The upcoming winter should also be filled with excitement in Birdland

If Birdland is excited about how this 2022 season is shaking out, just wait until the offseason.

Sure, no games will be played, but the build up for the 2023 Orioles and anticipation of a season where the club should contend from the first game will be strong. 

Sometimes the hot stove season is almost as good as the regular season. This could be one of those times. The Rule 5 draft won't be an offseason highlight this time. 

Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias has made a few comments this year that were about spot on. It started before the season when he seemed to challenge some of the young pitchers to step up this season and start to put up some numbers. Guess what - several have done exactly that. He also indicated this team would not be a 100-loss team and might be much more competitive. Right again.

Recently he talked about "blue skies" ahead for the organization. Yep.

Now, Birdland must be excited with his latest interview on Sunday with MLB Network Radio. 

"Our plan for this offseason has always been to significantly escalate the payroll. I think a lot of that is going to come through our own guys going into arbitration. Also we plan to explore free agency much more aggressively. We plan to maybe make some buy trades for some guys that are either on contracts that are kind in the tail end of their arbitration.

"I think the success this team has had so far has only cemented those plans. So I'm really looking forward to the offseason and kind of a winter meetings environment where we're buying. I think it is going to be a lot of fun for our group and for the organization," said Elias.

Aggressive in free agency. We're buying. A winter meetings environment. Those words must excite a fanbase that is already energized by what this team has done this year.

For years now fans have asked when the rebuilding will be over. Well, we are about there. They added another 1/1 draft pick and good draft class in July, and in one sense the building is never over, but maybe the rebuilding phase is. 

There was sure pain. But now we can clearly see gain. There was a time when some in Birdland looked at the standings and could not foresee this day. But here it is, with the Orioles contending into mid-August and maybe for the rest of this year.

With an offseason coming that could be filled with rumors and acquisitions. And not just Rule 5 picks and/or waiver claims.

Going for a sweep: A former house of horrors for the Orioles, today the Birds can complete a three-game sweep at Rogers Centre. Right-hander Dean Kremer allowed two runs over seven innings in Baltimore's 4-2 victory Tuesday.

The win moved the Orioles (61-55) within a 1/2 game of the Blue Jays (61-54). The O's have their first series win at Rogers Centre since July 5-7, 2019. They have won five in a row within the same season against Toronto for the first time since 1994.

They have outscored Toronto 34-16 during this five-game win streak. O's pitchers have allowed five earned runs in the first two games of this series.

About those draft picks: The Orioles moved 10 players from their 2022 draft class this week from the rookie-level Florida Complex League to low Single-A Delmarva, and they debuted with the Shorebirds Tuesday night. They had a nice showing as Delmarva beat Salem 17-10.

Dylan Beavers went 2-for-4 with four runs and three RBIs. Jud Fabian went 3-for-4 with a solo homer, two runs and four RBIs. Max Wagner went 1-for-3 with three runs and Adam Crampton was 2-for-5 with two RBIs. 

Delmarva led 8-1 in the third inning and scored in six of its first nine at-bats.