Excuse us for feeling like the Ravens and Orioles are colluding on some master plan to make us learn as many new names and storylines as possible before they begin their 2019 seasons. It’s hard to keep up with all the changes.

This week alone: Terrell Suggs gone, to Arizona (here he is in Cardinal red—weird); Eric Weddle signed with a team in Los Angeles; C.J. Mosley, he of the cathartic playoff-berth sealing interception and a four-time Pro Bowler, is now the richest inside linebacker in the NFL, with the New York Jets; Joe Flacco was officially traded to Denver; and outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith said he’s headed to Green Bay. There’s no telling how many hours the Ravens’ social media staff spent posting nostalgic thank you tributes to the departed.

Meanwhile, former Orioles captain Adam Jones signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks (are there good crabs in the southwest or something?)—he got a video tribute, too—and first-year O’s manager Brandon Hyde named Alex Cobb the team’s Opening Day starter.

And we haven’t even talked about the big additions to town: safety Earl Thomas and running back Mark Ingram, whom the Ravens signed at the start of the NFL’s free agency period and whom the team will introduce at a press conference in Owings Mills on Friday morning.

It’s always difficult to say goodbye to familiar and respected sports heroes—which we’ve done a lot of the last few months (see Buck Showalter, Flacco, and Jones). But change also creates opportunities, and fresh starts. Two-plus months into this year, that’s the story of Baltimore’s biggest teams. The question now is what comes of the all the new?

Well, for starters, the Ravens’ addition of Thomas, who has been widely regarded as one of the league’s best safeties but missed most of last season with a broken leg, seems fitting for a franchise that will see Ed Reed inducted to the Hall of Fame this August at that position. Thomas was the leader of the Seattle Seahawks’ legendary “Legion of Boom” a few years ago.

A pairing with fellow safety Tony Jefferson has already led a few observers to create equal parts patriotic and funny “Thomas Jefferson” references to the twosome.

The continued changing-of-the-quarterback guard will get the most attention, though. The Ravens thanked Flacco for the memories after the trade was made official, and he in turn thanked them.

At around the same time, second-year quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has been handed the keys to the offense, posted to his Instagram account a self-recorded video of him driving 105 miles per hour on a highway, apparently without wearing a seatbelt.

The video ended up on TMZ, and Jackson apologized for the “bad decision,” and said he “will set a better example going forward.” Jackson is 22 years old, and we’ve praised him before for his authenticity, but clearly has some growing up to do.

He deleted the troublesome video from his account, but left public his thoughts on all the free agency moves, which also don’t seem to sit right.

The only thing that would have made this week more interesting is if former Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell chose to sign with the Ravens instead of the Jets, which he was reportedly close to doing.

We’re also close to the O’s first game of the year, now less than two weeks away against the Yankees in New York. Cobb, who was 5-15 with a 4.90 earned run average in 28 starts for the Orioles last season, is now apparently the O’s best pitcher.

That might not sound promising, but we’ll take our chances with something new.

Talk about Christmas in July. How ’bout March?

Yes of course we were looking to forward to Opening Day. We consider next Thursday a national holiday. But damn, “worried” did not begin to describe our concerns about the O’s starting rotation. Hope may spring eternal each spring training, but realistically, what chance did we have of competing with the Yanks and Red Sox—both in the top seven in recent MLB recent power rankings—with last year’s worst-in-baseball starting pitching?

And then this week. Well, it snowed on the actual first day of spring and then the real shocker followed—the Orioles signing of righty free agent Alex Cobb—the former Tampa Bay Ray with an uncanny ability to beat AL East teams—days before the team departs Sarasota and heads to Baltimore.

Hallelujah. Prayers answered. We are believers once again.

Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman, 25 and 27, respectively, are ready to come into their own. They each possess plus-stuff. And we picked up big lug Andrew Cashner—3.40 ERA last year in 28 starts for Rangers—with a two-year deal back in February. Chris Tillman, the former O’s No. 1, fills out the rotation, which suddenly looks legit. Are they the ’79 O’s rotation of Palmer, Flanagan, McGregor, Martinez, and Stone?  No. Do they need to be? No. If nothing else, we know a line-up that includes Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop, Adam Jones, Chris Davis, Mark Trumbo, Trey Mancini, and Tim Beckham will score runs.

Okay, so five quick things about Alex Cobb:

• Maybe the best news: Cobb is 6-4 with a 3.43 ERA in 14 career starts against the Red Sox; 6-4 with a 2.99 ERA in 14 career starts against the Yankees; and 3-3 with a 3.23 ERA in eight career starts versus the Blue Jays.
• He’s 30 and some observes point to Tommy John surgery two years ago as a potential issue. But Cobb bounced back better than ever last season, setting career highs in starts with 29 and innings pitched with 179.1 while going 12-10 with 3.66 ERA—11 best in the American League.
• Cobb throws four pitches, including a good curveball and signature split-change, and produces more ground balls than fly balls, which bodes well given the small confines of Camden Yards.
• The O’s signed him for four years for nearly $60 million. Which means with Bundy, Gausman, and maybe Hunter Harvey, if he continues to progress, and promising Miguel Castro, currently in long relief—the O’s could have a solid starting rotation in place for the next few years.
• He proposed to his girlfriend at Florida’s Discovery Cove theme park with the help of a dolphin.