Hello, friends.
There are now 47 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day. We’re now at one month to go until all pitchers and catchers are required to report to Sarasota for spring training. WBC participants of pitchers and catchers will be two days sooner than that.
One thing changed in the baseball world over the weekend: On Saturday night, the Cubs reportedly signed free agent infielder Alex Bregman to a five-year contract that will pay him $175 million. That doesn’t change very much about anything
to do with the Orioles. They would not have been on this market and Bregman hasn’t gone to one of their rivals.
The starting pitching market is where it has been for more than a week now. Ranger Suárez and Framber Valdez are still out there. Freddy Peralta, often mentioned as a trade candidate, is still a Brewer. In a survey here last week, an overwhelming majority of Orioles fans said they expect another starting pitching this offseason. Time is getting shorter, but until these guys sign there is at least the possibility of a big addition. I wouldn’t say no to another reliever getting signed for the back-end mix. Will Mike Elias see these needs the same way?
In Orioles-connected things, if you missed it a few days ago, the team announced the return of the Birdland Caravan from January 22-24. Many of the limited ticket events are already sold out but there are a number of open events across the three days throughout the area and maybe one of them is coming near enough to you that you’d want to go check it out.
More related to the roster, recently Gunnar Henderson told the Orioles Hot Stove Season radio show that he played through a shoulder impingement much of last year. Maybe that’s why he only hit 17 homers. One can hope that has been dealt with heading into 2026, but who knows. I spent last offseason convinced that Adley Rutschman would help up from whatever was ailing him at the end of the 2024 season and have a great 2025 at the plate. It didn’t work out that way.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
Q&A: Westminster’s Tony Holland on becoming minority owner (The Baltimore Sun)
Random minority owners are one of the occasional delights of sports.
Four for the Hall of Fame, and a near miss (Baltimore Baseball)
Rich Dubroff explains his votes for this year’s Hall of Fame ballot.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Nothing of particular note has happened in Orioles history on January 11. Maybe that will change today! Probably not, though.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2018-21 infielder and in strange times pitcher Stevie Wilkerson, 2008 pitcher Greg Aquino, 1957 outfielder Carl Powis, and 1954 infielder Neil Berry.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: early American political figure Alexander Hamilton (1755), actor Don “Red” Barry (1912), musician Naomi Judd (1946), and singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige (1971).
On this day in history…
In 630, Muhammad and his followers conquered the city of Mecca, afterwards a holy city for the then-nascent Muslim faith.
In 1935, Amelia Earhart completed a solo flight from Hawaii to California, becoming the first person to ever accomplish this feat.
In 1973, the designated hitter was approved for the American League.
Random Orioles trivia question
I received a book of Orioles trivia for Christmas. I’m going to ask a question each time it’s my turn to do Bird Droppings until I run out of questions or forget. Today’s question:
What year did the Orioles record their first regular season with 100+ wins?
I never thought I’d see an Orioles season with 100+ wins, then they pulled off 2023’s amazing 101-61 record.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on January 11. Have a safe Sunday.
