I’m not trying to be Johnny Rain Cloud on this Monday after the Ravens missed the postseason, but it’s worth pointing out that the Orioles offseason (or lack thereof) continues to receive national attention. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe featured the O’s in his Sunday Baseball Notes column and said ownership owes it to Baltimore fans to take their best shot in 2014.
How in good conscience can you allow a team to have 14 consecutive losing seasons, and then when you finally break through in 2012 with 93 wins because of that strong young core, you handcuff baseball operations from getting that team to the next level?
Baseball has its windows, its opportunities, and the Orioles are in one right now. They dropped back last season because significant upgrades (Bud Norris and Scott Feldman aren’t No. 1 or 2 starters) couldn’t be made. Wieters and Davis could be gone in free agency by 2015. A big chunk of the core could be gone.
No teams want to give up draft picks to sign top free agents, but if you’re one of those teams that needs to live in the here and now, you may have to. And for Baltimore, now is that time.
Cafardo goes on to sing Dan Duquette’s praises from his time in Boston adding that Duq’s free agent track record (Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon for example) is reason enough to let the O’s GM spend. He questions the “Scrooge-like behavior” from ownership and says that the Orioles are a starter, closer and hitter away from competing for the AL East crown.
Good news though — Cafardo thinks all three of those holes could still be filled this winter. I’m just not sure they will be.
A tip of the cap to our friends at Birds Eye View for sharing this article on their Facebook page.
Image Credit: Eric Kilby
It’s good to know that it’s clear to absolutely everyone that we need those three things. *sigh*
It would be nice if the Orioles’ offseason would get some local attention, eh? Like maybe some of those guys in the warehouse?
A starter, a closer and a hitter….Jiminez, Balfour and Cruz. That Xmas ain’t that bad. There goes that window again!