This Week's Orioles Minor League Moves

My intent was to show off my FanFest pictures today but I ran out of time to scan everything yesterday. Hopefully, I will be displaying my haul tomorrow.

Every few weeks this offseason, I have been trying to list the O's minor league transactions. From what I can tell, here is what the O's have done since I last wrote about these moves.


They once again re-signed a few of their own minor league free agents, re-inking catcher Zach Booker, and pitcher, Will Startup.

I was happy to see they are bringing back Startup who was a fan favorite in Frederick. He also has a very comical, karate-like, leg kick during his delivery (which he was not using at the time the above picture was taken) which makes him one of the more entertaining pitchers to watch in the organization.

The team also re-signed one-time Oriole reliever, Winston Abreu, who appeared in 7 games for the 2006 Birds;

Ross Wolf, who the O's sent to the A's in early 2010 in the infamous (Jake) Fox-Wolf trade;

and Francis Beltran, a member of the 2007 Tides.

They signed a bevy of minor league free agents from other organizations. I know nothing about these guys, but will pass along what I've read. They inked 2B Travis Adair (Rangers), C Allen De San Miguel (Twins), 2B Tom DiBenedetto (Independent), 2B Peter Fatse (Independent), and OF Edgardo Baez (Nationals).

A few better known pitchers also signed with the organization. Armando Galarraga, who nearly threw a perfect game in 2010 for the Tigers, longtime journeyman reliever Dennys Reyes, and sometime Major Leaguer Oscar Villarreal all signed deals.


And as will be the case every year, some of the O's free agents signed with other teams. This week's highlight (or lowlight if you will) was Miguel Abreu's signing a deal with the Phillies.

Miggy has been a favorite of Kalina and mine over our past few years of going to various Orioles' affiliates minor league games. He has spent the majority of the past four years with the hi-A Frederick Keys and AA Bowie Baysox, which are the affiliates whose games we attend the most. He always seemed like a nice guy and never turned down an autograph request. Good luck next year, Miguel!

Jeremy Accardo split the 2011 season between Baltimore and AAA Norfolk, so this only half counts as minor league news, but he signed with the Indians. 

Makin' Moves

While the Orioles are still trying to decide who their next General Manager/President of Baseball Operations will be, it hasn't stopped them from making a few small moves.

Here's what we know so far...

Bench Third Base Coach Willie Randolph will not be back next year. I don't really know why, but heard something about Willie wanting to be a manager again.

As suspected, both Vladimir Guerrero and Cesar Izturis declared free agency. I don't suspect that either will be back with the club in 2012 but their veteran leadership will be missed. I've heard rumblings that Izturis could become a coach or instructor for the team if he decides to hang up his spikes. And I'll miss having Vlad around since he's always been one of my favorite players, but realistically, he didn't make the 2011 Orioles much better than the 2010 squad.

Jeremy Accardo, Chris Jakubauskas, and Jake Fox were all outrighted to triple A, but all elected to test the free agent waters instead. Of the three, "Jak" is the only one who I think might come back into the fold, possibly signing another minor league deal with the O's, just as he did prior to last season.

And the Astros claimed Craig Tatum off of waivers which almost caused me to tear up. In actuality, I won't miss the extremely un-fan-friendly "Tater" at all. He was one of the toughest autographs on the team and never seemed like a very nice person.


I don't expect the O's to make any more moves before they hire their new GM/VP Baseball Ops, and I hope they make a decision soon. Many teams are already swinging trades, extending their own players, and/or making waiver claims, but I don't expect the Orioles to do any of those things without a new top dog in place. If they wait much longer to make a decision, they could fall even further behind to eight ball in the battle to rediscover relevance in 2012.

A Bunch of Orioles Postcards

There are quite a few signed Orioles postcards residing in my autograph collection. While I certainly prefer autographed cards over postcards, sometimes a postcard is my best or only option. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you've probably seen a number of different Orioles postcards that were displayed over the years, but these should all be new to you.

Autographed postcards are in my collection for a number of different reasons...


For some players, it will be the only issue ever released that pictures them in an Orioles uniform.

As was the case with short-term catcher Greg Myers

 

And will likely be the case with Rapada & VandenHurk, though they still have a chance to get an O's card

Some other postcards are (hopefully) temporary placeholders until I can upgrade to signed Orioles cards...

 

  

That's Lenny Webster up top, Jason Grimsley, and Erv Palica on the bottom

Palica passed away in 1982, so his signing days are over, but he did have a few O's cards produced during his life, and I'm still hoping that one of them might turn up some day.

Webster & Grimsley are still around, although Jason seems to have crawled under a rock somewhere since he was revealed to be the informant for the Mitchell Report. I actually just added this Grimsley postcard to my collection this week, so it might take quite some time to find an actual signed Orioles card. 

Every now and then, a player will include their own "postcard" when they return my TTM request. 

 

Tom Dukes was nice enough to do just that when he returned my request last year. It's really just a picture, as opposed to a postcard, but it's in the same ballpark.

A few other postcards have stayed in my collection because they are of my (or Kalina's) favorite players.

 

 

As is the case with Wieters & Arrieta. 

And then there are the extra postcards that I sometimes add at team-sponsored signings. These three are up for trade if anyone is interested...

 

  

 

Adios Accardo, Bring On Blake

The yearly Orioles roster turnover continues to be a summer tradition in Baltimore.

This time around, Jeremy Accardo, whose autograph I just featured earlier this week, has been designated for assignment, with IF/OF Blake Davis being called up to potentially make his Major League debut.

Davis was called up prior to Saturday's game in Washington and has yet to crack the lineup. Once he does, he will be Oriole #899.

 

Luckily, Blake's autograph is already in my collection, so I'm prepared for him to officially be included on the all-time Orioles list. When or if Blake makes his MLB debut, I'll write an in-depth post about him.

Auto(matic) Auto(graph) Sunday

Like I said yesterday, I typically find that Sunday's are the best day to get Orioles' autographs, at least in my experience. So Kalina coined the term, Auto Auto Sunday, and I liked it, and I'm using it for the title of this post.

Here are the autographs I got at the game on Sunday; some of these correspond with the pictures from yesterday.

I'll start with the autographs you are probably expecting to see...

Now I have both the action and posed versions of Zach's 2011 Orioles postcards signed. 

Jaku has one of the less exciting cards from the OPC set. The picture looks like it was taken in deep space. But at least we know he's a ROOKIE.

 

This is the second time I've gotten this card signed, but since it's Gonzo's only Orioles card that uses a picture of him that wasn't photoshopped, maybe somebody else needs a copy.

 

 This is my umpteenth Ryan Adams autograph, but first since he's actually been an Oriole.

OK, that's it for what you might have expected to see. Here's the rest...

For you fellow 'graphers out there, whenever you set out to get signatures at a game or event, do you have a top priority in mind? I almost always do and my top two for Sunday were Clay Rapada and Jeremy Accardo, since I had never got their autographs in person.

 

 

 

 Problem Solved.

I got Rapada almost immediately as I walked in (he had been throwing with Jaku) and added Accardo not long afterwards. Rapada's autograph looks almost nothing like the pre-printed version on his card, though in all fairness, I didn't expect him to sign "Clayton Anthony Rapada". 

And while it's hard to read his name in the signature, I'm a fan of Accardo's stylized autograph, especially the first (two?) J's.

This was the first time I've seen Buck sign since Spring Training and I was thrilled to finally get this epic card signed. If you don't know, Buck seems very professional and business-like, so I can only imagine the conversation that took place to get him to pose like this near that giant cactus.
 

Wayne Kirby always seems like a personable guy, and he is normally joking around with the fans.

Finally, I more or less ran into Boog Powell out on Eutaw Street near his BBQ stand, and he kindly signed my Crown card. He's around for most Orioles home games, but I've got his autograph enough times over the years that I generally don't make the trek out to centerfield to see if he's around.

So I got 10 autographs in under 2 hours inside the stadium. Pretty solid day considering my average is generally more like 1 or 2.

Oriole Debuts #888-893, 895-96 UPDATED

Over the first eight games of the Orioles' 2011 season, eight new O's have made their debuts in the black and orange. Luckily, I have autographs of all eight, so I don't need to add anyone to my need list.

Here's a quick rundown of my autographs of the eight newest Orioles.

#888- Derrek Lee

 

I've had this card for about 18 years. D-Lee was included in the the 2011 Topps Heritage set in an O's uniform so I need an upgrade.

#889- Mark Reynolds (this really could have been Reynolds or JJ Hardy since they both debuted in the field in the bottom of the first inning of the O's first game in 2011, but I chose Reynolds as 889 because he plays third base, position #5, and Hardy is a SS, position #6. Essentially, I don't think anyone is going to fight with me on this, because I'm likely the only one counting.)

Reynolds' card was in the O's 2011 Topps team set; a very similar card is in the 2011 Topps Opening Day set, and he is also pictured as an Oriole in the 2011 Topps Heritage set. I'm pretty jacked to already have his Orioles card signed though. 

#890- JJ Hardy

I got this card signed at Fanfest, but JJ was also included in the 2011 Topps Heritage set as an O, so I'm in need of another upgrade.  

#891- Vladdy Guerrero

This is another card that's been in my collection since the mid '90s since Vlad was a member of the AA Harrisburg Senators. Although I'm sure he will, Vlad doesn't yet have any cards that picture him as an Oriole, so this stays in the collection for the time being.

#892- Jeremy Accardo

 

Since he's a middle reliever, this might be the closest thing to an Orioles card that Accardo will ever get, so I'm happy to have it in my collection. I also like to have a card, so I'm keeping this too. 

#893- Kevin Gregg

 

Kevin has an O's card in the '11 Topps team set, so I'm looking for an upgrade from this postcard. 

#895- Josh Rupe

Rupe and Jakubauskas signed for me at the same time and Jak thought this picture of Rupe was pretty hilarious. Honestly, if this picture was all I had to go by, I don't think I'd recognize him.

#896- Chris Jakubauskas

Jak made his rather unsuccessful O's debut last night. He was one of the autographs that I got at Spring Training so he passes go, collects $200, and jumps right to my have list.

Orioles Fan Fest Recap

Three days later, I'm finally getting around to writing about my 2011 Orioles Fan Fest experience. At least three other Orioles bloggers have already wrote about it, so I really hope that you weren't waiting for my account of it.

Overall, I had a good time but it seemed like there was a little less to do than in past seasons. I spent most of my day in autograph lines, which is exactly where I wanted to be, so I was happy. And I got everything signed that I had hoped to get, so it was a nice little day. Not many people seemed to have a problem paying the $15 per autograph station since you knew you were guaranteed an autograph of whomever you wanted. It's obviously not as good as free, but it's better than wanting a Matt Wieters autograph and ending up with Robert Andino instead (sorry Dino!).

 

Speaking of Wieters, the highlight of my day was getting his SI cover signed. I carried this issue around in my gameday backpack during the entire 2010 season but didn't see Matt sign at a single O's game. It feels nice to finally have this autographed, and I hope to get it framed sometime soon.

Also signing at Wieter's station were Craig Tatum and Dick Hall. I got Tatum's autograph for Austin and Hall's autograph for Zach of Autographed Cards.

 

Lucky for me, the guy behind me in line didn't want Tatum's autograph, so he got my card signed for me. 

Next up was Zach Britton, Kevin Gregg, Jake Arrieta and Boog Powell. The Arrieta autograph was for Aaron, who collects Orioles Crown autographs and any other O's autographs he can get. The Boog autograph was for Paul, who just won the Earl Weaver autograph contest. The Gregg and Britton autographs were for me.

 

 

I was able to snag a signed O's postcard of Gregg as well as getting my card signed. I have to say that, out of uniform, Kevin looked more like a large banker than a baseball player.

 

Even though I had prepped my card, Gregg's autograph didn't "stick" well. It wasn't the only problem I had with the Orioles provided sharpies. I think next year I will have to bring my own. 

 

 

Zach was promoted to AAA Norfolk before the 2010 Baysox team set came out, so I was happy to finally get this card signed. 

While I was at the Britton-Gregg-Arrieta-Powell autograph station, my dad was nice enough to help me out by going to the Jeremy Accardo-Jason Berken-Willie Randolph-Jim Palmer station. 

The Accardo & Randolph cards are joining my collection, while my dad got Palmer to sign one of the spots in his 1983 O's program and a Berken card that was also for Austin.

My dad was also able to snag an extra signed postcard of Berken & Palmer. Note to Jason- I know that you're pretty accommodating with fans' autograph requests and all, but look at your signature compared to Palmer, who I think has signed a few more items than you over the years. Let's work on our penmanship a little bit.

My last autograph station was for JJ Hardy, Brad Bergesen, Mark Reynolds & Dick Hall. Hall was late showing up and I was one of the first people in line for this one, so I missed him this time around. Luckily, I didn't need him for anyone.

 

 

 

It was my first time getting Hardy's and Reynolds' autographs and they both seemed like decent guys. I especially like Hardy's autograph, even though it looks like it's either missing the JJ or H. I can see one or the other in there but not both.

Bergesen's autograph was for Ryan, the blogger behind "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog, who I had the pleasure of catching up with for a few minutes. He seemed to have had a good time as well, and has been posting about his Fan Fest experiences for the past few days. He was nice enough to bring me a box of cards with some of my set needs as well as some obscure Orioles cards. Ryan- your thank you box should be on it's way by early next week. 

 

 

Last up, the Aberdeen Ironbirds, the short season A affiliate of the O's, were giving away a signed 8x10 of your choice if you could name every Oriole pictured on their autographed 8x10s. I conveniently didn't tell them that the Orioles, and their autographs, were kind of my thing, so Kalina ended up with this nice Chris Hoiles autograph.

 

All-in-all I had a great time and added a bunch of nice new autographs to my collection. I was happy to help a few fellow bloggers fill some autograph holes in their collections too. Thanks need to go out to my parents and Kalina for tagging along and doing some waiting around as I scurried around the convention center. Now I can't wait for the season to start!