Good morning, Camden Chatters.<\/p>\n
It was a quiet day on the MLB hot stove yesterday, unless you count the Cardinals signing former Oriole (and Baltimore native) Bruce Zimmermann to a minor league deal, which I do not. The calendar is creeping closer toward spring training and all those remaining big-name free agents are going to need to sign somewhere soon, but for now, we continue to wait.<\/p>\n
If the Orioles can land one of those available arms, that would go a long way to boosting their chances of success in 2026. But you know what else would help a lot? Just staying healthy. That\u2019s something that the O\u2019s couldn\u2019t remotely accomplish a year ago as their season went down the toilet. MASN\u2019s Roch Kubatko reviewed the Birds\u2019 litany of 2025 injuries<\/a>, and it\u2019s a stark reminder of just how ugly things got.<\/p>\n The Orioles placed at least three players on the IL every month, and seven in July alone. There were 29 different players who went on the injured list at least once, eight of whom had multiple IL stints. That list included most of their key players, including Gunnar Henderson, F\u00e9lix Bautista, Adley Rutschman twice, Colton Cowser twice, Jordan Westburg twice, and Zach Eflin thrice. It also included the now-departed Grayson Rodriguez, who missed the entire season, and Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells, who missed everything but September.<\/p>\n The injuries were so commonplace that the Orioles almost never put their best roster on the field all at one time. As Kubatko points out, only two O\u2019s position players (Henderson and Jackson Holliday) played at least 100 games. Their third-highest total was Cowser\u2019s 92. That\u2019s hard to fathom. Colton was only available for just over half the season and still played more games than all but two people. It was bleak, folks.<\/p>\n Second-year O\u2019s athletic trainer Scott Barringer and his staff need to figure out how to keep these guys on the field. You have to figure that at least the Orioles can\u2019t have such brutal luck for a second straight season. Some of the Orioles\u2019 new personnel should help, too. New first baseman Pete Alonso played all 162 games in each of his last two seasons with the Mets. New left fielder Taylor Ward played 157 games last season with the Angels and 156 the year before. They\u2019ve both been durable players, although I hesitate to even mention that because now I\u2019ve surely jinxed them. Sorry, guys.<\/p>\n A 2026 Orioles renaissance is certainly possible. But it won\u2019t happen if the Orioles don\u2019t have better health, first and foremost.<\/p>\n Keep ya (bobble) head up: Orioles add Tupac giveaway to schedule – The Baltimore Banner<\/a><\/p>\n Adam Jones used \u201cCalifornia Love\u201d as his walkup music for 11 years, and only now are the Orioles unveiling a Tupac bobblehead? Better late than never, I suppose.<\/p>\n Taking stock of always-evolving AL East — and where O\u2019s might land – MLB.com<\/a><\/p>\n Jake Rill breaks down how the winter has played out for each of the Birds\u2019 competitors. I\u2019d say that the O\u2019s have won the offseason so far, but that doesn\u2019t make me at all confident that they\u2019ll win the division.<\/p>\n Calling the Pen: Orioles\u2019 Elias has done his part to restore hope – BaltimoreBaseball.com<\/a><\/p>\n See my previous comment. Kudos to Elias for his aggressive offseason so far, but I wouldn\u2019t say my hope is fully restored just yet. The scars of 2025 (and second-half 2024) still linger.<\/p>\n Orioles birthdays and history<\/p>\n Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Two former Orioles right-handers were born on Jan. 13: Oliver Drake (39) and the late Odell Jones (b. 1953, d. 2024).<\/p>\n On this date in 1982, Orioles legend Frank Robinson was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Robinson, who won the MVP in both leagues, was Rookie of the Year, hit 586 home runs, had a career .926 OPS, was the first black manager in baseball history and one of the greatest players of all time, was elected in his first year of eligibility but somehow received only 89.2% of the vote. I\u2019d love to know the thought process for the other 10.8% of voters.<\/p>\n The O\u2019s have also made a bunch of transactions on this date in history. In 2006, they signed former Red Sox first baseman Kevin Millar, who had been a key clubhouse guy on the 2004 Sox team that broke their 86-year championship drought. But Millar\u2019s vibes didn\u2019t do much good in Baltimore, where the O\u2019s had three straight seasons of 92+ losses in his three years with the team.<\/p>\n In 2009, the O\u2019s signed right-hander Koji Uehara, a 10-year veteran of Nippon Professional Baseball, to a two-year deal. Uehara didn\u2019t last long as a starting pitcher but excelled after moving to relief, putting together an eight-year MLB career despite already being 34 when he debuted. The Orioles traded him in 2011 for Chris Davis and Tommy Hunter.<\/p>\n On this date in 2013, the Orioles signed Kevin Gregg. I still haven\u2019t acquired a taste for his pitching.<\/p>\n In 2023, the O\u2019s acquired James McCann from the Mets to serve as Adley Rutschman\u2019s backup. McCann\u2019s on-field performance was middling in his two years with the Orioles, but he developed a reputation as a gritty, hard-nosed player, especially when he took a fastball off his face in July 2024 and somehow stayed in the game<\/a>.<\/p>\n And on this day a year ago, the Birds signed reliever Andrew Kittredge. Kittredge\u2019s initial stint with the Orioles was short, as he didn\u2019t begin his 2025 season until late May due to a left knee debridement and was traded at the July 31 deadline, but the O\u2019s reacquired him from the Cubs this offseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good morning, Camden Chatters. 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