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Hello, friends.
There are now 132 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2017. It is still far too long to be worth getting excited about, so, let's move along and talk some hot stove business.
The main bit of business to talk about is that there's no business to talk about, unless you read the depressing news yesterday that the O's pursuit of a new catcher has Nick Hundley as Plan A. The younger and better Jason Castro is most teams' Plan A, according to MLB Trade Rumors - and Hundley is Plan B for many teams, so, don't get your hopes up about a reunion.
November is really not an exciting time to be an Orioles fan. They just don't make a splash early, if they ever make a splash at all. This year certainly seems to be no exception, because things are probably already shut down in advance of Thanksgiving and there's not much time left after that for them to address any of the needs they have. It's unclear how much they'll be able to address those needs over the entirety of the offseason, anyway.
On that typically cheerful note, let's run through today's links.
Around the blogO'sphere
High early prices in offseason make it likely Orioles will wait it out again - Baltimore Sun
The phrase that comes to mind is one which occasionally receives the reply, "Keep digging, Watson."
A possible outfield target, Jones talks WBC, Aberdeen's schedule - Steve Melewski
If you want to be talked into White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton only to find out that the Orioles have no chance of ever trading for him, this is your article.
Guerrero, Mora among newcomers on Hall of Fame ballot - School of Roch
We've arrived at that time of year: The time where the baseball writers underappreciate Mike Mussina. There are some new former Orioles joining Mussina on the ballot, though of course none of the others who are remembered chiefly as O's will ever stand a chance of being inducted.
Why the Orioles should listen to Zach Britton trade offers - Buster Olney Blog- ESPN
I've written in the past that the Orioles shouldn't trade Britton because they aren't losers. I still do believe that, but they SHOULD at least listen to what kind of deals might be out there. If some team gets desperate enough, a deal might be too good to ignore.
Wieters suffers forearm cut in household accident; will resume baseball activities by January - BaltimoreBaseball.com
And this, presumably, is the leak that went out to a friendly outlet, so just imagine how bad it really is.
Birthdays and anniversaries
On this day in 1965, Orioles outfielder Curt Blefary beat out Angels pitcher Marcelino López for the AL Rookie of the Year award - the second in O's franchise history.
There are two O's-connected players with birthdays today. Current 40-man pitcher Jayson Aquino turns 24. It's also the birthday of 2007-08 outfielder Jay Payton, who was definitely one of the representative players of his O's era - which is to say he wasn't good.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: America's second First Lady, Abigail Adams (1744), French war leader Charles de Gaulle (1890), E Street Band guitarist and The Sopranos' Silvo, Steven Van Zandt (1950), The Wire actor Michael K. Williams (1966), and Lost in Translation actress Scarlett Johansson (1984).
On this day in history...
In 1718, off the coast of North Carolina, infamous pirate Edward "Blackbeard" Teach was killed in a battle with a British naval boarding party.
In 1943, during World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese Premier Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo, Egypt - the Cairo Conference - to discuss how to go about defeating Japan.
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
In 1968, The Beatles released their album, The Beatles - also known as The White Album. Among the songs on this album are "Back in the USSR" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
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And that's the way it is in Birdland on November 22 - or at least, unless something changes later, which, do you really think it will two days before Thanksgiving? Well... they have been about to hire a pitching coach "soon" for two weeks, so maybe today. Have a safe Tuesday. Go Orioles!