My 11-month old is napping, so I have a couple minutes to get you some links on this gorgeous Wednesday. Let’s get right to it.
Bird’s Eye View Episode 225: Pitching Staph
Are we back to weekly BEV episodes?! Or is it, like this 70-degree weather over the last couple days, just a tease? Either way, listen in to hear Jake & Scott give their thoughts on Andrew Cashner, Chris Tillman, this year’s radio crew, and plenty more.
Justin McGuire, who does the awesome Baseball by the Book podcast, has joined the Locked On podcast network to cover the O’s. His first episode features regular O’s Links linkee Matt Kremnitzer of Camden Depot. Check it out!
Chris Tillman is Back and I Feel Fine
Joe Wantz at Camden Depot looks at Chris Tillman’s decline and traces it back to even before last year’s disastrous string of outings (though to a lesser degree, of course). The good news is that he’s pretty cheap. The bad is that he might not be any good. Should be…fun? to watch.
O’s Continued Pursuit of LHH OF Leads Them to Colby Rasmus
Ugh. Why? Jarrod Dyson got $7.5 million for two years from Arizona, but he actually has some speed and plus defense, so naturally the Orioles weren’t interested. Instead, they are sniffing around a head case who spent the second half of 2017 on the restricted list because he “wanted to step away from baseball,” and whose % of swings at pitches outside the strike zone went from 28.2 in 2016 to 36.1 in 2017. Sounds like an Oriole to me.
Inside Cal Ripken Jr.’s Baltimore County Estate
Ever wanted to take a peek inside The Iron Man’s lair? Here’s your chance, c/o The Washington Post, Cal, and his real estate agent. Apparently he was unable to sell his place, and now it’s going up for auction. If you’ve got about $10 million sitting around, it could be yours!
The Orioles Should Still Have Money to Spend
Maybe they should just buy Cal’s house? That seems about as likely as them doing anything to significantly improve the 2018 team at this point, but as Camden Chat’s George Battersby details, their payroll at the moment is significantly lower than last year’s. Like…$40 million lower.
