Thursday Bird Droppings: Where any left-handed pitcher with a pulse will do

Hello, friends.

There are now 53 days until Orioles Opening Day. It will be here before you know it. Of course, it'll still be a few more days beyond that before the team actually gets to play a game at Camden Yards, which is kind of a bummer. But, open at home one year, open on the road the next. Open at home, close on the road. That's the way it goes.

If you thought it was dire out there for baseball news before James Shields signed, imagine how it is after. Actually, there is the interesting question of where Yoan Moncada will sign now that he's been declared a free agent. The Orioles aren't going anywhere near that market, though.

Some O's links to get you through your Thursday...

Orioles have interest in free-agent reliever Dustin McGowan - Baltimore Sun
I'm just going to throw this out there: Don't bother signing Dustin McGowan. Although if it's the standard Duquettian minor league deal, then what the heck, who cares?

Orioles Spring Training Preview With Mike Bordick " CBS Baltimore
Mike Bordick is basically everywhere talking about the Orioles, and that's before we even get into the regular season where one of his jobs is to go on MASN and talk about the Orioles. Here he is on 105.7 The Fan.

Jim Henneman: Why Is Orioles' Alejandro De Aza Headed To Arbitration? (Press Box)
Longtime Baltimore sports scribe Jim Henneman tries to puzzle out why Alejandro De Aza and the Orioles are on a collision course for an arbitration hearing. They won't have the silliest dispute of the season; reliever Jerry Blevins and the Nationals went to war over $200,000. Blevins won.

Orioles minor league catcher Chance Sisco debuts on league-wide top prospect list - Baltimore Sun
Chance Sisco didn't pop up on the Top 100 of ESPN's Keith Law, but he's made his way onto Baseball Prospectus' Top 101 at, you guessed it, 101.

Orioles make few moves in offseason despite need for more - MLB - SI.com
Jay Jaffe is not an idiot. However, an article that begins by including names such as Johan Santana, Kelly Johnson, and Joe Saunders among the key departures does make you inherently skeptical of the thesis.

Above, I mentioned Moncada, who does indeed look impressive, as seen in this picture that rippled across the baseball segment of Twitter yesterday:

This picture helps explain why MLB teams really want to sign Yoan Moncada: http://t.co/QzqNzWcni1 pic.twitter.com/Cw5r5jfkB1

— SB Nation (@SBNation) February 12, 2015

As Gary Thorne might say: Mercy!

Today is the birthday of "Full Pack" Don Stanhouse, along with a trio of more obscure ex-Orioles: Chris Snyder, Adam Stern, and Jerry Walker. It was also the birthday of the late Pat Dobson, one of the four 20-game winners on the 1971 O's.

There are no transactions of note on this day, unless for some reason you count the signing of Steve Trachsel in 2008. For some reason, the front office of the time hadn't seen enough of Trachsel in 2007 so they brought him back again. It didn't go very well.

And that's the way it is in Birdland on February 12 - at least, unless something happens later, which it hopefully will not, because there's probably no way for any news to be good news if it happens today. Have a safe Thursday.