Weekend Bird Droppings: State of Maryland eyes long term deal with O’s, upgrades to Camden Yards

Good morning, Birdland!

Changes are coming to Camden Yards...eventually. At least, that is the impression that the Maryland Stadium Authority gave to the Baltimore Sun via an article published on Friday.

As has been discussed many times online, the Orioles’ agreement with the state of Maryland was originally set to expire after the 2021 season, but the two sides agreed to extend through the end of 2023. Beyond that, there are no guarantees.

There have been no significant reports that the team’s future will take place anywhere other than Baltimore. But the concern appears to be over who will run the club. Peter Angelos is elderly and in declining health, and while his family (specifically his son John) has done a fine job running the team recently it is unclear if they wish to continue to do so long term. The Angelos family is Baltimore through-and-through. The potential next owners may not be.

All that said, signs are pointing to the Orioles and Maryland eventually coming to an agreement to stick around for a long, long time. Some negotiating will need to take place, though.

Maryland may want a bigger slice of the revenue pie, while the Orioles probably want Camden Yards to get a facelift to match some of the billion dollar stadiums with which they will be competing. Hopefully there is a middle ground somewhere.

Links

Extension Candidate: Adley Rutschman | MLB Trade Rumors
I would love this. If Adley Rustchman ends up even close to as good as advertised, it will be money well spent. Of course, this could all hinge on the CBA negotiations. We won’t truly know how far Rutschman (and prospects, in general) are from free agency until that is done. Could changes in the CBA lessen his incentive to sign an extension early on? You can be sure MLB is gonna do what it can to prevent that, but negotiations have been a black box, so who knows.

Maryland is eager to accommodate Orioles as stadium lease talks continue past original deadline | The Baltimore Sun
It will be nice once this deal is officially done. I am over the “rumors” that pop up on Twitter several times a year tying the Orioles to a move, most often to Nashville. There is no evidence to suggest that is a possibility, so let’s get this thing signed.

Bickering over latest Hall of Fame ballot | School of Roch
Many people enjoy discussing who belongs in the Hall and who should be nowhere near. I am not one of those people. I understand why sportswriters feel a need to explain their ballot. That is completely fine. I just cannot find the energy myself to get worked up over who deserves it or not.

O’s 2022 rotation candidate: Dean Kremer | Steve Melewski
I think if you polled Orioles fans on who was the biggest disappointment of the 2021 season, Dean Kremer would rank near the top. The future of the Orioles rotation does not hinge on Kremer’s success. After all, he was no mega-prospect, but he is the type of guy that the O’s would like to see pan out and pad the backend of their rotation. He will have a lot to prove in 2022.

Are new pitches for the Orioles’ rookie starters promising, or part of the problem? | Maximizing Playoff Odds
This post discusses the batch of mid-tier Orioles pitchers, including Kremer, that the club will be hoping to see improve dramatically in 2022. More specifically, it digs into how effective (or not) their pitch repertoire was in this past season.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Breyvic Valera turns 30. The infielder was one piece of the return the Orioles landed in exchange for Manny Machado back in 2018. He appeared in 12 games for the Orioles that season before the Elias regime cut him the following offseason.
• Paul Carey is 54. All 18 games of his big league career came with the 1993 O’s.
• Shane Turner celebrates his 59th. Over four games, he had one plate appearance for the Orioles in 1991.
• Willie Tasby is 89. He spent parts of three seasons in Baltimore, from 1958 through 1960.
• The late Jim Busby (d. 1996) was born on this day in 1927. He played four seasons with the Orioles, broken up into two stints, first from 1957 through ‘58 and then again from 1960 through ‘61.

This weekend in O’s history

1991 - Former Orioles and Padres infielder Alan Wiggins dies at the age of 32 due to complications from AIDS.

2001 - Harold Baines, a longtime member of the Orioles and White Sox, signs on a minor league deal with the ChiSox in an effort to reach 3,000 hits for his career. He would fall 134 short.