With pitchers and catchers reporting next Wednesday, I figured that I’d better check in with an offseason update before the offseason is actually over! Besides, one of my readers has been nudging me to get in gear for a few months, reminding me how “depressing” it is to pull up the site and find Sean Henn’s sad mug looking back at him.
Naturally, there’s been a lot of player movement since last we met here. I’ve updated the all-time roster to reflect the players who are no longer with the organization. Obviously, the most notable is third baseman #6 Melvin Mora, who leaves Baltimore after a decade in orange and black. He’ll be playing multiple positions with the Rockies, who have not yet assigned him a number. #6 appears to be available, though.
I’ve also made some long-overdue edits and additions to the number biography pages (0-9, 10-19, etc.) to reflect the players who have passed through since the beginning of 2009. Those edits include mention of a few number changes that have been announced since the end of the season:
-Miguel Tejada, returning to Birdland as a free agent, is switching to #9. He wore #10 for the O’s between 2004-2007, but says that he had no attachment to it. Maybe he just didn’t want to pay for the Rolex that current #10 Adam Jones named as his price for the digits. This displaces previous #9 Michael Aubrey, who is now listed on the team roster as #24.
-Blue-chip rookie pitcher Brian Matusz will switch from #52 to #17. The latter number, which belonged to then-O’s and now-Giants first baseman Aubrey Huff when Matusz arrived in August 2009, also happens to be the number of Brian’s favorite childhood player, ex-Cubs first baseman Mark Grace.
-Worldwide sensation and second-year catcher Matt Wieters swaps #15 for #32. Wieters wore #32 at Georgia Tech and throughout the minor leagues, but it belonged to not-long-for-Baltimore reliever Jamie Walker at the time of Matt’s Oriole debut last May. If you spent good money on a #15 WIETERS jersey already, don’t fret. You can just tell people that you were in on the ground floor!
I’ve already mentioned Miggy’s return to Camden Yards, but who are some of the other new faces who could be appearing on Eutaw Street this spring? Funny you should ask:
-The O’s acquired veteran starter Kevin Millwood (pictured at top) from Texas for a package headed by struggling reliever #37 Chris Ray. Though the #33 that Kevin wore with the Rangers has been retired here for Eddie Murray, mlb.com lists Millwood as #34, which he previously wore in Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Cleveland. The incumbent #34 (Matt Albers) is listed as #37, for what it’s worth.
-The new first baseman will be ex-Rockie Garrett Atkins, who may find his #27 occupied by returning reliever Mark Hendrickson. Again, consulting mlb.com, Atkins is listed in the now-vacant #25.
-Former Pirates and Braves reliever Mike Gonzalez is expected to fill the closer’s role, and the #51 he’s worn throughout his big league career is available for the taking.
-The only other new acquisition that is considered a “favorite” to make the roster is lefty bullpen arm Will Ohman, a seven-year major league veteran who accepted a minor-league deal with a spring training invite as he seeks to prove that he’s rebounded from an injury-plagued 2009 season. If Ohman makes the cut, two numbers that he’s worn in other stops should be free for him – #13 and #50.
Well, I don’t want to bombard you with too much information after a four-month layoff, so I’ll pull up on the reins here and check back in after camp opens in Sarasota next week. Until then, have fun and stay off the roads if you’re in the path of Snowpocalypse 2010!
All of a sudden, Birdland is a much more interesting place to be. Recapping the latest load of roster moves and uni news, and those yet to come:
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:
The All-Star break just can’t come fast enough for the Orioles, can it?
A few things worth mentioning in the afterglow of an 8-2 thrashing of the Yankees:
As the Birds fly north for tomorrow’s exhibition finale vs. the Nationals at the new stadium in D.C., the roster is 24/25ths set. It pretty much shakes out as I speculated on Monday. Brian Burres will be the fifth starter, with Matt Albers in the long relief role. Rocky Cherry was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a shoulder strain, though it’s not certain he would have made the team if he were healthy. I miscounted the position players; if the Orioles don’t eat Jay Gibbons‘ contract there is no room for either Scott Moore or Tike Redman (Chris Roberson will definitely start the season at Norfolk). The O’s hand on Gibbons might be forced now that MLB has put his 15-day drug suspension on hold pending further negotiations with the players’ association. Andy MacPhail and company were counting on the suspension to buy them some time. I realize that $11.9 million is a lot of money to burn, but it’s my opinion that it would be better spent getting Gibbons, his poor defense and declining bat, and his performance-enhancing drug taint off of the team, thereby opening up a spot for a more versatile and deserving player like Moore or Redman. But then, it’s not my money. Blah blah blah.
One refreshing story out of Orioles camp involves several 
Lots to get to today. First of all, the slowest-developing trade in MLB history has been consummated. Erik Bedard is now a Seattle Mariner, so I’ve updated the