Saturday Bird Droppings: Where we're all fighting the Orioles over $650,000

Hello, friends.

There are now 58 days until Orioles Opening Day. Finally, less than two months. It'll be a long two months, but we'll make it. Soon there will be spring training and at least the illusion of baseball will be with us on a daily basis.

One other date of interest coming up is February 20, which is the scheduled arbitration hearing date for Alejandro De Aza, with whom the O's are expected to face off even though the two sides are only $650,000 apart. I guess it's easy for me to say that I find that puzzling, but I'm also not in any danger of my skills being worth either $5 million or $5.65 million to anyone any time soon. So, you know, that's not really a situation in my experience.

Here's the rest of the news from around Birdland to go with your Saturday morning cartoons...

Orioles, De Aza set for arbitration hearing Feb. 20 : Fantasy News (CBS Sports)
But seriously, why are they going down to a hearing over $650,000?

Orioles Infield May Have Perfect Blend Of Youth, Experience (PressBox)
Stan the Fan's conversation with Mike Bordick is truly the gift that keeps on giving. Here's Bordick on the Orioles infield in general.

Taking a closer look at the Orioles' arbitration raises - Baltimore Sun
When you have good, young players, they get more expensive as time goes by. So does Brian Matusz. That's just the way the arbitration system works, and it's why the O's payroll is going up this year.

Orioles facing tough personnel questions heading into spring training | Comcast SportsNet Baltimore
Rich Dubroff sounds off on some of the questions facing the O's heading into spring, like who will be the leadoff hitter, and whether there will be any rookies on the team. Doesn't sound like he's optimistic for either of the Rule 5 guys' chances.

Orioles Duquette Dodges Toronto Questions " CBS Baltimore
Yeah, so what else is new?

We are chock full of former Orioles birthdays today: Scott Feldman, Jon Leicester, Endy Chavez, Dave Borkowski, Benny Ayala, and the late Al Smith, who put up a .740 OPS in 120 games for the 1963 Orioles team.

There are no transactions of note on this date. No surprise. Not much tends to happen in February in the baseball world.

And that's the way it is in Birdland on February 7 - or at least, unless something happens later. Have a safe Saturday.