Okay, now that Andy MacPhail seems to have eased up on his whirlwind of deal-making, it’s time for a final offseason update. The book is closed on another handful of 2008 Orioles:
-#2 Juan Castro is going camping with the Dodgers.
-#12 Brandon Fahey is Toronto’s problem now.
-#18 Garrett Olson was traded to the Cubs for outfielder Felix Pie. The Cubs then swapped him to Seattle for Aaron Heilman.
-#51 Randor Bierd was also dealt, heading to Boston in exchange for pitcher David Pauley.
-#56 Brian Burres was claimed on waivers by the Blue Jays, who have some sort of weird Baltimore North thing going. They’ve also picked up Adam Loewen and Kevin Millar in recent months.
I’ve made several updates to the bio pages and all-time roster to bring closure to the newest batch of ex-O’s. I’ve also added #39 Cory Morris, who spent three days on the major league roster in April 2006 but did not see game action. He pushes #39 over the top as the most-worn number in Oriole history, with thirty different players sporting those digits over the years!
Additionally, I made some much-needed updates to the links page, updating a few addresses and making note of a couple blogs that are no longer being updated but are keeping their archives online. I also added the Dinged Corners baseball card blog and Walkoff Walk, a general baseball blog. Speaking of links…I keep forgetting to mention this, so let me take the opportunity to announce that I’ve sponsored John Lowenstein’s player page at baseball-reference.com. It’s a great way to honor one of the biggest characters to wear an Orioles uniform while supporting a great online resource and possibly bringing a little more traffic to my own site. Money well spent!
As you probably know by now, pitchers and catchers do report to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow. Earlier this week, Roch Kubatko was on the ball, reporting the numbers that many of the newest Birds will wear when they take the field. Let’s have a look-see, shall we?
-UT Ryan Freel sports #2, since his previous #6 is firmly claimed by Melvin Mora.
-SS Cesar Izturis takes #3, which he has worn in his travels since 2002.
-C Gregg Zaun is in #9, as he was in Toronto for the past five years. He wore #24 in his first stint in Baltimore (1995-1996).
-OF Felix Pie dons #18, as did Garrett Olson in 2008. If he holds on to this number, we’ll have another uni-number centric trade!
-P Koji Uehara keeps the #19 jersey that he wore in Japan. Sorry, Oscar Salazar.
-P Mark Hendrickson is trying on #27 since Luke Scott has #30 clamped down.
-P Rich Hill is listed as #51, even though the #53 that he wore as a Cub seems to be open. Maybe he wants a fresh start in any way possible.
-P David Pauley can’t like his chances as #79. If he goes north with the team, he would be the first Oriole to wear that number. Of course, if he makes the club, he’ll probably have the opportunity to swap it for something lower.
-Pitcher John Parrish has recently come back to Birdland as well. His former #36 is currently in the purview of coach Alan Dunn, so John’s number status is up in the air at present.
Whew, that was a marathon! I’ll have to get back into the swing of things by remembering that more frequent updates = shorter updates. Remember, hope springs eternal!
The All-Star break just can’t come fast enough for the Orioles, can it?
That’s right, it’s finally here! I’m realistic about the Orioles’ chances this year (as in, they have a chance to win 65-70 games), but they’re starting out even with everyone else at 0-0. There’s something refreshing about the feeling, however small, that anything is possible.