Wednesday Bird Droppings: The Orioles are making roster moves

Good morning, Birdland!

You know it’s baseball season once roster management kicks into high gear. On Tuesday alone, the Orioles optioned pitcher Hector Velazquez to the minors, moved infielder Richie Martin to the 60-man roster with a broken wrist and added pitching prospect Dean Kremer to the summer setup. Non-roster invitee Ty Blach was removed as he underwent Tommy John surgery last week. D.L. Hall remains on standby for an assignment, but did post on social media that he was in Bowie, where the O’s are conducting a secondary camp. The Bowie camp will officially open later this week.

Someone who won’t be joining the Orioles is outfielder Yasiel Puig. Despite reports that the 29-year-old was offered a deal with the O’s, he will instead head to Atlanta to join the Braves for the 2020 campaign, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.

It would have been kind of fun to see Puig patrolling the Camden Yards outfield, but it would not have made a huge difference in the long run. If anything, it likely expedites Ryan Mountcastle’s arrival on the big league stage.

Links & Notes

Baltimore’s Best: A look at the Orioles’ greatest All-Star moments - Orioles.com
This was supposed to be All-Star week in baseball, but ya know, the whole pandemic thing put the brakes on that. Even still, we can reminisce about some of the better Orioles moments in the Mid-Summer Classic. Shockingly, the years in which the club’s long representatives were guys like Ty Wigginton, Tony Batista and George Sherrill are not mentioned.

Orioles practice extra-inning situations in intrasquad - School of Roch
We cannot watch any of these intrasquads, but we can read an in-depth recap of everything important that happened in these intrasquads by way of Roch’s blog. It’s just as good...right?

Short-handed Orioles continue rebuild in abbreviated season - Yahoo! Sports
If you have been paying attention to the Orioles lately there won’t be any news for you here. But it does serve as a reminder of just how thin the team’s roster is, especially now that a few injuries are starting to roll in. Luckily it’s just 60 games, folks.

O’s add RHP prospect Kremer to player pool - Orioles.com
Dean Kremer is the Orioles best pitching prospect in the upper minors. He has a good chance to make his big league debut sometime soon, but he will start out at the secondary site in Bowie.

Orioles birthday

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

Just one former Oriole was born on this day. Right-handed pitcher James Baldwin turns 49. He had two stints with the O’s, but they both took place during the 2005 season. He was signed as a free agent that January, then claimed off waivers by the Rangers in July before being re-claimed on waivers by the O’s in August. He pitched in 20 total games for the Birds, tossed 39.1 innings and accumulated a 3.20 ERA.

Orioles history

1960 - O’s third baseman Brooks Robinson hits for the cycle in a 5-for-5 performance against the Chicago White Sox.

1996 - After 2,216 straight games at shortstop, Cal Ripken Jr. moves to third base. But his replacement at short, Manny Alexander, struggles, so Ripken moves back to the position just six games later.

2005 - O’s first baseman Rafael Palmeiro becomes the 26th player in MLB history to record 3,000 career hits. He is also just the fourth player to reach that feat while also hitting 500 home runs.