The Bright Orange Light

We may currently endure dark, heavy rain showers in Baltimore but not since 1997 has the forecast seemed so bright. A stretch of games against the Red Sox and Yankees that saw them win four of six, and that barely even registers on the Orange Optimism Scale.

Late last night Baltimore signed its 1st round pick, 6'5" heavy hitting catcher Matt Wieters. They did it with nine minutes till the deadline, and by two million dolllars, ponied up the highest signing bonus in team history ($6 million).

Wieters, by many accounts, was the best player in the draft. He lasted till the 5th pick only because of who represented him. Scott Boras. The most demanding agent in baseball, and a pariah with whom the Orioles previously had bad blood.

They knew when taking Wieters that they had to deal with Boras. It seemed illogical that they would have drafted him, knowing what it would take to sign him, and not sign him.

But these are the Orioles. For a decade now, whatever could go wrong did, and if it looked promising they'd kill that too. Some of it bad luck, other bad judgement, and even more still just cheap.

That's why signing Wieters is a landmark moment for the franchise. He was the guy they were'nt supposed to be able to land. Up until 11:50 PM on Wednesday, the message boards lit up with a combination of resigned self loathing and deep seated anger at the team.

Then it changed.

We see the light at the end of the tunnel and it has s lovely orange hue.

Erik Bedard is now far more likely to resign with the team than opt out after 2009. Same for Brian Roberts. Same for season ticket holders.

This is huge. This makes the Orioles relevant once more. The Ravens have made Baltimore a football town and the Orioles let them but they'll soon have to share.

Welcome to Baltimore Matt Wieters.