Sunday Bird Droppings: It’s contract option season, but not for the Orioles

Hello, friends.

There are now 144 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2024. If you are in the United States and you didn’t turn any clocks back that don’t change the time for themselves, you should probably do that now. It’s that time of year. There will not be another day with a sunset of 6pm or later in Baltimore until March 2.

The weekend of teams and players deciding on contract options for next year continues. The deadline for all of that stuff is tomorrow evening. It is not a directly relevant deadline for the Orioles because they do not have any players with either team or player options in their contracts for next year. They don’t have to decide who they want to opt in on, and they won’t have their plans for 2024 impacted by anyone on the current team deciding to opt out.

How much other players exercising their opt outs could impact the coming Orioles offseason is something that depends on your outlook about whether they will actually spend some money. Former O’s prospect Eduardo Rodriguez is a free agent after opting out of the remaining three years and $49 million of his contract with the Tigers.

Rodriguez, who turns 31 next April, posted a 3.58 ERA (118 ERA+) in 43 starts over the last two years with Detroit. He’s started 30+ games in two of his eight big league seasons. I’m not feeling this one, but I have noticed more than a few Orioles fans on social media who are drawn to the idea of reuniting with the guy who was traded away as the team chased postseason glory in 2014. Are you in favor of Rodriguez getting to finally pitch for the Orioles?

Free agency opens up tomorrow as any player will be free to sign with any team. For the previous several days, players have officially been free agents but cannot sign with any team other than their old team. Baseball has some weird little rules when you really think about them.

Around the blogO’sphere

Sonny Gray: Is he a free agent fit for the Orioles? (Steve Melewski)
Melewski notes Gray’s projected contract is three years and $63 million. He notes that in the season-ending press conference by Mike Elias, Elias said, “There are players and trade targets that we have pursued that are in the last 12 months that we didn’t get that were in the (salary) ranges that you are alluding to.” Does that mean anything? I’ll believe it when I see it.

Arizona Fall Stars Game rosters (Orioles.com)
Two of the Orioles prospects in Arizona were named to tonight’s Fall Stars Game - pitchers Carter Baumler and Trey McGough. Baumler is not going to be eligible to play in the game, but McGough might. The game will be on MLB Network at 8pm Eastern if you need a baseball fix so bad.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 1976, Jim Palmer was awarded the AL Cy Young Award for the third time in his career, receiving 19 of 24 first place votes to beat Detroit’s Mark Fidrych. This was the last time Palmer won the Cy, though he did have three more top three finishes remaining in his career.

In 1997, Davey Johnson was named as AL Manager of the Year and resigned as manager on the same day over a dispute with owner Peter Angelos about how money for a player’s fine was directed.

There are a pair of former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2019 pitcher Josh Lucas, and 2004-06 catcher Javy López.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: activist Eugene V. Debs (1855), actor and musician Roy Rogers (1911), musician Art Garfunkel (1941), basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton (1952), and Jonas brother Kevin Jonas (1987).

On this day in history...

In 1605, the Gunpowder Plot was foiled with the arrest of Guy Fawkes, who had been attempting to blow up the Parliament building in London and kill the king, James I.

In 1872, Susan B. Anthony cast a vote for the first time. As it was illegal for women to vote at the time, she was fined $100.

In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to his third term in office, making him the first and still only president to be elected to or serve more than two terms.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on November 5. Have a safe Sunday.