Saturday Bird Droppings: One day closer to the offseason

Good morning, Birdland!

The World Series is underway, and the Phillies have taken a rather shocking 1-0 lead. They went behind 5-0 to the Astros early on, but then stormed back against Justin Verlander to tie things up after five innings. Both bullpens were solid in the late innings until J.T. Realmuto launched a 10th inning home run off of Luis Garcia to take a 6-5 lead, one that they would hold onto despite a threat from the Astros in the bottom of the frame.

It was not a great night for Trey Mancini. His hitless postseason continued as he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and three runners left on base. And then he was pinch hit for with the game on the line as Dusty Baker turned to Aledmys Díaz instead.

The Series continues tonight with another 8:03 first pitch on FOX. It’s as close to a must-win game as it gets for the Astros. Losing both games at home would present them with quite a tall task.

Regardless of what happens on the field, we are entering the final full week before the offseason begins. Now, we’re talking!

The weeks between the World Series ending and the first of the year tend to be the busiest, although 2021 was certainly an outlier there. The Winter Meetings take place December 4-7 in San Diego. We would hope that the Orioles are one of the most popular teams as they look to make big strides as an organization in the next few months.

But we do have a bit longer to wait. For now, I guess we’ll just watch the World Series, cheer on Trey to break out of his offensive funk, and dream about next summer.

Links

How much are O’s willing to spend? | Orioles.com
The answer to this question will shape the entire offseason. We know that a few players already on the team are due raises through arbitration. The Orioles seem poised to do more than dip their toe into free agency. And any trade of substance likely adds a few million dollars as well. A baseline expectation should be that the payrolls doubles from 2022 to 2023.

Ryan Minor diagnosed with colon cancer | Roch Kubatko
Really sad news regarding an important figure in Orioles history. Not only was Minor the player to replace Cal Ripken Jr. as he ended his consecutive games player streak, but he later returned to the organization as a coach. Minor spent time as the manager of the Shorebirds and Keys. Hoping that he can defy the odds and beat this.

On cusp of GM Mike Elias’ fifth year with Orioles, his time in Houston still paying off for Astros | The Baltimore Sun
It’s tough to quantify what Elias meant to the Astros organization, but it does track that when he was scouting director that the club seems to have done a real good job of drafting talented players. So far during his time with the Orioles, Elias seems to have done it again. But we won’t really know until 2023 is well underway and several more of his picks make their way to Baltimore.

Gammons: Phillies, Astros show us that there’s no single way to build an effective bullpen anymore | The Athletic
Well, this was unexpected! The Orioles were given a complimentary piece in late October. Peter Gammons explores the importance of bullpen depth, using the O’s relievers as an example of how one unit can turn a team around.

Matt Harvey Undergoes Knee Surgery, Hopes To Pitch In 2023 | MLB Trade Rumors
I fully expected Matt Harvey to throw significant innings for the Orioles last season. Thankfully, it didn’t happen, and it’s because the team was too good for Harvey to crack. It seems unlikely he returns to the organization in 2023.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Shaun Anderson turns 28. The righty appeared in seven games for the 2021 O’s, alloing 10 earned runs over 10 innings.
• Dana Eveland is 39. He had a 14-game stint with the 2012 Orioles, coming out of the bullpen on most occasions but with two starts sprinkled in.
• Karim García is 47 years old. The outfielder had two short runs with the O’s, eight games in 2000 and then 23 games in 2004.
• Frank Baker turns 76. From 1973-74, he served as a backup middle infielder for the O’s.
• Pete Richert celebrates his 83rd birthday. The southpaw spent parts of five seasons in the Orioles’ bullpen from 1967 through ‘71.

This day in O’s history

2013 - The Orioles win three individual Gold Gloves: shortstop J.J. Hardy, third baseman Manny Machado, and centerfielder Adam Jones. It is a worthy honor for the team that set an MLB record low with 54 total errors.

2016 - Orioles closer Zack Britton wins the Mariano Rivera Award as the best reliever in the AL.