Any time a ballplayer changes teams, they get asked a really dumb and unfair question:
“What excites you most about [new team whose uniform you’re wearing]?”
I mean, think about it. If you were new in town, what would you tell a beat reporter who’s lived in the same place his whole life and covered the same team for decades? “Well … they gave me a contract?”
Of late, a lot of people who have landed on the rebuilding Orioles say something about the “opportunity to play.” Decoded, this means: “I wouldn’t necessarily cut it on another team, but I’m sure glad standards are lower here.