Saturday’s Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles made a (minor) signing!

Morning, Birdland!

It’s Groundhog Day. For most people outside of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, that means absolutely nothing. Whether or not a rodent sees his or her shadow will not have any barring on how soon spring will arrive. I mean, that would be ridiculous.

But you know what will? Baseball.

Forget calendars and the orbit of earth and junk like that. Baseball is the true determining factor in when spring has finally arrived. We know summer is approaching as soon as a beat reporter tweets out a “goofy” picture of themselves on a plane with other beat reporters, or when the Instagram stories of the players now include teammates rather than reluctant family members. It’s science.

Links

Orioles, Jesus Sucre Agree To Minor League Deal - MLB Trade Rumors
The team needed to add another catcher to the mix. Chance Sisco and Austin Wynns are the only two on the 40-man roster, and neither of them has played a full MLB season yet. Andrew Susac will be in the minors, but he was pretty terrible when in Baltimore last season. Adding Jesus Sucre is a fine a insurance policy.

Will O’s target star Cuban SS Sanchez? - MLB.com
If the O’s think Yolbert Sanchez can be a difference maker, then there is no reason for them to not be reaching out to him as soon as he is able to sign. Most scouts seem to agree that Sanchez will be a good, but not great, player. For these Orioles, that would be a major upgrade.

Giants claim former Orioles outfielder off waivers - KNBR
Sorry, John Andreoli fans. Your boy is staying on the west coast.

Orioles promote Kendall from Double-A to manage Tides - Daily Press
I don’t know enough about minor league coaching to say if this is a good decision or not, but Kendall has been around the Orioles for a long time, and his Bowie teams have been competitive in recent years, so why not?

Orioles birthdays and history

Is it your birthday? Happy Birthday! It’s a big day of birthdays in Birdland.

Two team Hall of Famers celebrate getting another year older today: Don Buford, a key Oriole from 1968 through 1972 turns 82 today, and Melvin Mora, one of the club’s few good players between 2000 and 2009, is 47.

Travis Snider, an outfielder for 69 nice games in 2015 is 31 years old. Scott Erickson, a workhorse member of the O’s rotation from 1995 through 2002 is 51. Southpaw Paul Kilgus (38 games in ‘91) turns 57. As is Pat Clements, another lefty, who player in 23 games for the O’s back in 1992.

2005 - The Orioles and Cubs finalize a trade that sends Sammy Sosa to Baltimore in exchange for Jerry Hairston Jr. and two minor leaguers, Mike Fontenot and Dave Crouthers