Yet another unproductive winter meeting for our beloved Os

Like they do every year at the winter meetings, the Orioles talk a tough game but can never pull the trigger to make a deal. They could have acquired a young power hitter they so desperately needed but it couldn't be at the expense of Brian Roberts. In fact they left the winter meetings loosing more than they gained; they lost Josh Phelps. They made minor moves that do not makeup for the loss of Phelps.

The Orioles could make a trade to acquire a power hitter but everyone is going to ask a pitcher in exchange and that is a no-no for the Orioles. They will most likely pick up a player out of free agency; Huff, Floyd, Stewart, Erstad and Payton are still available.

Vizquel catches Ripken for 3rd-most games at SS

Giants Omar Vizquel has played in 2,302 games at shortstop and that ties Cal Ripken at 3 place time all time. Vizquel is 209 games behind Ozzie Smith and 279 behind the all-time leader, Luis Aparicio. (sfgate.com)

Nationals are worth more than the Orioles

However, we are worth more than the White Sox!! MLB says that forbes "makes these numbers up".

	Team	in mil
1	New York Yankees	1026
2	Boston Red Sox	617
3	New York Mets	604
4	Los Angeles Dodgers	482
5	Chicago Cubs	448
6	Washington Nationals	440
7	St Louis Cardinals	429
8	Seattle Mariners	428
9	Philadelphia Phillies	424
10	Houston Astros	416
11	San Francisco Giants	410
12	Atlanta Braves	405
13	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	368
14	Baltimore Orioles	359
15	San Diego Padres	354
16	Texas Rangers	353
17	Cleveland Indians	352
18	Chicago White Sox	315
19	Arizona Diamondbacks	305
20	Colorado Rockies	298
21	Detroit Tigers	292
22	Toronto Blue Jays	286
23	Cincinnati Reds	274
24	Pittsburgh Pirates	250
25	Kansas City Royals	239
26	Milwaukee Brewers	235
27	Oakland Athletics	234
28	Florida Marlins	226
29	Minnesota Twins	216
30	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	209

Good news, bad news

On the second day of the Orioles season, they continued their offensive dominance by pouncing the lowly Tampa Bay Devil Rays 16 to 6. Gibbons, Mora and Markakis (his career first) hit homers. Oddly enough, this the the first time in 9 years that the Orioles have won their first two games.

Now to the bad; Mora and the Orioles have seized talks. Asked if he wants to be back with the Orioles next season, he said "I don't know". He was seeking $27 million over 3 years and the Orioles wouldn't budge from their $24 million offer over the same period. More likely than not, it will mean the end for Mora's career with the Orioles. The Orioles are on a stretch of bad public relations; from letting go of Ray Miller while he was sick, reassigning Hendricks without giving a clear direction to his role in the organization, and to spatting with Tejada and Lopez over the off-season.

And now looms the possibility that the next casualty could be Mora. And who knows how Tejada might react to this? I would not be surprised if his complaints start up again and this may very well happen if the Orioles start to lose.

Orioles do it for the sixth time in a row

By defeating Tampa Bay today, the Orioles have now won on opening day six times in a row. If only they could win 6 games in a row in a single season!

Lopez will get he ball on opening day

Perlozzo has named R Lopez as the starting day pitcher for the Orioles. This will be the third time that Lopez will have gotten the ball on opening day (3 out of the last 4 years). "Left-hander Erik Bedard will follow Lopez in the rotation. Right-hander Kris Benson, acquired in an offseason trade with the New York Mets, will be third, with right-hander Daniel Cabrera and left-hander Bruce Chen completing the rotation."

O's sign Hidalgo to minor league deal

The Orioles have already added Conine, Millar, and Patterson this offseason so I don't see Hidalgo making the team.

The Baltimore Sun - The Orioles today announced that they have signed free agent outfielder Richard Hidalgo to a minor league contract and invited him to major league spring training.

Hidalgo, 30, batted .221 with 16 home runs and 43 RBIs in 88 games for the Texas Rangers last season. He was the Rangers' primary right fielder for the first four months of the season before being sidelined with an injured left wrist and missing the last two months of the season.

In 9 major league seasons with the Houston Astros, New York Mets and Rangers, Hidalgo has a career average of .269 with 171 home runs. He batted .314 with 44 homers and 122 RBI -- all career highs -- with Houston in 2000 and hit at least 25 home runs in both 2003 and 2004.