Thursday Bird Droppings: Are the Orioles set for 2023 as New Year’s approaches?

Hello, friends.

There are now three months and one day remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2023. That’s exactly thirteen weeks from now until the return of real baseball. The next time I write one of these messages, it will be 2023. Isn’t it crazy?

One thing that’s been on my mind as the days tick towards the next calendar year is wondering how much more will change with our presumed makeup of the Orioles between now and then.

The Orioles have made four moves already - not big ones, but moves nonetheless. Kyle Gibson is someone you might have predicted as a signing two months ago. Adam Frazier and Mychal Givens, as well as trade addition James McCann, less so. Those additions have shaken up the roster a bit. Ideally, they’re moves that raise the floor of the team by providing some known quantities who, based on 2022 data, have a little room for improvement in 2023.

Is another one coming? It still seems like the Orioles have got to find a way to get one more known quantity into that rotation where what’s known about them is better performance than Gibson-level dudes. That’s been my hope from the outset of this offseason, so much so that I was on here talking myself into why the Orioles should have signed Justin Verlander. It would have made so much sense! Now if they get any other free agent it’s going to be like, Michael Wacha. You know? Meh.

Activity has continued this week, if not by the O’s. Nathan Eovaldi signed with Texas. The Pirates brought in Rich “The Blister” Hill. Corey Kluber is now a Red Sock. Atlanta locked up their recently-acquired catcher Sean Murphy to a contract extension. Teams are doing things! I just don’t expect that the Orioles will add to their list of moves between now and when we turn into January 2023, but then, Mike Elias is always capable of surprising me.

Around the blogO’sphere

More questions about the rotation, Lowther, and margins (School of Roch)
The list of available free agent starting pitchers is increasingly depressing to contemplate, and it seems like at least one less-depressing option is scratched off daily - including yesterday, with Corey Kluber signing with the Red Sox for the same 2022 guaranteed salary the Orioles are paying Kyle Gibson.

Why Johnny Cueto makes perfect sense for the Orioles (Press Box)
It’s not only because Cueto was on Stan Charles’s fantasy baseball team this year. That definitely seems to be part of the reason, though.

The best - and worst - Orioles moments in 2022 (The Baltimore Banner)
Can you think of any significant omissions from either of these categories?

Breaking down the Orioles’ minor league free agent signings (The Baltimore Sun)
There were no significant additions to the 2022 Orioles from the group of minor league free agents signed last offseason. Time will tell if that’s any different for the 2023 club.

Here’s some Jackson Holliday personal news:

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2007 three-game pitcher Jaret Wright, 2006 reliever Jim Brower, 1978-81 pitcher Dave Ford, and 1977 reserve catcher Ken Rudolph. Today is Rudolph’s 76th birthday, so an extra happy birthday to him.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you as well! Your birthday buddies for today include: rubber developer Charles Goodyear (1800), author William Gaddis (1922), actress Mary Tyler Moore (1936), and actor Jude Law (1972).

On this day in history...

In 1170, followers of England’s King Henry II carried out an assassination of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, within the Canterbury Cathedral.

In 1845, the Republic of Texas was annexed into the United States of America.

In 1913, Cecil DeMille began filming on a project called The Squaw Man. It was a notable development because this was the first feature film to be made in Hollywood.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on December 29. Have a safe Thursday.