Friday Bird Droppings: A music legend is coming to Baltimore

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

One of these days, I’ll be able to joyously pass along the news that MLB and the Players’ Association made a major breakthrough in negotiations and a new collective bargaining agreement is imminent.

Today is not that day.

The two sides met yesterday for their first face-to-face meeting since last Saturday, but the session lasted just 15 minutes and produced “little progress,” according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. The MLBPA offered a proposal for 80 percent of players to become arbitration eligible after two seasons of service and for the league to establish a $115 million bonus pool for pre-arbitration players. Other core economic issues on which the two sides are very far apart, such as the luxury tax, were not discussed. The clock continues to tick; MLB reportedly told the players that the start of the regular season will be in jeopardy if a new deal isn’t reached by Feb. 28.

Meanwhile, in Charm City, the Orioles are making some news. Today, club CEO John Angelos will hold a press conference with Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott in which they’ll announce — according to WJZ — that music legend Paul McCartney will be performing at Oriole Park this summer. It would be the first major concert at the ballpark since Billy Joel’s 2019 performance, and certainly a welcome one. You can’t go wrong with the world’s most famous Paul, one of the great songwriters of any era.

The McCartney news is a welcome diversion from the dour MLB labor negotiations. It’s a bummer that the two sides couldn’t make much progress Yesterday, and it doesn’t seem like it’s Getting Better. These guys need to Get Back to the bargaining table as soon as possible and meet Eight Days a Week until they hash this thing out. And no more 15-minute meetings, either — that’s barely enough time to say “Hello, Goodbye.” I’m telling you, this whole situation is completely Helter Skelter, and they can’t just Let It Be. We’re all waiting for The End of the lockout, but The Long and Winding Road to an agreement seems endless. At this rate it’ll only happen When I’m 64.

Links

The Winter of Coby Mayo: On growing prospect buzz, and what the Orioles’ prep hitter success could mean for 2022 - Maximizing Playoff Odds
Coby Mayo is the latest Orioles prospect who’s riding full steam ahead on the hype train. Jon Meoli digs in to what makes him a promising young slugger on the rise.

Revisiting the 2020 Orioles draft class - Steve Melewski
Speaking of Mayo, that 2020 draft — in which the O’s were bashed for picking Heston Kjerstad on an underslot deal at #2 overall — could pay dividends after all if Mayo, Jordan Westburg, and others pan out. Still, they’re going to need something out of Kjerstad, too.

Diaz, Bannon no longer on Orioles’ top prospect lists - BaltimoreBaseball.com
As Yusniel Diaz and Rylan Bannon’s prospect status has evaporated, I can’t help but wonder how different the Orioles’ system would look if Mike Elias had made the Manny Machado trade instead of Dan Duquette.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! And happy 25th birthday to Ryan Mountcastle, who’s coming off a strong first full season in the majors in which he bashed 33 homers and posted a .796 OPS. Mountcastle won the Players Choice Award for AL Outstanding Rookie while finishing sixth in the BBWAA’s AL Rookie of the Year vote. I think he’ll be sticking around for a while.

Former Orioles born on this day include catcher Chad Moeller (47) and two guys who died too young, infielder Jeff McKnight (b. 1963, d. 2015) and first baseman Walter Young (b. 1980, d. 2015).

On this day in 1954, the newly transplanted Orioles, who hadn’t yet played a game in their new hometown, traded Roy Sievers to the Washington Senators. Sievers had been the AL Rookie of the Year for the St. Louis Browns in 1949 but had barely played the previous three seasons before the franchise changed cities. After the trade, Sievers went on to become an outstanding hitter for Washington, posting six straight years of 20+ homers and four seasons of 100 or more RBIs.