Sunday Bird Droppings: Thinking about the Orioles offseason landscape, again

Hello, friends.

Today could end up being the last day of the year that has multiple MLB games being played. The baseball-less winter will be upon us this week one way or another, but it’ll arrive that much sooner if the Astros sweep the Yankees today to finish up the ALCS. The Yankees being swept out of the postseason while having done stuff like whine about the roof being open in Houston is an outcome that will please a lot of Orioles fans, including this one.

One must not count them out until they are gone, of course. The Yankees had a less-tough 2-1 deficit that they faced in the ALDS against the Guardians, and they won the next two games to take the series, holding the Guardians to three combined runs in those games. The Astros seem like a much tougher matchup, as they should. Now the only way the Yankees can do it is to pull off the miracle comeback in the series like the 2004 Red Sox did against them.

Moving along in the postseason puts us that much closer to when the Orioles offseason can open up and we can see what the plan is to have a better team in 2023. I’ve said it before and will say it again: I’m impatient to find out what’s going to happen. This is the first time in several years where there will be more exciting possibilities for the offseason than “who’s going to get non-tendered” and “who’s going to be picked in the Rule 5 draft.” It’s more fun when the O’s might actually sign players or trade for players.

Today’s two postseason games are staggered so that they are unlikely to overlap. Padres-Phillies are lined up for Game 5 of their series at 2:37, while we’ll start to find out if Houston can finish off New York in Game 4 tonight at 7:07. The National League teams were in the middle of a real donnybrook when I put this article to bed last night, with the Phillies ahead. I trust in your ability to discern what the final score was and what that means for the stakes in that series today.

Around the blogO’sphere

Is Urías a regular in 2023? (School of Roch)
It’s definitely strange to be asking this question about a 28-year-old who just posted a 3.6 bWAR season, but a lot of that value was a defensive improvement, so if you’re not convinced that will stick...

Surveying some of the prospects deeper in the Orioles system (Orioles.com)
A prospect article with some discussion about Frederick Bencosme and Justin Armbruester is definitely one that’s a bit more off the beaten path.

Adam Jones says Orioles didn’t give him enough time to consider trade; ‘I have no animosity’ (Baltimore Baseball)
The former Orioles great addressed the topic of his final few months with the team in 2018 on the debut episode of his new podcast. It’s a different answer than he’s given in the past.

Chat transcript: Questions and answers about the Orioles offseason (MLBTR)
One of MLBTR’s experts fielded Orioles-focused questions to go along with the publication of an Orioles-focused article there. He makes a guess that the Orioles will end up signing or acquiring multiple mid-rotation starting pitchers.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

There is one lone former Oriole who was born on this day. That’s 1954-55 third baseman Vern Stephens, who passed away in 1968 at age 48.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: 23rd vice president of the United States Adlai Stevenson I (1835), comedian/late night host Johnny Carson (1925), football icon Pelé (1940), author Michael Crichton (1942), musician “Weird Al” Yankovic (1959), television host Cat Deeley (1976), and actor Ryan Reynolds (1976).

On this day in history...

In 42 BC, the Roman Wars of the Second Triumvirate came to an end as Brutus was defeated in the Battle of Philippi by an army led by Marc Antony and Octavian, ostensibly seeking vengeance on Caesar’s assassins. After his side’s defeat, Brutus committed suicide.

In 1642 AD, the Royalists and Parliamentarians waged the first serious battle of the English Civil War, the Battle of Edgehill. The battle had no decisive outcome other than that the war would continue for what turned out to be another four years.

In 1942, Japanese army forces launched an attack on American marines defending an airfield the Americans had captured on Guadalcanal. In the four-day Battle of Henderson Field, the attacks were beaten back with 30-40 Japanese men killed for every American military fatality; this was the last Japanese ground offensive of the Guadalcanal campaign.

**

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