’s top 10 prospects list includes seven pitchers, and the most surprising ranking for me is Dean Kremer at No. 4, ahead of fellow Manny Machado trade acquisition Yusniel Diaz, who was supposed to be the prize of that deal. Which rankings do you agree/disagree with?

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your two Orioles birthday buddies are Whitey Herzog (87), who played two seasons with the Birds from 1961-62 before becoming a Hall of Fame manager, and the late 1969 righty Al Severinsen, who would have been 74 today.

On this day in 1988, the Orioles swung a trade with the Pirates to acquire Randy “Moose” Milligan, who was one of the more underrated hitters in club history. In four years in Baltimore, Milligan had an OPS+ of 130, which included a .388 OBP. He was getting on base before getting on base was cool.