Nick Markakis will make his spring debut for the Orioles today.
Some notes while you wait for the game to start:
-P- At this point, it really wouldn't surprise me much if Evan Meek started the season in the minors.
"[His velocity] has been OK, certainly not what it was when Evan was an All-Star," said general manager Neal Huntington. "It's been 90-93 mph. He's a power guy. The breaking ball was crisper and firmer in 2010 than we've seen this spring. But he's still building arm strength."
-P- Super-journeyman Octavio Dotel talks about getting traded away from the Pirates.
"When I was in Pittsburgh, I find out I was traded to the Dodgers on TV. I see it, and nobody has told me nothing. And I'm like, 'When did that come out?' Then the manager [John Russell] tells me, 'Hey, did you see the news?' But that was after I see it: 'Dotel traded to the Dodgers.' I'm like, 'What? No.' But my teammates say, 'Yeah.' By the way, I was eating, and they say, 'It's on TV right now.' I came out to see it, and I was like, 'I guess you guys were right.' I was like, 'Wow. How crazy is that?'"
Dotel was traded at the deadline, when I assume the Pirates' front office was pretty busy. That's probably about the only time it would be acceptable for a player to find out via television that he's been traded.
By the way, the article is about how Dotel is about to play for his 13th team. The 2010 season in which he spent part of the year with the Pirates was a big part of why he's been able to do that. The Bucs traded him to the Dodgers, and then the Dodgers, who didn't have any idea what they were doing at that point, shipped him to the Rockies in a waiver deal. Dotel then appeared in eight games with Colorado.
-P- Finally, as you might have seen in the Fanposts or elsewhere, Dejan Kovacevic notes that Luis Heredia grew this offseason and is now 6-foot-7. He also quotes Heredia saying his throws 98 MPH now.
-P- Fun fact: the Pirates currently have a higher score (73) than the Steelers (65) in SB Nation's fan confidence poll (the one you see in the left sidebar). No idea how to explain that one.