Thanksgiving Day Bird Droppings: Giving thanks for the AL East champion Orioles

Hello, friends.

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty dang thankful for the Orioles season that we just witnessed. The only thing sad about it is that it had to end. So must all good things. The more time that goes by, the easier it gets, though I'll always wonder what if...

There are now 129 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2015. Before you know it, we'll be down into the double digits, won't we? Okay, that's still a long way away. I'm trying here.

You might be a little busy either getting ready for your Thanksgiving activities, stuffing yourself, or cleaning up to check out some links from around Birdland, but just in case you have a little bit of time...

Chicopee native Scott Barnes traded to Baltimore Orioles (Mass Live)
The newest Oriole, who was designated for assignment by Cleveland previously, is from somewhere in Massachusetts, so they wrote a few paragraphs about him in the paper. That was nice of them.

Orioles' Duquette again shows patience, restraint (Peter Schmuck)
Hey, this sounds familiar. Here's Baltimore Sun columnist Peter Schmuck's take on the quiet offseason so far.

Orioles and infielder Navarro agree to 1-year deal (Fox)
Some bare bones about a recent signing of a utility infielder, namely that he'll make $550,000 if he's on the big league club this season.

MLB's $25 million loan to Nationals compromised its impartiality, MASN says (Baltimore Sun)
MLB and MASN/the Orioles are engaged in a legal pissing contest over whether or not commissioner-elect Rob Manfred exerted undue influence over an arbitration proceeding about TV rights fees. There's little question that he did, but whether the O's can sufficiently prove it in court on December 15 remains to be seen.

Elsewhere on the SB Nation MLB network...

The Athletics trade tree: 6 degrees of Mark Mulder (Athletics Nation)
Our counterparts over on the Oakland blog were inspired by a recent Grantland article to find out just how deep the Mark Mulder tree's roots are with the Athletics. Turns out they are quite deep indeed.

Born on this day are a number of former Orioles: Johnny Schmitz (1956 season), Bill Short (1962 & 1966), Randy "Moose" Milligan (1989-92), Tim Laker (1997), and Dave Trembley-era sacrificial lamb Jason Berken (2009-12).

On this day in 2006, the Orioles signed Danys Baez. Well, oops. But maybe it's evened out by the fact that they picked John Lowenstein off waivers from Texas on this date in 1978.

And that's the way it is in Birdland on this Thanksgiving Day, November 27. Have a safe holiday and, as the Camden Yards PA would say, drive home only if you are sober.