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Good morning, Birdland!
We have reached another milestone of the off-season. This morning, Orioles spring training tickets go on sale to the public!
Book the plane. Find a hotel. Plan you trip. Get away from the snow in Baltimore, and spend some time down in the Sarasota sunshine! Oh yeah, and watch some baseball too if you’re into that type of thing.
The games at Ed Smith Stadium run from Sunday, February 23 through Monday, March 23. That is not too far away! We have just six weeks until the start of spring games, and obviously less than that until the players report to camp.
Links
Orioles Claim Richard Urena, Designate Pat Valaika - MLB Trade Rumors
It took them a while, but the O’s have started to bulk up on interesting middle infield options. Richard Urena is 23 years old and already has spent parts of three season in the big leagues, but he also has no options remaining, so it doesn’t add much roster flexibility to the mix but rather just another person to push Richie Martin in the spring.
How Holmes joined Orioles coaching staff - School of Roch
This post gives background on the process of hiring one assistant coach. It’s interesting stuff. The big thing seems to be that the Orioles are preaching positivity and patience with the current roster. That feels appropriate for this moment in time.
2020 ZiPS Projections: Baltimore Orioles - FanGraphs
This is something that you don’t want to read, but you need to. It puts the entire roster into perspective. They are gonna be bad. No individual player is projected to exceed 2.0 WAR. I’m not sure I agree with that specific estimation, but I get where it comes from.
Orioles settle on contracts with all remaining arbitration eligible players - Camden Chat
In case you missed this from yesterday, the Orioles will not be going to arbitration with any players this year. They may be the best team in the league at settling these disputes without dispute. At least they are good at one thing!
Orioles birthdays and history
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
It is the 28th birthday of current Orioles utility-man Stevie Wilkerson. Drafted by the O’s back in 2014, Wilkerson seems to have finally established a big league role with the club. His production at the plate (76 OPS+ in 2019) isn’t great, but his position versatility is certainly useful.
Relief pitcher Greg Aquino is 42 years old today. His time as an Oriole was short, appearing in nine games for the 2009 team.
Carl Powis played just 15 career MLB games, and all of them came with the 1957 Birds. The former right-fielder was born in 1928 and passed away in 1999.
Finally, it is the birthday of the late Neil Barry (b. 1922, d. 2016). The infielder played seven season in the big leagues, but spent just five games with the Orioles, all during the 1954 season.
2002 - The Orioles announce they will be returning the fences at Camden Yards to their original position following a one-year experiment that resulted in significantly home runs to be hit at the stadium during the 2001 season.