Forbes Ranks Orioles Fans 9th for Most Loyal Fans

That's right O's fans, we made the top 10.  All our hard work of keeping a steady fan base while the casual fan hides in shame has finally paid off.  While I don't really care about the methodology of how they came about the number, I was just surprised we were not much lower considering the immense drop in attendance over the past 10 years.  They explain how they do it, but you can figure that out for yourself.

Roch is posing this question, but I think it will get more quality responses here at Camden Chat.  I will put my 2 cents worth on it and see how everyone else puts their rotation out there.

My Rotation:

• Jeremy Guthrie - He is our ace and he is pitching like it.  Guts may be the only lock for the rotation for 2009 if you base it on performance alone.  Prediction: 15-6, 3.50 ERA, 150K
• Daniel Cabrera - There is speculation he could be traded, but the O's front office likes his potential (there's that word again) to get rid of him.  While I don't believe he is a #2 by any means, he does eat innings and is potentially dominant.  He is our old veteran.  Prediction: 10-10, 4.35 ERA, 120K
• Garrett Olson - AAA is too easy for him and the majors are a challenge.  He pitched a gem in his last outting, but he needs to work on his consistency (of course, they all do).  As a lefty, he really needs to step up and take over this role because we need it.  Prediction: 13-8, 3.95 ERA, 145K
• Hayden Penn - I would normally put him as the number 5 starter, but I don't like lefties pitching back to back.  He will be up with the major league ball club as soon as they figure out that Sarfate can't make the transition to starter.  While he has struggled some in AAA, it is time for him to come to the majors and start learning in the big leagues.  Liz may be a candidate, but he needs more time in the minors and the Orioles need to realize he may be better suited for the bullpen.  Prediction: 8-12, 4.75 ERA, 145K
• Chris Waters - Knee-jerk reaction to a gem!  No, not really.  Hear me out before you write your bash.  I checked some of his box scores to see what kind of pitch count he had at the 6th inning when he was being taken out of his AAA games, and it generally was no more than 90 pitches.  He has the ability to eat innings, and he is left handed.  Brian Burres is not a starter, and, barring Chris throwing softballs in there for the hitters to mash in his next few starts, I see him getting this opportunity.  I have been following him since the beginning of the year in AA ball and have been waiting to see what he can do.  Take a look at his last month or so in AAA to see what he does before dismissing him on his overalls.  Prediction: 9-11, 4.50 ERA, 130K

Here are the other candidates and why I feel they are not going to be in the rotation or what role they may be filling in 2009:

• Rhadames Liz - It is very apparent that he needs more time at AAA before he comes up to the bigs again.  A firm handle on 3 pitches with consistency is required, and he might want to do this sooner rather than later or he will be jumped over by the other men in our system.  I think he has the stuff to a quality reliever, but it would take, again, consistency.
• Brian Burres - He's a swingman, and he always will be.  I give it up to him because every year he pitches better than anyone expects, at least for an extended period of time.  He does not belong in the rotation for any more than a spot start, ever.
• Matt Albers & Troy Patton - They have the exact same reasoning though I believe they will end up in different places.  Torn labrum recovery.  Patton will be in AAA working on his stuff while Albers will probably still be recovering.  If he returns to the bigs, it would be as a reliever.  There are too many guys with too much talent getting close to the bigs to be messing with Albers in the rotation again.  Let him fight for a spot in 2010 if his arm is fully healthy and he has some more games underneath of him.
• Jim Johnson - A lot of people are clammoring to put JJ in the rotation.  My question is why?  He has accelled in his role as setup man, and he is a candidate for the closer's role next season.  Even if Chris Ray returns strong and healthy next year, JJ should challenge him for the closer's spot.  George Sherrill should be put in the setup role next year.  Chris Ray, JJ, Flat Brim at the back end of the bullpen.  I like that.  A lot.
• Brad Bergeson - I followed the kid in A ball.  I am following him in AA ball.  I will follow him next year in AAA ball.  He has to prove this year is the real deal and is young enough that he can prove himself at Norfolk next year. 
• Chris Tillman - Not next year, but I would look for him in 2010.  At 20 years old, he should see AAA before he sees the majors.  The last thing we need is another Hayden Penn type of situtation.
• Jason Berken - I would put him in the same class as Brad Bergeson.  His success seems to be a learning curve and he is 25 in November.  He, along with Brad and others, will be a constant reminder to Daniel Cabrera that we don't necessarily need his services much longer if he doesn't figure things out.
• David Hernandez - I look at him like I do Rhadames Liz.  A future reliever.  I could be wrong as this guy can rack up K's.  I am salivating to see how the AAA rotation is going to perform.  I realize it is mainly just the AA ball rotation with another A in it, but it is refreshing to know this many guys are doing well.
• Jake Arrietta/Brian Matusz/Tim Bascom/Any Other 2007/2008 Draft Pick as a Pitcher - No.  Plain and simply just no.  If you think they are ready or will be ready please see your neurologist as soon as possible as you have probably suffered a heavy blow to the head.

Going over this list makes me that much happier to be an Orioles fan.  The young guys are progressing, and we are starting to put together a nice young group of pitchers.  I figure this is a good place to start to debating 2009.  Let me know what you think (and I am prepared to get trounced for including Waters).

I'm sure everyone has seen the Prince video, by now, of him shoving Manny Parra during a game.  If you have the time, check out this article.  It is nothing too special.  A sports writer posing the question of whether or not something was more than the manager was playing it out to be.  What you should focus on is the comments at the bottom when the people react to this team disply.

"Prince should be fined and suspended for 5 games. You don't just attack a teammate, especially a young starting pitcher who is just frusterated because he lost 5 of his last 6 games (well the team didn't he had 3 no decisions in that timeframe)"

 

"I think Prince needs to be traded to the California Penal League.

Any respect I had for him left with two pudgy paws to parra's face."

 

"I do think that Fielder should stay on the bench for a game or two.  That's it.  You just have to send the message that it's not ok to hit a teammate.  At the worst, if Fielder is still angry, send him back to Milwaukee for two days and he can rejoin the team on Thursday."

While not all the Milwaukee fans overreacted like these coupe, there were plenty of people jumping on board with similar reactions.  Did any question Parra wanting to skip out on the rest of the game?  Nah.

I am just shocked at the fans of this team.  Anyone who knows anything about this team knows that Prince has to be in the line-up for it to work.  He is David Ortiz and Ryan Braun is Manny Ramirez (if you would allow me to make that analogy).  I would bet Braun's numbers are down if Fielder is not batting behind him or in front of him, and with less than 2 months to make up ground and get in the playoffs the fans would rather set down their clean-up hitter for disciplining (albiet public and inappropriate manner) a pouty rookie pitcher? 

This type of response is what is wrong with today's society.  These are the same people that believe everyone deserves a trophy for trying and that everybody should get equal playing time.  These are the types of fans that don't deserve a pennant race and a playoff team.  Most likely, before last season, they had never heard of Prince Fielder.  In fact, some probably hadn't even paid attention to baseball until they realized they had a decent team.  It just sickens me to think that they'd rather see discipline for this small scuffle than see their team succeed. 

This PC society can kiss my ass.

It's all I want as a fan; the little things to be executed and done right.  I'm an admitted optimist for my O's, but I am not ignorant to our many shortcomings either.  Going into the season, the offense was a huge question mark for production, and it came out on fire with many come from behind wins and solid production up and down the line-up.  Unfortunately, the first 2 weeks ended and the real Orioles started to show.  Markakis and Roberts faltered, Millar caved under the pressure, Razor proved he has only gotten worse, and our many shortstops proved their inability to have any kind of offense.

This does not anger me.

Lack of production for solid pitching outtings by our guys is nothing to be mad about.  We should be happy that our staff is finally giving our team a chance to compete unlike past years.  Of course, the offense hasn't stepped up recently to win any of these games.  The reason for this is simple execution.

Getting picked off.  Caught stealing.  Doubled up.  GIDP's.  Not moving the runners to scoring position.  Not driving runners in with less than outs in scoring position.  Turning double plays.  Fielding routine grounders.  Covering bases. 

There is more but that is a lot already.  These things are not big things, but they have become common to our team.  Yes, we are young team, but when the veterans are the ones who are doing the majority of the mistakes you have to question whether they are helping or hurting the team.  Ramon Hernandez tries a pick-off at first with 2 outs and throws it into right field.  Melvin Mora can't field a routine grounder.  Luis Hernandez hangs Brian Roberts out to dry on a routine double play.  We keep losing games because of this bush league play.

Our pitching has been good.  Our bullpen has been solid.  Our offense is terrible, but it is not for lack of opportunities.  A runner on 3rd with 1 out is a simple ground ball from scoring.  Give yourself up to score that run because we need any run we can get as a team.  Instead, we get a veteran swinging for the fence to be a hero and popping the ball up, or we get someone who decides to swing at the first pitch and pop out in foul territory.

As a player and a pitcher, I have been on the end of zero support, and it killed me everytime an opportunity was squandered.  My pitching coach in college was a former Oriole by the name of Dan Morogiello.  He played for the 1983 Orioles in his only major league season while playing 10 seasons professionally.  He told us a story about how in the minors, after receiving zero support for a few games from his hitters, he took all the bats, poured lighter fluid on them, and lit them on fire after the game.  He said he was fined big time for it, but the team responded in his next start by giving him a huge lead in the first inning.  I know it is purely lore, but will it take St. Guts lighting the team bats on fire to spark some sense into these hitters to be team players and execute the fundamentals?

That old school passion is needed on this team.

If he is not DFA'd and replaced in the rotation by someone more deserving (Albers, Johnson, Liz), then I refuse to watch any game he's pitching in. I already know the outcome because the Orioles are going to lose. Everytime he runs out onto the field it is an embarassment to this franchise. He did a great job for us last year, but he isn't even able to be traded pitching like this. Also, he is not worth any kind of bullpen spot because what good is a long reliever that would just get hammered and not eat innings. Trachsel's sole job on this team is to eat innings and not put so much strain on the bullpen. Instead, 3 of his last 4 starts have yet to go for more than 3 innings. He has allowed 20 runs in 21 innings since his first start. He only has 21 innings since his first start! On top of that, he's allowed an exhuberant amount of hits and walked nearly a batter an inning.

Get this embarassment off my team MacPhail before the fans and I take it upon ourselves to end his season.

[Note by SC, 05/05/08 6:07 AM EDT ]: PWubbs is granted Official Recapper Status for today because he's absolutely correct. And by the way, during the Community Projection for this season, I said, "Every possible sign there points to this being a final, disastrous season in the sun for the 37-year old crafty righty." This is similar to how I compare Sammy Sosa to Mickey Mantle in same-age seasons when Sosa came to Baltimore. Mantle retired the season after the two I compared, and Sosa was then out of baseball after his Oriole experience. I'm like the harbinger of death over here.

Welcome to the first edition for the 2008 season. I plan on running this weekly and posting up at the beginning of the week. Inside, I'll break down a few players, highlight some performances, and give any other comments to things that I have come across. Lastly, I'll give the Scott Moore Update (SMU) because that's just what I do.

Opening Words from P-Wubbia

Now, I know it has been pointed out before, but it is still fun to talk about. We are in first place folks, and we have the best record in the bigs tied only with the Milwaukee Brewers. We were tied with St. Louis too, but despite Jose Valverde's best efforts to tank the game, the Astros defeated the Cards. 5-1 in our first six games with a 5 game winning streak. Brian Burres starts tomorrow against Jason Jennings in Arlington, and I fully expect him to step up like he did in spring trianing. I have been a full beliver that Burres is a major league contributor as a swingman, but he has to impress me to show he deserves to be in someone's rotation. Can he do it against the pitching-less Rangers? He better because I want to be talking about a 6 game winning streak tomorrow night.

Luis Luis!

In the first 4.99 of games you were without any hits and really living up to your reputation for having no ability to swing the bat. With Dave Trembley exhausting all of his reserves earlier in the inning other than the inept Brandon Fahey, you were left to face Mark Lowe to try and cap off the big comeback. Luis, I was there, and it was beautiful. I couldn't believe how much they were playing you to slap because they left you a huge gap in right center field and you hit it perfectly. You have given me hope that you will contribute to this team more than with your glove as you added a couple more hits in today's game. Here's to a good season for you because who knows how long you'll have this job.

Luuuuuuuke!

In my memory, I go back to the early 90's with Randy Milligan when he was called "Moose." I was fairly young and thought the crowd was booing before someone pointed out what was really being said. Soon after Milligan came Mussina and the crowd yelling "Muss." Now, it is Luke Scott and the resounding "Luuuuuke!" from the crowd. Batting a cool .500 in your first 16 ab's, you have won over this Baltimore crowd. I am a big supporter for you to be in the team's plans for the next couple of years as the LF and, eventually, DH when Huff is sent packing. You provide solid pop to the line-up and have earned a starting job on this ballclub.

Huffmeister

You pretty much have won 2 games for the Orioles, and the fans still won't give you a break. Eventually, the fans will find someone else to boo, but you are all we have at the moment. D-Cab hasn't had a complete meltdown, Mora hasn't bragged about his post-season experience, and no one cares about Jay Payton, so you are stuck being the hated guy in Baltimore. I think it works for you, anyway. Now, you have a reason to go out and try and shut up the home crowd. A real nice start to the season with 2 HR and 7 RBI. That .217 avg is nothing to flaunt, but every hit seems to be a clutch one. The sooner you get hot, the sooner we can ship you off to a contender and pick up some prospects because Scott Moore would love to have your full-time DH job. It would, also, be nice because we'd have some solid home run power in the middle of the line-up and we'd keep winning games.

RANDOOOOOOOR!! (Say it like Strongbad's "Trogdor" and you'll understand)
Sar-fah-tay
Texas Walker
Pornstache Bradford
Babyface Albers
George Flatbrim

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This group has done more than our $45 million bullpen of last year already, and we are 6 games into the season. I am confident that if any of you get a call out of the pen that the job will get done. You should tell your boy Aquino that only donuts are allowed on the field. Young on one end of the pen and wiley veterans on the other side has blended into a solid bullpen that is delivering like the pen that everyone that we should've had last year. Chris Ray can come back and replace Aquino, but someone has to let him know that weak he was bringing last year won't be tolerated. Anyone else get a funny feeling thinking about the Ray Gun closing, Sar-fah-tay and RANDOOOOR setting up? I do. We might have to add Rhadamas Liz to the list soon if he doesn't fit in with all the arms we brought in.

Statistical Highlights

- 29:22 K/BB in 54 innings. 9 of those 22 walks come from Daniel Cabrera.
- 3-0, 21.1 innings from our bullpen, 2 ER, 0.84 ERA, 0.66 WHIP. Yeah, wow. Both ER belong to Aquino.
- 13:5 K/BB from the bullpen
- Luis Luis 3 for 9 with 2K's; Fahey 0 for 5 with 3K's. Why is Fahey on this team again? Cintron will replace him soon enough.
- 7 SB's in 6 games, 3 belonging to Brian Roberts
- 2 Errors as a team in the first 6 games

SMU

Scotty doesn't know
That he hasn't started yet
Trembley tells him he will
But Scotty didn't go
Still he pinch hits
And Scotty doesn't know

0 for 2 with 2K's. Scotty, we know you'll deliver when you get your chance this week to play. Make the most of it because we all know you are far more valuable than Fahey and Gibbons. Scotty will be at 3rd tomorrow, 2nd thursday, and 1st on saturday. He'll also be handing out programs friday, taking tickets on sunday and dressing as the oriole bird next wednesday. This kid can do it all.

Closing Words from P-Wubbia

We are in first place, and I am going to suck it up as much as I can. I am bragging to all my yankee fan friends, red sox fan tards, and I pointing out that there is nothing than can do about it for at least 48 hours. I call for a huge party. Everyone get drunk and enjoy the moment because the moment could very well pass faster than we'd ever thought. Still, I think this team could be competitive all year and will perform better than last year's team as I have predicted. If they keep up the small ball, the solid bullpen play, and get some quality starts from the starters, then this team could very well shock the baseball world. Trust me folks, the expectations are low. Let's show the world that the <s>Devil</s> Rays are still the worst team in the East, and they can take their last predictions and shove it.

P-Wubbs Out.

It has been an eventful off-season with some nice surprises. The team really seems to be heading into the right direction, and it seems as if the youth will finally start shining through. The 2008 year is a lost cause in the eyes of the analysts, but I have reason to believe we will win it all, mainly because we haven't played a game and my Oriole optimism is running on all cylinders. In reality, we are probably playing for 4th place in the AL East unless a lot of pieces fall into place (Adam Loewen and Daniel Cabrera finding consistency leading to front end rotation stuff; Jeremy Guthrie showing why he was once touted as an ace prospect; Luke Scott & Nick Markakis putting in 30 home run efforts and Aubrey Huff not sitting out until August; the list goes on). I am extremely excited for this year, and I cannot wait to see the young talent coming up as the year progresses.

Since the final roster is set, I went back on my Review of the Team 2.0 entry that started this blog in the first place. There, I had predictions about what I thought the roster may look like. Lets check out how I did:

Starting Rotation Predicted:
1-Jeremy Guthrie
2-Adam Loewen
3-Daniel Cabrera
4-Steve Trachsel
5-Garrett Olson (I never designated it as I listed the candidates, but I favored him)

Darkhorses: Matt Albers & Brian Burres

Starting Rotation Actual:
1-Jeremy Guthrie
2-Steve Trachsel
3-Daniel Cabrera
4-Adam Loewen
5-Brian Burres

I was off a little with Loewen and Trachsel switching places, but I don't see how anyone predicted that Brian Burres would make the rotation. I remember making a comment that he's a darkhorse in the race as no one was talking about him in the press, but he stepped in when we needed him last year and did a commendable job. I was a little shocked that he was able to get it, but he earned it from the spring numbers. Albers struggled in the middle part of the spring and Burres put the final nail in the coffin with a great effort against the Marlins in his final start.

Honestly, I am not sure how long Burres will last in the rotation. I fell in love with his big sweeping curve as it resembles the one I throw (if you are not familiar, I used to pitch for a division 1 school), but he has a high contact rate and is a fly ball pitcher. Fly ball pitchers in a hitter's park usually do not get along well which is why I had sided with Albers getting the final rotation spot. Burres will have to put up quality starts in the 5th starters role to keep his job as Olson, Penn, Liz and others are chomping at the bit to get up to the majors. Burres will probably end up in the bullpen as long relief when our rebuilding is complete because of the quality of arms lurking behind him. I like the kid, and I hope he works out well.

What I am surprised about in this rotation is 3 righties in a row and 2 lefties in a row. This could be jumbled up as the season goes, but usually the arms are seperated like in a batting order. I don't think it will effect any performances, but I was just a little surprised to see it.

Bullpen Predicted:
CL - George Sherrill
SU - Dennis Safarte
Lefty Specialist - Jamie Walker
Righty Specialist - Chad Bradford
Middle/Long Reliever - Matt Albers
Middle/Long Reliever - Brian Burres
Middle/Long Reliever - Randor Bierd

Darkhorse: Greg Aquino

Bullpen Actual:
CL - George Sherrill
SU - Greg Aquino
Lefty Specialist - Jamie Walker
Righty Specialist - Chad Bradford
Middle Reliever - Randor Bierd
Middle Reliever - Dennis Sarfate
Long Reliever - Matt Albers

I mentioned that Greg Aquino would make the team as insurance at the closer's spot if Albers or Burres was the #5 starter in the rotation, and I was correct with that prediction. Aquino has been great this spring, and the Orioles will be looking for him to be in the late innings sharing setup duties with Walker and Bradford. Sherrill was announced closer as everyone expected, and I had been pulling for Bierd and Sarfate all spring. Those two will provide middle relief to gain experience in the major league pen. Bierd is a rule-5 pick, and he should make it through the entire season. I could see him staying on the big league club next year. Sarfate is hard throwing youngster who had a good spring as well. He was out of options, but he managed to pitch his way onto the club. I believe that the Orioles will eventually look to him to being a shut down setup man, but he will have to gain some experience and work on the control a little bit more before he gets that shot.

I like the make-up of the pen as it is being led by veterans and supported by a young cast. Nothing about this bullpen is over the top, but it could be a strength no one was counting on (please, don't let me just curse our team for what we said last year and our $40 million bullpen).

Line-Up Projected and Actual:
2B - Brian Roberts
3B - Melvin Mora
RF - Nick Markakis
1B - Kevin Millar
DH - Aubrey Huff
C - Ramon Hernandez
LF - Luke Scott
CF - Adam Jones
SS - Luis Hernandez

In my prediction, I had Scott and Huff at either the 5 & 7 spots of the batting order. Honestly, I think whichever one is hitting better will bat 5 while the other bats 7, so I expect that line-up to be a little fluid in that respect. Other than that, it is a concrete line-up in that each person's spot is cemented.

Luis Hernandez made the starting shortstop spot despite being out played by Brandon Fahey. Luis did well last year when filling in for Miguel Tejada, and Trembley took that into consideration. I think it is the right move because Hernandez will figure out his glove once he relaxes and gets settled into his position. Fahey is not an everyday player. Anyone who feels he should be playing everyday should really go back and look at how his numbers started to tank as an everyday left fielder. I think what may end up happening is a bit of a platoon between the players. Luis will get most of the playing time, but Fahey will spell him to get a fresh bat in there once in awhile. I think it will take some pressure off of Luis.

Bench Predicted & Actual:
C - Guillermo Quiroz
IF - Brandon Fahey
OF - Jay Payton
IF - Scott Moore

It became official as of Sunday that the man I have been touting all spring made the team. Scott Moore was named to the Orioles bench and Jay Gibbons was cut from the team. I have gone on and on about what I think Moore can do for this team with his ability to play the corner positions in the outfield and infield, second base, and shortstop if Trembley will let him (Trembley told him that he should stick to learning 2nd base and the outfield). Moore is 1B & 3B back-up with Fahey being the 2B & SS back-up. Moore will serve as 5th outfielder as well.

Jay Payton is the 4th outfielder and many people do not like the move. I, for one, do like the move. Despite him being old and taking at-bats away from younger players, he is the only other Oriole on the roster, as of now, that can play CF behind Adam Jones. Payton has decent range and pretty good defense while his bat is typically not much of a liabilty. I don't see him sticking with the club the whole year as the switch hitting Chris Roberson is in AAA and capable of doing Jay Payton's job. Payton could net some prospects at the deadline.

All in all, I was pretty on with my predictions on the team. I am a little shocked that they cut Jay Gibbons because of the Orioles past, but Andy MacPhail has proven that it is rebuilding mode for the Orioles.

The Stat Round-Up - Leaders of the Spring
Avg - Mora (.407)
2B - Mora (7)
3B - Fahey/Markakis/Mora (1)
HR - Costanzo/Mora/Millar/Scott (2)
RBI - Mora (13)
SB - Roberts (7)
ERA (Min 10IP) - Cherry (0.90)
K - Cabrera/Guthrie/Loewen (16)
BB - Loewen (19)
K/9 - Cherry/Sarfate (9.00)
K/BB - Sherrill (9:0)
WHIP - Sherrill (0.60)

Offensive Standout: Melvin Mora
He had his job challenged by Mike Costanzo and Scott Moore, and he stepped up this spring and is hitting the cover off the ball. Here's hoping that this is a sign to a solid season that sees his numbers move back up instead of declining once again.

Offensive Darkhorse: Ramon Hernandez
Ramon could give the Orioles a really solid middle of the order if he can return to form after having a healthy spring. We lack the 40 home run power, but with several guys threatening 20 home runs and capable of driving in runs, Hernandez could give us another solid contributor. If Millar stumbles in the clean-up spot, it is easy to place a healthy Ramon Hernandez in that spot and get production.

Pitching Standout: Brian Burres and George Sherrill
Burres pitched his butt-off to get into the rotation with great outtings and not walking people. 8:1 K/BB ratio and only 4 ER in 13 innings for a 2.77 ERA. I don't expect the ERA or the K/BB to stay as it is, but if he is able to keep the walks down, then he could be a solid #5 starter.
Sherrill dominated in his spring innings. He allowed 2 ER in 10 innings while only allowing 6 base runners total. He struck out 9 and walked none. These are the types of numbers we need from our closer because someone has to shut the door.

Pitching Darkhorse: Greg Aquino

The guy once had a good season as a closer and fell off the map. Now, he had a great spring and could give the Orioles a 1-2 punch at the end of games. One thing that we have trouble with in the past is getting the ball to the closer in the 9th. The Orioles have stretched their closer into the 8th inning repeatedly because we did not have a solid setup man. If Aquino can deliver as that guy, the Orioles are going to win a lot more ball games because of Walker and Bradford being more rested and effective. I could really see the Orioles bullpen protecting leads well if Aquino steps up and these guys deliver.

Biggest Camp Surprise: Brian Roberts not being traded.

I like to think of it as a blessing in disguise. Roberts is needed at the top of the line-up for it to perform well. It will be nice to have that part of our line-up solid, so young players are not shoved into roles they may not be ready to take over. Unfortunately, Roberts does not want to be a part of this rebuilding project. He is classy and will always play hard, so it is only a matter of time before he is traded to a contender. I could see him netting a large grab bag of prospects eventually, but enjoy #1 while he is still in Baltimore tearing up the basepaths.

Record Prediction: 72-90. 5th Place.

Yes, I predict we will be three games better than we were last year. I think a lot of our games were lost on the bullpen, and we won't lose those games this time around. I still expect us to fall into last place as the Rays seem poised to land one of their best seasons in franchise history. I am not worried because we will be chasing them up the standings soon enough.

Random Player Thoughts:

Adam Loewen - Expect Erik Bedard circa 2004-2005. I see a mid 4's ERA, roughly 150 K's and 75 BB's. He will probably lose more games at the beginning of the season than at the end because I believe we will see Loewen come into his own the 2nd half of the season. His W-L should break down to about even though I worry his high pitch counts won't let him go deep enough into games to get wins that he deserves.

Daniel Cabrera - Call me a believer or an optimist, but I see a different pitcher this year. ERA should be in the low 4's, 190K's, and 80 BB's. The walks will go down a bit; he will go deeper into games; and the change-up will become an important pitch. I think he shows this year that he is capable of being a front-line starter. It wasn't until Erik Bedard threw an effective change-up that he became the K-artist that we all loved. D-Cab gets himself into trouble because of walks, but we will see a much more controlled version of him. Sure, the ugly starts will still happen but with much less frequency.

Luke Scott - I think he proves a lot of people wrong about his lefty on lefty hitting. I think he'll put up 25-30 home runs at lefty friendly Camden Yards and drive in 80 Rbi's. I put his batting average around .270.

Luis Hernandez - .240 average, 5 HR, 35 Rbi coming from the 9 hole of the line-up. I see him putting in roughly 120 games as the Orioles wouldn't want to over-expose him this year.

Adam Jones - Like Loewen, Markakis circa 2006. Nick's numbers were .291 avg, 16 HR, 62 Rbi. I don't expect anymore out of Adam than numbers like that. I, also, see him stealing 10-15 bags this year. Nick didn't really steal at all his first year, but I see more speed in Adam Jones.

Well, here's to a great 2008 season! It will bring much excitement to Baltimore and really give us fans the optimism we have been wanting for over a decade. As always, feel free to comment and ask me any questions you would like.