Tuesday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles have reinforced Team Steve

Hello, friends.

There are now 131 days until Orioles Opening Day 2016.

There's also basically nothing going on. Maybe that's not much of a surprise. I was thinking yesterday about how it seemed like not much had happened so far this offseason, so I went back and looked at when all the things started happening last year, and it was all the first week of December. Nick Markakis and Nelson Cruz signed then. I guess everyone waits until after Thanksgiving to really get moving?

Of course, it's always possible today will be the day a ton of stuff happens, and by noon these words rank among the least prescient that I have ever put into an article. Remember, I know even less than Jon Snow - whose face maybe you saw on a billboard yesterday? Game of Thrones, like baseball, will be coming back in April, although baseball is going to be back first. It looks like the end of April for Westeros to see its next chapter unfold.

But enough about that - let's get on with the links.

Around the blogO'sphere

Which available outfielder is tops on your Orioles wish list? - Baltimore Sun
Over at the Sun, they want to know which of the outfielders you want the Orioles to get more than any other. Absent any money concerns, the only acceptable answer would seem to be Jason Heyward, although when you bring money into it, you can go a number of different ways.

Ah-Seop Son Does Not Draw Any Bids From MLB Teams - MLB Trade Rumors
One guy you can scratch off the list is Korean outfielder Ah-seop Son, who had no teams bid for his posting rights. That's a little odd. If you read the article, there were some strange circumstances around Son being posted at all.

School of Roch: Notes on Henry Urrutia and Buck Showalter's comments on MLB Network
Henry was sick. So was his son. They're both doing better now. Urrutia's been competing in the Venezuela Winter League.

Steve Melewski: Orioles have a solid core group of players to build around
When your "solid core" includes a guy who's not getting surgery for a torn labrum, a guy who has played in 81 games over the last two years, and does not take into consideration a starting rotation that was one of the worst in baseball last year... well, I think I must disagree with the premises that lead to the conclusion.

Should the Orioles trade for Drew Storen? (Baseball Essential)
No.

And from elsewhere on SB Nation, a little note about a former Oriole...

Tigers interested in former Orioles closer Tommy Hunter - Bless You Boys
My Tigers counterpart, Rob Rogacki, is not so enthused with the idea of Tommy Goes Boom in his favorite team's bullpen. Rob, believe me, I understand exactly how you feel.

Oh, and Steve Tolleson is back on a minor league deal. Team Steve rides again. At least for now.

Birthdays and anniversaries

On this day in 1982, Cal Ripken Jr. was awarded the American League Rookie of the Year award.

There are three former Orioles with birthdays today. You might remember Damian Moss from the Sidney Ponson trade to the Giants. You surely remember Ben McDonald. You probably don't remember Fred Beene and his seven games scattered from 1968-70.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Along with those former Orioles, you have these birthday buddies: undefeated Russian field marshal Alexander Suvorov (1729), President Zachary Taylor (1784), museum advocate Paul Tagliabue (1940), actor Colin Hanks (1977), and actress Katherine Heigl (1978). It's not a super interesting day for birthdays. Well, you've also got serial killer Ted Bundy (1946) and German field marshal/convicted war criminal Erich von Manstein (1887).

On this day in history...

In 1835, the Texas Rangers - in their original incarnation, a horse-mounted police force - were created.

In 1859, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species.

In 1950, the "storm of the century" struck, a snowstorm that dumped 57 inches on Pickens, West Virginia. A total of 357 people are believed to have died as a result of the storm.

In 1963, Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald on live television. Whatever your feelings about JFK conspiracies, you've got to admit that's a bizarre occurrence.

In 1971, Dan (D.B.) Cooper hijacked a passenger jet, got $200,000 in ransom money, then parachuted from the plane mid-flight. He was never found. This is the only unsolved case of air piracy in American aviation history.

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And that's the way it is in Birdland on November 24 - at least, unless something happens later. Have a safe Tuesday.