Time to give thanks for baseball and more

Happy Thanksgiving, Birdland! Today and every day I am so thankful I get to make my living in the great sport of baseball. Most of us here have a love affair with the game and we share that bond for sure. While I am thankful for that, I'm even more thankful that I get to work covering the team I fell in love with at age 6 and the team I've loved ever since. I've always felt my long history being an Orioles fan long before I became an O's reporter has been nothing but a real plus in coverage of the team. I'm so thankful for all the readers and those that take the time to leave comments. Even if we bicker some and disagree, I never forget that you could spend time reading or commenting somewhere else and as the O's told their fans late in the 2012 season, "I'm glad you came." Hope this day and long weekend will be wonderful and special for all of you. If you need a rumor for a baseball fix today, here is one. In this story, the author says, "The Cubs are shopping starter Jeff Samardzija and as many as eight teams have shown considerable interest in landing the right-hander, who is not eligible for free agency until after the 2015 season. The front office has had discussions with Samardzija's camp regarding a long-term contract extension, but the two sides are far apart financially. "On Wednesday, major league sources who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed to me that the front runners to land Samardzija in a trade are the Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks, with the price according to one evaluator being extremely significant." There is a twist. So far we've heard the O's could look to move a player with two years before free agency like catcher Matt Wieters and here is speculation the O's could add a player in a similar contract situation. Samardazija went 8-13 with a 4.34 ERA over 33 starts for the Cubs last year. He did pitch 213 2/3 innings, but he gave up 210 hits, including 25 homers. He pitched to a 4.72 ERA in the second half. Frankly, there are plenty of pitchers out there that look better on the stat sheet. It's just a rumor and I haven't heard or seen much on the Baltimore side of this, so I wouldn't get too caught in this one just yet. Finally I hope the segment of fans unhappy that the Orioles have not made a significant move yet give it more time. No, I can't promise anything and don't have inside info I'm keeping from you, but we just need to give the offseason more time to play out. I don't know if the O's will make a move that excites their fanbase, but I do know it's too soon to rule it out or panic over it. Have a great day everyone!