So I just received an email from Michael saying that the blog will be featured in the Sun, somehow, somewhere. I don’t have much more info about it right now, but hopefully he will comment or post with more information. This is an exciting announcement for the blog, and I just thought that you, the readers, should know.
Update: I got contacted today to participate in a summary of Oriole blogs that Andrew Ratner is working on. I answered three questions for him, which will hopefully be in the Baltimore Sun sometime next week.
- Michael

After another horrible outing by Penn today, Manager Dave Trembley announced that Penn is no longer in the running for a spot in the rotation. The guy that beat Penn out was Alfredo Simon, who’s had a good spring training. Now that Penn lost out of a rotation spot, he now has to fight for a place in the bullpen. Currently, its between Penn and Bass, and as of right now, I’d have to give the edge to Bass. This is not good news for Penn who is out of options, and most likely if doesn’t make the bullpen spot, [...]

Some good news came out of Orioles camp today, for once. Jim Johnson has healed from right shoulder pain and will pitch tomorrow, which is a huge relief. I wouldn’t even want to think about the Orioles bullpen this season if Johnson would have been seriously injured, I’m still hoping that he leaves tomorrows game without any pain.
In other not so good news, Rich Hill has been put on the 15-day disabled list. According to Trembley, Hill won’t be in the Orioles rotation anytime soon. So far this spring training he has looked completely awful. I guess the lower back [...]

I had this idea for a while to start a little game here on BirdsWatcher. I’ve played it before, but it was for football. So here is the idea, we will have 25 rounds, and only be able to draft players in the AL East.  The format will be 12 pitchers, and 13 position players. We will do it as a snake draft, and it may take a few weeks to complete. So, if you could create your own team from only AL East players, who would you choose?
Since spring training is winding down and getting fairly boring, this [...]

Top prospect Matt Wieters, who is the only one of the Orioles’ elite prospects that is still in camp, probably will be sent to minor league camp very soon. Manager Dave Trembley said today that he wants to start playing the regular starting lineup over the next few days. That, and the fact that the club will play three of the next four games on the road, point to the possibility of Wieters getting optioned to the Norfolk roster by this weekend.
From: The Schmuck Stops here
No surprise here, we all knew the day was coming. Wieters will probably be sent [...]

This was a very funny video, and well put together. The song has been spreading around O’s fans like wildfire. Is anybody else planning on going to opening day, we need our boo crowed to take over the much annoying Yankee fans?

In my last post on here, I wrote about how impressive Justin Turner had been.  After I hit ‘post’ I realized that I had no idea who I was talking about, except that I knew his stats and what he looked like from seeing games on TV and through highlights.  So, I did a little digging and here’s what I found out about Turner.  A note here: Turner was designated for assignment today, but still could be on the roster at some early point in the season.

His birthday is Nov. 23, 1984; making his opening day age 24
He was born [...]

Team Name: Boston Red Sox
Last Years Record: 95-67, lost ALCS
Key Losses: No one. Maybe Coco Crisp, though I would not call him key.
Manny Ramirez is gone, but the Red Sox played the final three months
of 2008 without him.
Key Additions: Brad Penny (#5 starter) and John Smoltz (returns in
June). Rocco Baldelli for the bench, Takashi Saito in the bullpen.
Some promising additions, but nothing huge.
1. What significant moves were made during the offseason?
Not many. We now know mark Teixeira was never going to sign with
Boston, so Theo Epstein cannot be blamed for not grabbing him.
Reliever Ramon Ramirez came over from the Royals for Crisp. [...]

According to MLB.com, David Pauley is out of contention for the starting rotation and 6 people are fighting for 2 or 3 rotation spots for the Orioles.  The remaining candidates, manager Dave Trembley says, are Adam Eaton, Mark Hendrickson, Brian Bass, Hayden Penn, Danys Baez and Alfredo Simon.  In my opinion, I would take Eaton, Hendrickson and believe it or not, Hayden Penn, for the three spots.  Guthrie and Uehara are surefire starters, and these three spots will be crucial to the rotation’s success this year.  
Speaking of Uehara, today he struck out 7 in 3.2 innings, and showing off [...]

Team Name: Philadelphia Phillies
Last Years Record: 92-70
Key Losses: Pat Burrell, Adam Eaton (no more suffering), JC Romero (50 game suspension)
Key Additions: Raul Ibanez, Chan Ho Park, Ronny Paulino
1. What significant moves were made during the offseason?
GM Ruben Amaro Jr. did a tremendous job locking up young talent to multi-year deals (Cole Hamels, Ryan Madson, Greg Dobbs, Jayson Werth, Ryan Howard).  Also, for the most part he kept the World Series champions’ roster intact by re-signing Grand Pappy Jamie Moyer and Scott Eyre.  Missing is the righthanded thunder of Pat “The Bat” Burrell, and replacing him is an older lefthanded stick in the [...]