Over on FanGraphs.com, Dave Cameron meticulously penned a comprehensive piece on the Baltimore Orioles lack of quality depth in roster spots 6-30. Cameron illustrated the O’s “Stars and Scrubs” model in full detail explaining that the Birds need about +20 WAR from 20 non-star players on their roster.
The entire article is worth reading if you’re looking for something that’ll depress you more than these sub-zero temperatures created by the Artic blast here in Charm City, but one particular takeaway from his commentary was the early projection for the 2014 MLB season.
But right now, they don’t project as a particularly good team. Our forecasted standings based on the Steamer data (ZIPS will be included once all the team projections are finished) have the Orioles as a 78 win team, 10 wins behind the Red Sox and in last place in the AL East. Steamer thinks the Orioles are approximately as good as the Mets.
According to Cameron, the Orioles are 3-4 quality everyday players away from being one of the best clubs in the American League. The problem is, adding 3-4 quality everyday players isn’t easy.
A projection is nothing more than an educated guess — especially in baseball. But the Orioles have to fill a few needs before anyone would legitimately consider them a postseason contender.
Image Credit: Keith Allison
LOL….everyone always predicts Orioles to be last or near last…..but last 2 seasons have proved them wrong so far. They do the same thing with the Ravens year after year. No love for Baltimore sports it appears…
Ah John, Everyone was right 13 out of the last 15 years of the Orioles sucking up the joint so those 2 years, actually 1 year because the Orioles failed to make the playoffs with a talented team, were just a blip on everyone who was right about their assessment of this team.
Honestly, I think the Orioles are 1 really good starting pitcher away from being a top-flight team. Look, no team has an “All Star” at every position, not even the Yankees. I’d match Davis, Hardy, Wieters, Machado, and Jones with any other team in baseball. People keep focusing on the second baseman. Look around the league, there aren’t many good ones out there. LF is a concern, but with Lough in the mix, it’s not as dire as some are making it out to be.
Even if you add an Arroyo to the mix, it make the rest of the rotation that much better.
Zach jumped on the “Arroyo Bandwagon” early. He’s still out there. The Orioles need to get him.
Didn’t most writers have Boston picked last last season?
Everyone is missing the boat , unless ownership wants to win and shows it with their moves and checkbook the boat is going to sink more often than not,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,please see the past fifteen years as undeniable evidence………………..