Pitchers and catchers report in less than 2 weeks. In under two months, 57 days to be exact, Opening Day will be here. Thus, it’s time to start looking forward towards the notable stories of this year’s baseball season.
Perhaps I could talk about the star-studded rotation out in Philadelphia that some are comparing to the Braves starters in the 90s. What about Theo Epstein’s fantastic off-season in which he added two of the most sought after lefties on the free-agent/trade market (Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford). Or maybe I’ll discuss the ridiculous 7-year, $126 million contract that the Nat’s GM Mike Rizzo generously dolled out to Jayson Werth.
Wrong, wrong and wrong again. Even if you haven’t been following baseball during the offseason as obsessively as me, these stories still found their way onto SportsCenter and therefore into your head. I want to talk about a story you did not notice. A story that was not re-run on ESPN for hours and hours. I want to talk about a team that enters Spring Training with a solid lineup, a fantastic manager, a solid pitching core and next to no chance of making the playoffs. The Baltimore Orioles.
Baltimore shuffled through two managers last season (Dave Trembley and Juan Samuel) before finally pulling Buck Showalter out of the Baseball Tonight studios and back into the dugout where he belongs. After his August call-up, Showalter led the Orioles to an impressive 34-23 record. Even more impressive when you consider that the Orioles ended the season 30 games below .500 with a 66-96 record.
Baltimore parted ways with shortstop Miguel Tejada; however, key additions include gold-glove first baseman Derrek Lee and shortstop J.J. Hardy who has quietly averaged 24 homers a year over the last four seasons during stints with Milwaukee and Minnesota. Perhaps most notably, the O’s traded for slugger Mark Reynolds who hit 32, 44, and 28 homers in the last three seasons respectively despite leading the league in strikeouts each of those years.
Most recently, the Orioles added Justin Duchscherer, who has received praise for his great potential but has also been limited by injuries to just five starts since 2008. Duchscherer joins a young and upcoming rotation featuring 24-year-old Brian Matusz and 25-year-old Brad Bergesen. Baltimore’s GM, Andy MacPhail also added a closer in Kevin Gregg.
The new cast joins a solid core, highlighted by catching stud Matt Wieters, who will begin his third year of service in 2011, outfielders Adam Jones and Nick Markakis, and second baseman Brian Roberts.
When you take a look at that Baltimore depth chart, the Orioles quietly built themselves a solid little ball club. Problem is, they face off against two divisional opponents who have payrolls over $150 million and another who continues to find success in a great farm system and an even better manager.
I’m not here to advocate for a restructuring of baseball, just here to remind fans that if Buck Showalter’s Orioles win 90 games but still find themselves on the links come October, they ought to get some recognition from baseball fans outside of Baltimore.
No comments:
Post a Comment