Well Spring Training has concluded and Baltimore fans are waiting for the Orioles to start the season, a year that will be very telling for the progression of this rebuilding project and the future of the organization. The O’s will not win a pennant this year, will not make the wild card, and will not contend in any meaningful way. However, that isn’t to say that there aren’t huge goals for this team that will affect whether it can do any or all of these things in 2011 and beyond. Here’s my dozen goals for the Baltimore Orioles in 2010.
1) Find a bullpen: The bullpen, expected to be a strength of this team, struggled massively in spring training, giving few signs of hope considering it lacks a true closer. Even Mike Gonzalez, signed from Atlanta to close for Baltimore, blew 7 out of 17 save opportunities in 2009- for comparison, Jim Johnson managed to blow 6 out of 16. Koji Uehara is incapable of staying healthy, and the rest of the bullpen will have to pick up the slack if the starters are run off in the 5th.
2) Get (and keep) Roberts, Reimold, and Jones healthy: Adam Jones has yet to finish a full season with the Orioles, Nolan Reimold is still nursing his surgically repaired Achilles tendon, and Brian Roberts’ back could be an issue throughout the season. Keeping these players healthy is key for this team to have any hope of finishing respectably in the division. Felix Pie can come in for Reimold, but there is not enough depth in the world to replace the defense and leadoff abilities of Brian Roberts.
3) Survive the first two months of the season: I can’t wait to read the comments in May and see that the sky is falling, that this team is destined for 55 wins and that the organization should abandon its rebuilding project. That might be how it looks when this team has gone through a stretch of 16 straight games to start the season, then 12 straight against the Red Sox & Yankees, en route to the 2nd toughest schedule in baseball. If this team can make it through May within 3 or 4 games of .500 it would be a tremendous victory.
4) Keep the same starting rotation for at least a month at a time: It doesn’t seem like much, but as this team tries to make the turn from rebuilding to contending they need to form some sense of continuity. This team can’t afford to play musical chairs with a host of pitching prospects and veteran also-rans- keeping the same starters will be a sign that this foundation is staying healthy and effective.
5) Produce RBI, power numbers from the heart of the lineup: Miguel Tejada and Garrett Atkins, were signed in no small part due to their ability to drive in runs and perhaps increase the paltry 160 home runs that the Orioles mustered in 2009. With Atkins and Tejada’s power numbers in decline, it could be up to Wieters, Jones, and Reimold to find the power they had in the minors a bit faster than otherwise. Perhaps Nick Markakis will finally live up to the 30 home run potential O’s fans have been waiting for.
6) Turn prospects into major leaguers: Nolan Reimold, Matt Wieters, and Brian Matusz are entering their second seasons at the major league level (albeit at different levels of experience). Adam Jones is starting for the third straight year. If we can look at these young players in July not as prospects with potential but as major league players here to stay, that will be a sign that this team is ready to make a move in the AL East.
7) Rediscover the stolen base: This team has no shortage of fast players who are capable of stealing bases- Roberts, Pie, and Jones are only a few. However, this team that led the AL in stolen bases in 2007 with 144 had just 76 in 2009 and 81 in 2008. Certainly this is an entirely different team than the one in 2007, but there is speed on this team- it is time to take advantage of it. With so many good doubles hitters in the lineup, you need to have a man to second to drive in.
8) Fix the fundamentals: Baserunning errors killed the Orioles last season, whether it was by a lack of communication, focus, or simply trying too hard to get the extra base. I don’t know how one fixes them, but the coaching staff has tried to come up with unique ways of teaching it during spring training. Let’s hope it translates to the field.
9) Help Atkins and Guthrie bounce back from ‘09: Garrett Atkins and Jeremy Guthrie had their share of struggles last season, and this team will not succeed if they both fall flat on their face. I am pretty sure Guthrie’s struggles this spring training could be due to injury- he may have sprained his neck last season watching all the home runs fly over his head. Atkins will have to rediscover his swing from 2006-2008 and silence critics who claim that his bat was juiced by the stadium at Coors Field.
10) Avoid the late season swoon: Whether due to being out of contention or simply due to wearing out, this team has been an absolute abomination in August and September, and it isn’t because they are bringing up a million prospects. This team falls apart at the end of the season, making their record even worse than their performance over most of the season. Good teams get better at the end of the season. Baltimore will have to as well.
11) Put batters away: In 2009 this team had the fewest strikeouts of any AL team and the 3rd fewest in the majors- and it wasn’t because they were inducing ground balls. Across the pitching staff which was the worst statistically in the majors there was a tendency to pitch behind or allow batters to get back in it after a, 0-2 count. Perhaps having Brad Bergesen healthy for a year (though he won’t add many strikeouts) and Brian Matusz with the team for the entire season will help these numbers, but this rotation needs a lot more help than the natural progression of a couple of young pitchers.
12) Win 75 games: At the end of the day, it all comes down to wins and losses. Looking at this division, the 2nd toughest schedule in baseball and the number of question marks on this team I can’t see how they finish at .500 without something unexpected happening. That isn’t to say they won’t be massively improved from last season regardless. I think 75 games should be expectation for this squad, with 81 being a pretty lofty goal. It’s all part of the process, Orioles fans.
Ex P,
Very insightful.
A lot of people wont to point at the last 12 years as the beginning of the Orioles demise, but I contend that it goes much further back than that. The 1996 and 97 seasons were simply blips in the radar screen of a demise that truly began back after the Orioles won the World Series in 1983. If memory serves me correctly, the Orioles farm system has produced only one all star position player since that season – Brian Roberts, and that's a sure sign of a dysfunctional franchise.
Many are second guessing McPhail now because they feel that he's had 3 years and that the big leagues team is not much closer to being .500 than they were before McPhail got here. But rebuilding a 27 year mess takes more time than 3 years.
That being said, this year is about identifying who can play at this level and identifying where free agent money needs to be spent. This mess cannot be fixed just by stockpiling the minor leagues, it must be a multi-faceted effort. But could it be done the past few seasons? Where are the holes? My goodness, to me they are too many to list.
Let's see who can pitch at this level. Let's see if Jones, Markakis, and Reimold are the outfield of the future. Is Wieters the big bat in this lineup? Can guys like Hernandez be a bullpen guy?
I don't know about you, but I'm not smart enough to know where they need to spend the money at this point.
I think number 2 is HUGE. The Orioles struggles have definitely been in part to their health, they have had a difficult time getting guys to finish the season. I think that if Roberts, Jones, Markakis, Wieters and Reimold finish the year without any major injuries you're going to see a dramatic increase in their record.
I realize that's a lot to ask for and perhaps a little unrealistic, but teams do it all the time. The pieces are in place, but no one is 100% successful without a little luck!
UPDATE FROM TAMPA…Sunny, Surf at 72 degrees…Been sporting Orioles gear since Sunday and nary a comment. Not sure how many Rays fans there are in Tampa. One guy today said "the game should be good tonight"…I didn't have the heart to tell him it was tomorrow…
That sounds about right. I wouldn't imagine their fans are real die hards.
STG says "That being said, this year is about identifying who can play at this level and identifying where free agent money needs to be spent. "
WHAT?????????????????????
That wasn't last season?
Yikes.
STG also said…
I don't know about you, but I'm not smart enough to know where they need to spend the money at this point.
my first major contribution to the site will be to this post, because the os mean so much to me so im going to respond to every single point and even raise a few more.
1) the only spots that worry me are the set up and closer. gonzalez is battling injury, but is supposedly ready. i hope he comes in and surprises us with true closer stuff. jj though is not battling injury, but looked horrendous all spring. i hope he gets his act together. those r the only spots. the middle relief looks great. albers, meredith, berken, hendrickson, and ohman actually all had outstanding springs. i think if jj doesnt get it together, or gonzalez, we try out mickolio as the man for the future in one of those spots.
2) true. jones is fully recovered, and in better shape and health than ever before, so hopefully he avoids the dl and will lead the team. i was in sarasota for roberts first game back (he actually gave me his warm up ball from pregame) and he looked great in terms of the back. reimold is questionable, but the last two weeks of spring hit .480 or so with a few homeruns, so im really not worried for his at bats. i think it comes down to baserunning and big play ability in the field for him.
3) macphail and trembley realize the schedule. hence why tillman is out for the first bit. its just going to be a tough time to try to pull out some wins. if the os can go into june at the .400 mark or so, look for a .500 season
4) this is true. last year we had the most guys start out of any team. keep the opening day rotation in tact with only a few changes (like tillman in, and guthrie out depending). hopefully hernandez brings the 20:3 k:bb with him and can keep it up thru the season. he impressed me the most in spring when i saw him against the bosox and he went 6 scoreless innings only like 2 hits.
5) im sorry, but how do baseball watchers not see it. our lineup is stacked 1-8, and i see no reason this year why we shouldnt finish in top 10 of runs scored in the league. no reason at all.
6) totally true. luckily, the ones you mention like brian, matt, and nolan, have matured so quickly and have learned the game so well. they have an incredible group of experienced guys around them, and theres no way they dont succeed in the next year or so with becoming true MLBers
7) i actually talked with trembley about this at a crabfeast when i was in sarasota. the one thing i knew going to florida was that i wanted to find out about it. they had nolan steal last week, which was awesome especially with his achilles. roberts should put up a high steal count, and guys like jones and izturis (if he gets on base lol) can produce too. the one for me is markakis. he used to be a basestealer! i wanna see that again. trembley would only say that they will do what is necessary to make for the best situational hitting.
8) this is the worst, and can lose games. luckily, by the end os spring, there wasnt much of it. but idk if anyone else remembers, but the first few weeks of spring, we lost games that we errored in like 5 or 6 times. unacceptable. given a lot of it was bell and minor leaguers, its still just not acceptable at this level. tejada was getting into the position, but even when i saw him play, he made no "errors" but we watched him and he made some odd and sometimes poor moves at 3rd. im hoping this all works out. it would suck if we looked good pitching and hitting but didnt do well because of fundamental errors.
9) the way to help atkins is stack the lineup before him. o wait. done. i think he is in a new town with the team around him ready to excel, so it all comes down to him now. crowley is one of the best in the majors in working with hitters (after a month with pie in seperate workouts, pie became like the slugger of the month a few times for the club, continuously belting shots, not to mention the cycle once. for guthrie, its about run support. but im sorry for the club, because a lot of it is just on him. if there are errors and no offense, then ok. but he led the majors in homers allowed. thats nobodys fault but his own. i love kranitz, but i feel like hes tried everything and nothing has worked.
10) this goes right back to the injury note. stay away from the dl and there will be no "swoon". the os are ready for a good season. keep it that way. the only thing that could change is bringing some young guys up, hence what happened last year. so the only reason i would be ok with a"swoon" is if its because we bring up bell turner arrieta and they are getting adjusted. if tejada atkins and the rotation stay steady, no reason for a drop in the win column.
11) amen. millwood is a innings eater, but who knows about k capabilities. hopefully matusz proves to be top lefty quality, and the whole rotation can boost it up this year. hernandez could lead the team in strikeouts if he keeps the commanding fastball in tact. my issue is the bullpen on this one. i think they are solid to get guys out, but not so much through strikeouts, more through grounders and popups. either get, git r done.
12) disagree. win 82. we want .500, so shoot for it. itd be incredible to see and would prove that we can contend soon enough. aim for 82. macphail has said he expects 15-20 more wins, and 82 is right in that range, and i expect it just as much.
now for my thing. i have complete trust in trembley datz crowley kranitz dunn deck bordick and the entire staff, but its down to the players now. who wants to win. thats it.
my key issue to add is for trembley and macphail. with guys like tillman especially, but then arrietta, turner, bell, uehara, mickolio, and others. i dont know what they should do say the guys in place now produce. mainly speaking of tillman uehara and mickolio. the others could use a full year in aaa. for those 3 pitchers, what do you do if the bullpen is solid and the rotation works out. im just not sure. i pray for this problem lol. i just dont know how they would approach it.
thanks and hope i put out there some valuable stuff.
Awesome stuff, we appreciate your thoughts.
I really hope the Orioles have a problem with too much talent in the farm system, I'm sure they do too. If they do there's a simple solution, TRADE BAIT! Fans here on BSR have been begging Baltimore to go out and get some free agents, that would be the perfect way to do it without sacrificing too much talent. And it's the key to success in MLB in my humble opinion.
IF621 – Great Stuff!
Obviously well thought out and insightful.
The O's lineup is stacked?
Tejada is the clean up hitter. Atkins? Please.
When did AM ever say anything about 15-20 more wins?
Hey, if people wanna believe that 82 wins is possible, go right ahead.
Me? I don't get my hopes up for something I think has zero chance of happening.
Mark's back!
ouch, my whole comment just got deleted somehow that i wrote in response to you, zach. will rewrite it in a minute.
in response to mark:
i believe it is.
roberts gives us doubles and clutch hits a lot, and can run. jones is more buff and ready to go, and will bring us 20+ homeruns. he was picked as an allstar partially for his strong bat. noone can argue with markakis as a star hitter. he consistently puts out solid at bats that not many guys can match.
yes, tejada. hit .313 last year with 14 hrs AND 46 doubles.
although atkins was off last season, the two previous seasons before that he hit .301 and .286, with 25 and 21 hr respectively, and 210 combined rbis in those 2 years. he came here looking for a bounceback, and we have given him that chance by giving him a later spot in the lineup to relieve some pressure and let him do his thing.
macphail has many times said that the rebuilding is over and the team is going for wins, so a .500 season or better is expected of them this year. he has always said he wants a nice increase in wins to prove his guys can do it and show that the program is on its way up. will look for actual quotes.
there is no reason we cant split series with the bosox and yankees, and no reason not to sweep teams like the a’s, royals, indians, mets, and nationals.
not sure why it wont let me post as twitter name
Mark – Agree with you Buddy-Row… Your 4 hitter is a 37 year old, career going south hitter… And your #2 is one of your top 2 hitters who should be batting in the 4 hole! Trembly can't manage. Heck I would do this lineup…
1 – Pie (Or Lugo if Pie is injured)
2 – Roberts
3 – Markakis
4 – Jones
5 – Tejada (I really want Wieters in this spot but next year not this one)
6 – Wieters
7 – Atkins
8 – Scott
9 – Lugo – (Instead of light hitting Izturis at SS) (Him and Pie can be interchangeable giving the team another leadoff/decent hitting/base stealing threat in the 9 hole. So you have at 9 Lugo then Pie at 1 and Roberts at 2 then the big boppers) (Two leadoff hitters)
Roberts in the two hole and Jones in the 4? I don't know about that. Jones isn't a number four, Tejada is in that lineup. I know you hate to hear that.
I'd put Pie down near the bottom too to help when the line up turns over. We'll see tomorrow.
the only part about that that i agree with is lugo. i think cesar really has no place here with no bat and lugo has just as good of d as cesar. izturis no longer has the range and stretch that he did as a gold glover, which is why i dont see him as a huge asset. hence why we trade for a great ss since it would win it over completely.
Line up is posted actually.
Brian Roberts 2B
Adam Jones CF
Nick Markakis RF
Miguel Tejada 3B
Luke Scott DH
Matt Wieters C
Felix Pie LF
Garrett Atkins 1B
Cesar Izturis SS
yes it was released today around 530 after practice ended. no surprises in it. we arent retartd like the as sending down their best slugger to aaa…
And Cust was furious! Funny stuff, I don't know what the A's are thinking.
as for the rest of that:
roberts is a leadoff man. end of story. he has always had his success there.
jones is still young! we have the resources to fill the 4 in an ok way so let jones still grow!
Yes yes yes. I agree, that O's need to develop a young SS. I wouldn't be surprised to see them draft someone there or make a trade for a SS prospect. Cesar's glove is an asset, but his bat is weak. Still not a bad fill in player.
In general the infield needs to get younger, but it will if Bell and Snyder pan out.
Roberts for leadoff hitter, FOREVER!
they do have random infielders in the low grade minors, so drafting someone isnt top priority. in the draft they will probably go outfield or corner infield. shortstop is more of a position i think they need a guy soon, as in a trade or next free agency. i still think they should have brought in miggi at short then brought in atkins for 3rd then put reimold at 1st or ADRIAN GONZALEZ. that would have solved the defensive miscues situation since miggi and atkins would be at their normal positions. it could have even been luke at first. o wait, no, he sucks there.
Roberts is clutch? Last season when he was up with RISP and two outs, he went 8 for 59.
How does 14 HRs in a bandbox like Houston mean Tejada is a legit cleanup hitter for the Orioles? He's probably the weakest cleanup hitter in the entire league.
I'm going on record as saying that Atkins is gonna be the biggest disappointment of the entire team.
I know what MacPhail has said and he is extra careful to specifically NOT mention the number of wins he wants this team to get. And that's on purpose.
To me it's very apparent that the organization is acting just positive enough to keep the masses appeased because they know this team isn't gonna win more than it loses. So they come up with stuff like "Phase 2" of the rebuilding project and "the manger will be judged on wins/losses". But that's as far as they go.
Look, if they win 73 games this season, that's a 9 game improvement. It still sucks but they can spin it as improvement.
If you really believe MacPhail's words mean he expects .500 season or better, that's your perogative. I contend that there is no way he truly believes that.
As far as no reason the O's can't split with the Red Sox and Yankees. Well, quite frankly I don't know how to respond that that statement. I'm stunned you would even type that to be honest.
And there is no reason they shouldn't sweep all 5 of those teams? Wow.
I'll give you this. You are one hell of an optimist.
it may be optimism, but a lot of it has to be looked at from not a literal point of view.
there is no statistic for growth. no number for building as a team and working together. no possible way to measure in an exact amount players attitudes.
that is to say that these guys want to win.
i gave you stats that showed you why miggi and atkins can perform. there is absolutely no need for the strongest clean up hitter in the mlb when the 3 guys before him are each allstar potential.
i do kno i have read macphail saying some numbers, trembley too, so i will try to find those.
the yankees and red sox both have holes in their lineups and pitching staffs. sorry to break it to you, but our top in tact lineup is just as stacked as the red sox, just may not be as proven. we split series with the yankees a bunch last year.
in terms of the other teams.
the a's sent cust to aaa, thats how stupid they are.
the indians have westbrook as their number one. THEIR NUMBER ONE IS JAKE WESTBROOK.
the royals we almost swept last year, and they have not gotten better one bit.
the mets we swept, and they are once again a team with guys who some may have talent but havent shown one sign of fitting together as a team
and the nationals are the nationals.
Swept the Phillies last year too. I'm glad to see another optimistic Orioles fan here on BSR!
Good to hear that O's nation is on board with Andy Mac and company. It's all coming together, as Ex said above, these things take time.
phillies sweep was so much fun to watch. they won the friday night and sat night game, then my friend and i decided sunday morning to drive up to philly as we watched the os crush em again.
and that right there showed potential.
about macwin and dave, i trust them more than anyone with this team, i cant wait for these os to prove everybody wrong.
Amen! Now that's an O's fan. Driving to Philly to watch the sweep. That was exciting stuff.
Check your email Avi!
I know that I haven't seen any numbers with regards to wins attributed to either AM or DT.
Alot of it has to be looked at from a "not" literal point of view? Sorry, but I'm not buying any of that.
Look, you can beat this drum about playing together and working as a team all you want. The fact of the matter is NYY/BOS/TB are all significantly better than the Orioles. And it's not very close. Everyone on those teams wants to win as well.
Tejada had 14 HRs last year and he is our cleanup hitter. That's bad.
Atkins was a product of Coors Field. There's a reason we got him on a one year deal.
I find it astonishing that you are finding "holes" in the Red Sox and Yankees while in the same breath hyping the Orioles. The Red Sox lineup is better than the Orioles lineup. And it's not even a close with the Yankees. The Red Sox rotation might be the best in the league. The Yankees have 4 guys that would be the O's #1 starter.
I mean, give me a break man!
Who cares about splitting series here and there. The Orioles were owned by both NY and Boston last year.
Great, they swept Philly. I was there for the Saturday night comeback and it was fantastic.
Do you remember what happened after that? They went down to Florida and got swept. And they looked horrendous doing it.
I mean, you are predicting all these sweeps and I'm just sitting here shaking my head.
This team will win @ 70 games this season.
you know the 5 years or so in the mid 2000s when the yankees didnt do too well? look at those groups, and you will see exactly why. their lineups those years were truly stacked, but it was a team where everybody wanted to be mvp. now they have learned to play like a team where guys will hit ground balls to induce a run, and not just care about themselves. they have jeter posada and mariano who have played 16 years… TOGETHER. its so so much about commitment and teamwork.
i wouldnt say the rays lineup is any better than what we have now. they might have a few more strengths, but i dont see them as any more than a solid matchup to us and thats it.
the yankees and red sox are whats killing baseball. they have turned it into a game of buying players. give the os a few years till the young core builds up and we will be able to beat the scumbags like brian cashman who forgot that sports are about the drive and commitement, not just stacking up the top hitter at every position.
you say the philly thing like its not big. it was big. it showed the potential. you call me optimistic, and while on a scale i may lean towards the optimistic side, you would lean much much farther to the pessimistic side. you are giving no credit to macwin for his drive and commitment to build this ballclub up. you are ignoring how great and young our talent is that even the teams like the yankees and red sox admit they want. jeter told girardi last friday after playing us how he was excited to see the extremely close games between the two of us because of how impressed he was. he also said jokingly that the yankees should get adam jones to hit cleanup for them.
the orioles are showing talent, whether you want to take it or not, its coming.
What are you talking about?
The Yankees won the AL East from 2000 through 2006. In 2007 they won the Wild Card. The only year in the decade that they didn't make the playoffs was 2008.
The Rays won 84 last year while being depleted by injuries. You may not see it but most everyone else does.
The Yankees and Red Sox buy and develop players.
Ask STG about the year by year Yankee rosters I posted here a few months ago and where those players came from.
Look at the core of both teams. Home grown. The Red Sox got Ortiz when nobody else wanted him.
You're correct, I don't think sweeping the Phillies back in June of 09 is much to cheer about now. They followed up that series by looking like a little league team vs the Marlins.
The ONLY thing MacPhail has done is gotten some players that people outside of Baltimore are hyping.
I'm not ignoring anything. Sure, they have some more potential than they did 3 years ago. BFD. They are still far from competing with the big boys in this division.
I could care less what Jeter told Girardi. Those two aren't scared of the Orioles in the least. And if you think they are you need to look at each team a bit closer.
The Orioles have shown pretty much nothing.
They won 64 games last year and added Miguel Tejada and Garrett Atkins to the lineup and Kevin Millwood and Mike Gonzalez to the staff.. Sure, the younger guys should take a step forward but it will be more of the same this season with regards to wins and losses.
By the way, the Orioles went 7-29 vs the Yankees and Red Sox last year.
Is Butler actually going to beat Duke??? Any way, the O's were also 12 games under .500 last year against the rest of the league…
The Orioles were 2-16 vs Boston last year. They were swept 4 times.
The Orioles were 5-13 vs New York. They were swept 3 times.
ill type my comment again later. ive posted it twice now (started it at 10:50) and both times were deleted for some reason. both were huge and the same basically and im not in the mood now to retype them to be deleted. dammit.
Sorry you're having issues with it Avi. It may be too long, intense debate chops comments that are a certain length.
i kno, i was going to post it as two. who knows. i have a 7500 word essay to write due in the morning so i gotta do that first LOL.
Ouch.
What a game to end the tourney.
Officiating was once again horrendous.
That last shot was so close.
UGH.
No doubt. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it hit the backboard. Too close. You're right about officiating though.
I don't care if people say it's complaining or whining.
If you take an unbiased person and sit them down to watch that game, every single one would throw their hands up in disgust at how the calls go.
Zoubek fouled out about 5 times.
The last time he clothslined Howard and no call.
The charge call where Scheyer wasn't close to set is atrocious.
It's disgusting.
i saw 4 missed calls on duke alone in the last 2 mins. whatever its done now. baseball is here.
Yeah, we're not acknowledging the game here on BSR! Time for baseball. Go O's!
i love that i found a place to discuss orioles, because otherwise i can only really talk it out with friends or fellow fans i know since other blogs are just all down on the orioles and orioles.com is just people complaining that we suck. so thank you for welcoming me in.
to zack:
its a love hate thing with the farm system. i guess its better to be loaded as opposed to depleted, but its going to be an issue when we have guys all ready and nowhere to put em.
the thing i think all fans have missed and people realize im getting to something with the following argument:
we fetched pitching in the offseason, and our system is loaded with it. our outfield has 4 guys, 2 way above average, then 2 youngers guys on the rise to reach that level. 2nd base is roberts for a good while (he wants to stay with team for career) then a guy like ryan adams in the system. 1st is atkins, with turner in the system. 3rd is miggi, with bell in the system. by in the system i mean the top guy in the minors at that spot. catcher is wieters for now and hopefully another 15 years. even if not, tatum is solid backup and we may raise another top prospect soon enough to use as bait in caleb joseph. one position not addressed: shortstop. ss runs the game along with the catcher, and is just so so important. yes, the orioles got lugo to back it up over andino, but that doesnt address the next 5-10 years with age. izturis may play it fine, but he has the worst bat you could ever see lol, and theres no denying his range and extension are not top quality like they were in his gold glove year. in terms of that guy in the system i brought up for other spots (which btw in some of them there are more than just one), there is no true one at ss. scott moore is upcoming as an infielder but unsure of position yet and isnt good for another few years really. call up the yankees and buy jeter lol. i just think we need a slugger, but more of a slugger in terms of the extra base hits like doubles and triples, not necessarily homeruns. the problem with the term slugger is that its a name applied to guys like howard and dunn, who either strike out or hit home runs. im talking about a hanley ramirez or jose reyes who can be an epic ss on d but then step up to the plate and post a .300+ avg with 50-60 extra base hits on the year. my thought is to call up the rockies and trade a load of aa prospects for tulowitzki. he is thought to be not only high quality ss, but a sleeper candidate for mvp. he has a great bat and speed, and is still young. reached the playoffs with atkins last year, so bring it here!!!
ITS FINALLY HERE! OPENING DAY FOR THE BALTIMORE ORIOLES 2010!!!