Happy Monday, Camden Chatters! If you’re in Maryland or one of the other areas that got hit with winter weather, I hope you’re staying warm. Here in Columbia, we got about seven inches of snow and a whole lot of ice. I’ll be staying home again today, because who wants to go out if they don’t have to?
If you were hoping to spend the cold weekend warming your hands at the Hot Stove, you were left disappointed. There was no Orioles news and little other news. The White Sox signed Seranthony Dominguez
to be their closer, and José Ramírez agreed to a contract extension with the Guardians through 2032. He must really like it there!
There was a bit of Orioles-adjacent info that came out, neither of which was too exciting. Hanser Alberto, whose best MLB season came with the Orioles in 2019, announced his retirement. Alberto hadn’t played in the majors since 2023. In 2019, Alberto hit .305/.329/422. He also had 12 home runs, which was nine more than in any other season. Best of luck in retirement, Hanser!
The other info that came out was an announcement by Tomoyuki Sugano that he doesn’t intend to return to Japan after one season with the Orioles. He plans to stay in MLB and is “waiting for offers.” I hope he gets one.
Of course, there is also the thing that we’ve been talking about the entire off-season: pitching. Jim Bowden had a story in The Athletic on Friday ranking the remaining free agents. At the top of the list is Framber Valdez, who has surprisingly not signed yet. In his blurb on Valdez, this is what Bowden had to say:
Most in the industry believe that he will eventually land with the Baltimore Orioles for fewer years than he anticipated at the beginning of free agency.
Anything written by Bowden has to be taken with more than a few grains of salt, but I have to admit I enjoy reading that. Maybe this will be the week!
Links
Basallo and Beavers give Orioles a pair of prospects who should contribute in 2026 – MASN Sports
A post you may have missed over the weekend. Roch Kubatko takes a look at the two highly-ranked prospects and what that could be for the Orioles with the PPI.
How a D.C. bar owner’s love of the Orioles shines through in enemy territory – The Baltimore Banner
Some nice off-season content about Eebee’s Corner Bar in DC, owned and operated by an Orioles fan.
Henderson talks about Orioles’ additions, shoulder injury – Baltimore Baseball
If you missed Gunnar Henderson’s interview on WBAL, Rich Dubroff has you covered.
Birthdays and History
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have three Orioles birthday buddies: Jemile Weeks (39), Rick Schu (64), and Bob Nieman (b. 1927, d. 1985). Weeks appeared in just three games with the Orioles, but I will always remember him as the trade return for Jim Johnson. By 2013, Johnson had been with the Orioles for eight years and was coming off of back-to-back 50-save seasons. He was due $10 million in salary, which seemed too much for the Orioles. So they sent him packing. The trade was a bit of a head-scratcher, but it turned out in the Orioles’ favor. Johnson was terrible in 2014. Anyway, sorry about not having a Jemile Weeks story on his birthday.
On this day in 2004, the Orioles re-signed Sidney Ponson to a three-year deal. They had traded him to San Francisco at the 2003 trade deadline and the Orioles just had to get him back. Ponson’s second stint with the Orioles did not go so well. In two seasons, he was terrible. The Orioles released him with a year left on his contract for violating their morals clause. Ponson had a number of legal run-ins, including the infamous judge-punching incident.
In 2015, the Orioles signed Chris Parmelee to a minor-league contract. He was called up in early June and had four hits, two of which were home runs, in his first game. It was very exciting! Things fell off after that, and he ended up missing the last few months with injury. He was never heard from again in Baltimore.
In 2021, the Orioles signed infielder Freddy Galvis. He played in 72 games with Baltimore before going back to Philadelphia at the trade deadline.
And in 2023, the Orioles traded for pitcher Cole Irvin. They sent prospect Darrell Hernaiz to the then-Oakland Athletics and got Irvin and minor-leaguer Kyle Virbitsky in return. Irvin spent two seasons in Baltimore, splitting his time between the rotation and the bullpen. He did not have much success, but was an easy guy to root for. There was some heartburn among Orioles fans over sending away an interesting prospect in Hernaiz, but so far he hasn’t done much with the Athletics. He’s still young, though, just 24 years old.
