Thursday Bird Droppings: Starting to think about the 2022 Orioles Opening Day roster

Hello, friends.

Merry Christmas Eve Eve! This day marks three months and eight days until the next scheduled Orioles game, which is Opening Day 2022. As ever, this continues to assume that the ongoing ownership lockout of players is resolved in time to avoid disruptions to the next season’s calendar. We cannot be certain of that now, but there’s no point in worrying about it for probably another five or six weeks.

With the pandemic-shortened 2020 still fresh in my mind, I don’t enjoy the idea of a shortened 2022 as well, even if there will probably end up being plenty of games next year that make me wish there were fewer 2022 Orioles games to watch. Today is three weeks since the start of the lockout. There’s been no real movement so far, but maybe they need a harder deadline facing them before the two sides start coming towards an acceptable middle.

In the meantime, have you been keeping up with our retro recap series about the 1966 Orioles World Series winners? Yesterday, Drew wrote about an Orioles win over the Yankees that ended with a walkoff Frank Robinson home run robbery to preserve a 7-5 victory. That must have been something to see. Check back later this morning to see Alex’s recap of a July game that ended with a bit more of a traditional walkoff.

Are you all ready for Christmas? The last gifts I was waiting on to arrive got here on Tuesday, so I’m as ready as I’m going to be. That’s about all I can ask for in a year as crazy as this one has been. If your current work or school situation is such that you can check out from any obligations or responsibilities beyond what you have in your own household, enjoy the time off! We’ll be here for the distraction in 2022. We’ll be here in the meantime too, but my feelings won’t be hurt if I don’t see you again until my first Bird Droppings of the coming year.

Around the blogO’sphere

Some early assumptions on the Orioles (School of Roch)
Taking the pending signing of Jordan Lyles as a sign that the Orioles are showing a “willingness to spend on starting pitching” is a bit more aggressive of an assumption than I would personally make.

An early look at a possible Opening Day roster for the Orioles (Baltimore Baseball)
The list of sure things here doesn’t exactly inspire a whole lot of excitement for the 2022 season.

Ten under-the-radar prospects the Orioles’ Matt Blood thinks you should start monitoring (The Athletic)
Much as my default stance on the Orioles is a jaded one, I’m a sucker for “the front office is talking up the prospects” stories. Here, director of player development Matt Blood drops ten deep cuts from the system to keep an eye on in the coming season, including one currently 17-year-old infielder who’s probably ticketed for the Florida Complex League in 2022.

Roland Hemond’s passing draws stories about one of baseball’s colorful characters (Press Box)
The former Orioles GM passed away earlier this month and a bunch of people shared a memory of Hemond with Press Box’s Jim Henneman.

A look at where rebuilding led one organization (Steve Melewski)
Another article for the pile of “The Orioles are following the Astros rebuilding blueprint” articles. If they stay on the Astros blueprint, 2022 would be the year to jump into the 70s range for wins.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Of all the players to ever play for the Orioles, only one was born on this day. That’s Dave May, a 1967-70 reserve outfielder. May went on to better career times in Milwaukee and Atlanta and was even once traded for 41-year-old Hank Aaron.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: early American diplomat/jurist John Jay (1745), The Simpsons voice actor Harry Shearer (1943), Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Donna Tartt (1963), and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder (1964).

On this day in history...

In 1783, George Washington stepped down as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. This bit of American history has a Maryland connection, in that it took place at the State House in Annapolis.

In 1815, Jane Austen’s Emma was published for the first time.

In 1954, the first successful transplant of a kidney took place. A healthy kidney was transferred from one identical twin to another; the recipient, who was dying of nephritis, lived for another eight years. His donor brother lived until 2010.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on December 23. Have a safe Thursday.