In a past era of the Orioles, when a player who had contributed to multiple fun teams departed in trade or as a free agent, I offered a Birdland Salute. This custom was initially extended to 2012 and 2014 O’s. Veterans of the 2022-2024 Orioles will also receive it.
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It’s not an exaggeration to say that John Means was a non-prospect from the day that the Orioles drafted him in 2014 until his emergence into the 2019 Orioles rotation picture. The MLB Pipeline top 30 Orioles list from the end of the 2018 season has no sign of Means while including such luminous scrap heap additions as Yefry Ramírez and Pedro Araújo. A FanGraphs list from before 2019 likewise has no Means while listing guys like…
