Hello, friends.
There are now 53 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day. We’re getting there! WBC-participating pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota in just eight days, while the first Grapefruit League game for the Orioles is 19 days away. We’re in the month where fake games will be happening! That’s more fun for me than it typically is since, you know, I’m sick of all of this snow/ice lingering around.
I’m also kind of sick of all the speculating about Framber Valdez. Just sign a contract already,
man! Get the best deal that’s out there right now. I don’t think anybody’s going to blink and give you more. Maybe the market has gotten really weird for him and there’s nothing even worth signing right now, I don’t know. If nobody’s even offering like 3/100, then sure, wait it out.
My suspicion is that Valdez could get that from the Orioles today, maybe he wants a few million more in AAV or maybe he wants an extra year. But it’s February 1 now, and again, some people will be in camp in eight days! It’s time to get some certainty here. I’ve been on “Valdez or bust” train for a while, so I don’t think there are even any alternatives worth considering for the O’s at this point. Zac Gallen, Lucas Giolito, Chris Bassitt, whatever, I don’t care. Unless there’s a surprise injury to a starting pitcher that we don’t know about beyond “maybe Zach Eflin isn’t going to pitch before May” then they don’t need any more back end guys.
Perhaps for the sake of negotiating, Mike Elias needs to pretend he might sign one of those other guys. He has some credibility in making that claim. We know he’ll sign a mediocre-at-best starting pitcher who nobody really wants. He’s got a real track record of that and he might still do it even in this winter where he’s otherwise been fairly aggressive in getting things done. I don’t know. I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten figured out yet.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
Mailbag: Is it Framber Valdez or bust for the rotation? (The Baltimore Sun)
People are wondering whether the Orioles really have any interest in non-Valdez pitchers left out there. I’m skeptical, but there’s no way to know for sure until we see who’s left after Valdez signs.
The Orioles have had a busy winter, and say it’s boosted ticket sales (The Baltimore Banner)
They can say all that they want. The final ticket numbers for 2026 will tell the tale, and that tale will probably be told more by how the team plays than by anything that has happened since October.
Rogers reflects on magical 2025 season (School of Roch)
This was also in yesterday’s Bird Droppings and I’m including it here mostly to note that there’s enough in here to indicate that you probably don’t need to worry about Trevor Rogers being in the “day 1 of spring training secret offseason injuries” news dump.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Today in 2010, former Orioles broadcaster Jon Miller was named the year’s winner of the Ford Frick Award, an honor given out annually by the Hall of Fame since 1978 for “meritorious service by baseball broadcasters.”
In 2024, the Orioles traded Joey Ortiz and DL Hall, plus a competitive balance draft pick, to the Brewers for Corbin Burnes. What an exciting couple of days that was with news of the sale of the team one day and the Burnes trade the next.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2012 two-gamer Joe Mahoney, 1998 outfielder Rich Becker, 1996 pitcher Kent Mercker, and 1964-76 outfielder Paul Blair.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include:
On this day in history…
In 1884, the first volume of the Oxford English Dictionary was published. Volume 1 covered A to Ant.
In 1896, Puccini’s opera La bohème had its premiere performance. This show’s story was later adapted into the long-running musical, Rent.
In 1964, the Beatles single “I Want To Hold Your Hand” reached #1 in the United States, the band’s first #1 hit here.
A random Orioles trivia question
I received a book of Orioles trivia questions for Christmas. I’ll ask a question each time it’s my turn to do Bird Droppings until I run out of questions or forget. If you are answering the question early in the day, please be considerate of others arriving later and place your response behind spoiler text in the comments. Thank you!
Which Orioles player was the first to record a 50+ home run season? As a bonus, in what year did he do it?
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on February 1. Have a safe Sunday.
