Sunday Bird Droppings: A double Orioles MVP anniversary

Hello, friends.

There are now 144 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2021. In a dozen dozen days, there will be baseball again, or at least assuming the 2021 schedule is not impacted by the pandemic.

For today, free agency has begun and any of these players can sign with any team. It is unlikely that the Orioles will have much activity in this sphere in the early days, the middle days, or the later days of the offseason. At least one division rival has already struck, with the Blue Jays signing reliever Robbie Ray to a one year, $8 million contract yesterday. So we’ll probably see him next year some time. Ray was already a Blue Jay this season.

Twelve days remain until the deadline to add Rule 5 draft-eligible players to the 40-man roster to protect them from that draft. That November 20 deadline is likely to be the next interesting day for the O’s, because it’ll give an idea of which of their prospects they hold in higher regard and which they might think are more expendable.

At some unknown time, there could be more information about what the 2021 minor leagues will look like. There was some news yesterday about how the Yankees will be shuffling a couple of affiliates along with the expected minor league contraction and realignment. When this topic came up months ago, the Frederick Keys were on the cut list, with the Aberdeen IronBirds possibly becoming a higher level affiliate.

Those negotiations are said to still be ongoing, so that’s the kind of thing where when we’ll know more when we know more. I would not expect today to be the day.

Around the blogO’sphere

Mancini on his position in 2021 and Iglesias’ return (School of Roch)
Trey Mancini is feeling good! And he’s going to play wherever the Orioles tell him to play.

What might O’s Opening Day roster look like? (Orioles.com)
This is a projected roster that would lose a boatload of baseball games.

Major issues still exist for minor league baseball (Baltimore Baseball)
Some news about the Yankees shifting minor league affiliates has already leaked out. It’s not clear if changes could be coming for other teams besides them.

Could the O’s homer leader be squeezed off the 2021 roster? (Steve Melewski)
Joe Trezza’s projected roster above did not have Renato Nunez on it. Steve Melewski is also wise to the possibility that Nunez may not make it to Opening Day 2021 on the Orioles.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 1966, Frank Robinson was named the American League MVP. He was a unanimous choice after a Triple Crown season.

In 1991, Cal Ripken Jr. was named the American League MVP. This was the second win of his career. With a .323/.374/.566 batting line for the season, Cal racked up 11.5 bWAR. Second place finisher Cecil Fielder had 3.8 bWAR.

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2000 two-gamer Carlos Casimiro, 1994 outfielder Dwight Smith (Sr.), and 1955 outfielder Wally Westlake. Today would have been Westlake’s 100th birthday; he passed away last September.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: astronomer Edmond Halley (1656), board game pioneer Milton Bradley (1836), Dracula creator Bram Stoker (1847), novelist Kazuo Ishiguro (1954), and Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto (1974).

On this day in history...

In 1644, the Ming dynasty of China was supplanted by the Qing dynasty. Qing ruled the country until it became the Republic of China in 1912.

In 1889, Montana became the 41st of the United States.

In 1932, Nazis led by Adolf Hitler attempted to overthrow the German government in the Beer Hall Putsch.

In 1950, during the Korean War, USAF Lt. Russell J. Brown shot down a pair of North Korean fighter planes. This was significant for being the first dogfight between jet engine aircraft in history.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on November 8. Have a safe Sunday.