Saturday Bird Droppings: The Orioles are finalizing trades

Good morning, Birdland!

It seems like most people in the know determined that Orioles general manager Mike Elias had a “good” trade deadline. He unloaded a handful of veteran arms and, in return, received a bunch of youngsters of varying quality. Up until now, we knew of about half of the players that were coming back to Baltimore. Now, who exactly will be filling out the Orioles minor league system is becoming more clear.

You can read more about the specific players in the links below. But so far, they fit the mold that we have come to expect from Elias in his “Player to be Named Later” deals. They are far from guarantees to make the big leagues, but could potentially fall into the “lottery ticket” category given their youth. The Orioles organization could use a few more of those players.

Links

Hays: ‘I need to continue to prove myself’ - Orioles.com
Austin Hays finds himself in a very different situation than he was to start the season. Instead of being the team’s de facto starting center fielder, he has instead shifted to the corners to make room for Cedric Mullins. That puts much more pressure on his bat, and could prove to be a tall task.

Orioles acquire De León from Marlins as PTBNL - School of Roch
I am not about to pretend as if I had ever heard of Issac De Leon prior to reading this blog. But I can tell you that it is not surprising to see the O’s add this type of player. He is young (18 years old), projectable, and plays the infield. The O’s would do well to add more of those talents when possible.

Orioles, Rockies Complete Mychal Givens Trade - MLB Trade Rumors
The Orioles added a teenage outfielder to complete the Mychal Givens trade from August. At 6-foot-3 and only 165 pounds, there is certainly room to add bulk to Mishael Deson’s frame.

The Orioles’ first wave of young starting pitchers has arrived. Few things matter more to their rebuild. - The Baltimore Sun
The Orioles have, on occasion trotted out decent starting pitchers. But it has been hit and miss and rarely has an entire unit be solid at the same time. If Dean Kremer and Keegan Akin are dependable members of the rotation for the foreseeable future, the Orioles staff could be on its way being formidable. Grayson Rodriguez and D.L. both had a chance to debut in 2021,

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday this weekend? Happy birthday!

Danny Valencia turns 36 today. The utility player became known for his ability to hit left-handed pitching during two stints with the Orioles. He appeared in 130 total games for the O’s split between the 2013 and 2018 seasons.

Former first baseman Nick Johnson turns 42. He wrapped up his 10-season MLB career with a 38-game stay on the 2012 Orioles.

Left-handed pitcher Randy Myers celebrates his 58th birthday. He spent 14 seasons in the majors, but only two of them came with the O’s. From 1996 through ‘97. Myers had a 2.51 ERA over 118.1 innings, earned an All-Star Game trip and a top five finish in both the AL Cy Young and MVP voting.

Finally, it is the birthday of the late Bob Turley (b. 1930, d. 2013). He was a member of the originally 1954 Orioles, coming with the franchise from St. Louis. The starting pitcher got into 35 games as a member of the O’s that year. He tossed 247.1 innings, had a 3.46 ERA and struck out a league-leading 185 batters.

This day in history

According to Baseball Reference, not much has happened in the history of the Baltimore Orioles on this date. So, here are a few occurrences outside of Birdland:

1796 - George Washington’s Farewell Address is printed across America.

1881 - U.S. President James Garfield dies from wounds he received from being shot on July 2.

2011 - Mariano Rivera records his 602nd career save, surpassing Trevor Hoffman for the most in MLB history.