Hello, friends.
There are now 81 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day. Just a month and five days stand between now and World Baseball Classic-participating pitchers and catchers reporting to Sarasota.
It’s getting close.
Going into the offseason, everyone was wondering if the Orioles would do a big move to fortify the top of their rotation. What they’ve done so far is a couple of big surprise trades that impacted the rotation, dealing Grayson Rodriguez and then trading four prospects and a draft pick for Shane Baz. If you’re optimistic about Baz, that stands to fortify the top of the rotation. If you’re not, you’d probably still like to see another move up at the top.
I’m not top-of-the-rotation optimistic about Baz, so I’m still hoping to see something else done that really moves the needle. The Orioles need to do something that will increase their chances of having a competitive postseason rotation, assuming that the lineup can ever get itself together for them to play more than the minimum number of games in one round of a postseason series.
Japanese pitcher Tatsuya Imai turned out to not be much of a market-setter for the remaining high-end pitchers after all. Ranger Suárez and Framber Valdez will be measuring against different markers in trying to figure out what kind of contracts they deserve or might realistically receive from MLB teams.
Some people in the land of Orioles fans on Bluesky are angling for another one-year stop-gap trade with the Brewers, in this case aiming for Freddy Peralta. The 29-year-old doesn’t have the former Cy Young pedigree of Corbin Burnes, but he did just drop a 2.70 ERA while starting 33 games in 2024, and he’s made 30+ starts in each of the past three seasons. One reason it’s easy to think of a trade is it does feel like the Orioles need to do something with the glut of first base/designated hitter-type players who aren’t named Pete Alonso. Whether the Brewers are a good outlet for that, I have no idea.
The time to get things settled is drawing closer, but it’s not here yet. As long as both of Suárez and Valdez are free agents, the Orioles haven’t missed the boat. Three weeks from now, if I’m sitting down to write something and those pitchers have signed and the Orioles haven’t made another trade, I will probably start to wonder if what they’ve got is what they’re going to have.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
New teammates Baz, Rutschman have formed successful battery before (Orioles.com)
If “Shane Baz pitched to Adley Rutschman in the 2021 Futures Game” is going to get you hype, have at it.
Orioles free agent targets: Comparing Ranger Suárez and Framber Valdez (The Baltimore Sun)
Now that the list of possible top-end free agent pitching signings is down to two, The Sun compares the last two remaining guys.
Zach Eflin reunites with Orioles for 2026 season (FanGraphs)
Transaction analysis catching up on the week between Christmas and New Years. If you already forgot that the Orioles reunited with Eflin, it’s for you too.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
There is one lone former Oriole with a birthday today. Happy 64th birthday to 1988-90 pitcher Jay Tibbs, who had a 4.92 ERA in 50 games across his three seasons with the team.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: scientist Isaac Newton (1643), language inventor Louis Braille (1809), actress D’Arcy Carden (1980), and current Ravens running back Derrick Henry (1994), who should probably have gotten more handoffs this season.
On this day in history…
In 1649, the Parliament of England, at this time dubbed the Rump Parliament because many of its members opposed to this day’s action were arrested the previous month, voted to put the king, Charles I, on trial.
In 1958, Soviet satellite Sputnik 1 fell from orbit after about two and a half months in space.
Random Orioles trivia
I received a low-quality book of Orioles trivia for Christmas and will ask one question every time I do Bird Droppings until I run out of questions or forget.
Who led the Orioles in home runs in 2005?
Feel free to share in the comments your story about how these losers sucked you in and then disappointed you.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on January 4. Have a safe Sunday.
