Base Hits: Oriole FanFest, Anita is No More and the Miguel Tejada Domino Effect

Oriole FanFest was this past Saturday and many in the blogosphere attended. I am jealous. Here's the links to the recaps:

BrowserMetrics - Baltimore Oriole FanFest 2010
Camden Crazies - Oriole FanFest Epilogue
Oriole Post - FanFest Reaction
Dreaming in the Dark - Oriole FanFest
Baltimore Sports Report - Audioblog: O's FanFest Reaction
Camden Chat - FanFest 2010: I'm Feeling Pumped!
Mr. Irrelevant - O's Stars Turn FanFest into FashionFest

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Via DCRTV.com, Anita Marks is out at "The Fan 105.7" in Baltimore.

I never found Scott (Garceau) & Anita particularly knowledgeable (if fact, I though Scott was always kind of a knee-jerk douche) but they were entertaining together and did good interviews with the Oriole players.

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Good news on the Sarasota front as BallparkDigest.com reports that the Sarasotan citizen's groups that have filed a lawsuit to block renovations to Ed Smith Stadium are already looking for a graceful way out of this confrontation.

Regarding the lawsuit that blocked the sale of bonds to fund the renovations:

Perhaps sensing that they overreached, Sarasota Citizens for Responsible Government and Citizens for Sunshine have offered a compromise of sorts to Sarasota County...

Such silliness. County officials are confident they'll win a lawsuit...

Given that the group is already offering to settle the suit, less than a month after it was filed, indicates the group isn't totally confident in their ability to prevail in court.

While the holdup on renovations means the Orioles could walk away from their 30-year lease, it doesn't seem like that's a likely outcome.

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The Wayward O presents O's Fights, Part 2! This time, Aubrey vs. Melmo.

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Some more Miguel Tejada speculation...

How will the roster shake out now that Tejada, a guy who has played in 158 games for each of the last two seasons, has joined the team? There is no longer any room for Ty Wigginton at third base and Garret Atkins (who made Wiggy redundant when he joined the club and now, with Tejada, doubly so) will get the bulk of the time at first base. DH is crowded with Luke Scott and (when making room for Felix Pie in left) Nolan Reimold sharing the duties. Will the Orioles want to pay Wiggy $3.5 million to be primarily a bench player? When Michael Aubrey, Ryne Hughes, Scott Moore or (eventually) Brandon Snyder would provide cheaper and possibly better options, I can't see it. Wigginton is likely to get unloaded during Spring Training for spare parts or a PTBNL.

I re-ran my WAR spreadsheet...adding Tejada get the O's from 80 wins to 80.5. He doesn't move the needle as much as you might expect.

Many O's fans are excited about Tejada's return. I'm fairly neutral given the short contract. But if you pushed me, I would lean more to the side of Stacey's point of view that she lays out nicely over at Camden Chat.

I recognize that the Orioles needed to obtain an corner infielder for 2010. But in signing two, neither of which are really a part of the Orioles future, is doing just what I said at FanFest: it's taking at-bats away from young players who, while perhaps a long shot, might be a part of that future. We don't necessarily know what those guys will bring us. Miggi and Atkins? We pretty much know.