One thing is for sure for the Orioles, if they want to become a winning franchise then they have to win in arguably the toughest division in all of baseball.
This season they have to get an early jump, or fear falling behind their opponents quickly.
If you take a look at the 2010 schedule:
- Baltimore begins the season with 3 games on the road against Tampa Bay, then hosts Toronto for three, then Tampa for three more.
- On April 23rd, Baltimore travels to Boston for a three game series, then hosts the Yankees for three, Boston for three, then they travel back to New York for three more.
- In summary, they open the season with six straight AL East games, 21 of their first 28 games are against AL East opponents.
In 2009 the Orioles began their season with a hefty serving of AL East goodness as well.
- They took 2 out of 3 from both New York and Tampa Bay at home.
- They dropped four straight in Boston.
- Then were swept in three games at Toronto and took one of two in Tampa Bay.
- Baltimore went 5-10 in their 15 AL East road games of their first 27 games of the season.
I guess it doesn’t matter when they play New York and Boston, either way the O’s are gonna have to do better than they did last season. Baltimore only won 2 of their 18 games against the Red Sox and went 5-13 against the Yankees after winning their first series against the evil empire.
Do you think the Orioles will maintain their opponents and get off to a good early start?
I posted this on another thread but it applies even more to this one.
This is from Olney about the toughest schedules to start the season. He believes the Orioles have the toughest road to start the season.
Here's a look at the AL early-season schedules, with teams ranked from the toughest (bad news for the Orioles) to the easiest (the Rays catch a break this year).
1. Baltimore Orioles
Home/away: They are home for 15 of their first 35 games.
Games against teams that finished over .500 in 2009: 28 of the first 35. No kidding.
Meat-grinder stuff: From April 23 to May 5, the Orioles play four consecutive series — 12 straight games — against the Red Sox and Yankees.
Olney doesn't mention that before that meat grinder, the Orioles finish up a west coast trip with 3 at Seattle. It's not a sure thing but all signs point to Seattle being a damn good team this year with the additions they made.
Then after the grind, the Orioles head to Minnesota for 4 and Seattle for 3!!!!
Holy crap……….
Perhaps as some have alluded to, Mr. Angelos is the Devil Incarnate, and this is the Baseball Gods' latest way to continue his punishment.
Mark, putting aside your beliefs on where the Orioles are in the rebuilding process, what is your take on the issue of a salary cap and floor in baseball?
Obviously, by my asking, you probably will get a sense of where I may fall in.
I think the whole idea of a salary cap and salary floor as a way to even playing fields is overblown by some.
The NFL has had both for a long time and yet you still see certain teams that are always good and certain teams that are always bad. They are going into an uncapped year this year and it won't change the powers that be in the league in my opinion.
My belief is that good management and good ownership trumps any sort of cap or floor. Organizations need to have people in place who can think outside of the box and make shrewd moves.
If anything, I believe a salary floor is much more important to have than a cap. I know you asked about baseball but but here's my thought on football.
It's much more dangerous for cheap teams like the Bengals and Cardinals to have no floor than it is for teams like Dallas and Washington to have no cap.
I've always been an advocate of a salary cap in baseball, but you make some good points Mark.