O's on the Brain
Alright, now that we've given our lame introductions and Aaron's admitted he jumped ship for the Ravens, let's dig in. A couple of us seem to have the Orioles on the brain, so I'd like to discuss how we're feeling about the team and how competetive they'll be. I want us to be as honest as possible, no pipedreams of "this is the year, baby!" (Aaron, I'm looking in your direction).
I like how the Orioles changed things up this year. It seemed like, when Miggy started his whining, the Orioles were content with not making any big moves and would leave him on an island with another sub-par rotation. But looking back at this offseason, they've tweaked more than I expected. They picked up an upgrade at catcher, Ramon Hernandez (or RamHern, as Jim likes to excitedly call him), Cory Patterson in the OF (whoop-dee-doo), and Conine and Millar, both clubhouse veterans who are practically the same 1B/RF position player. If the moves stopped here, I'd still be a little peeved if I were Miggy. But they didn't. I know Miggy wanted the O's to get an ace, but I think they got someone better than an ace: Leo "The Rocker" Mazzone (we should be giving mafia nicknames to all these Italians on the O's). The O's got lucky in that Sam "The Peach" Perlozzo is Leo's homeboy and they wanted to coach together. They also both have two Z's in their name, which has to be Guiness record for Z's in a coaching staff. The last big move was the trade they made to get Kris Benson, which I found out that his real name is Kristin and I will be referring to him by that from now on. The O's made a great move here, and my beloved Mets gave up a quality pitcher for Jorge Julio (who will give up a homerun as soon as you think to yourself "please don't give up a homerun") and John "Kenny" Maine, who is a #2 prospect. I'm hoping the Mets are using these guys to trade for Zito, but that's another topic, back to the O's. Mazzone has a guy who COULD be an ace in Kristin and can potentially refine the rest of the rotation into promising pitchers and possibly another ace out of Bedard or Cabrera.
My honest opinion is that while I can see their potential for possibly making the Wild Card slot, I realistically think they will finish either 3rd or 4th in the AL East, with Boston taking the other spot. The Yankees will finish 1st (blech) and the Blue Jays, with their improved roster, taking 2nd. The boys in Tampa will take up the rear again. I think the O's will compete early, like they did last year, but it will still take this year to mesh well. If this team stays mainly intact though, and can add another prime player or two, I can see the next year being a possible "this is the year, baby!" year.
And lastly, I found out that Kevin Millar is keeping a diary on the O's website to give us a little "insight" on the season. In the first installment, i picked out my favorite quote:
"I was joking around with Brian Roberts and Jay Gibbons, because we live in the same place, and I called them a couple days ago. I said, "I'm not eating alone anymore, so I'm inviting myself up to your place." I did that, but it takes time."
Looks like Millar wants the clubhouse to have a "Brokeback" kind of vibe if you ask me...
Thoughts?
I like how the Orioles changed things up this year. It seemed like, when Miggy started his whining, the Orioles were content with not making any big moves and would leave him on an island with another sub-par rotation. But looking back at this offseason, they've tweaked more than I expected. They picked up an upgrade at catcher, Ramon Hernandez (or RamHern, as Jim likes to excitedly call him), Cory Patterson in the OF (whoop-dee-doo), and Conine and Millar, both clubhouse veterans who are practically the same 1B/RF position player. If the moves stopped here, I'd still be a little peeved if I were Miggy. But they didn't. I know Miggy wanted the O's to get an ace, but I think they got someone better than an ace: Leo "The Rocker" Mazzone (we should be giving mafia nicknames to all these Italians on the O's). The O's got lucky in that Sam "The Peach" Perlozzo is Leo's homeboy and they wanted to coach together. They also both have two Z's in their name, which has to be Guiness record for Z's in a coaching staff. The last big move was the trade they made to get Kris Benson, which I found out that his real name is Kristin and I will be referring to him by that from now on. The O's made a great move here, and my beloved Mets gave up a quality pitcher for Jorge Julio (who will give up a homerun as soon as you think to yourself "please don't give up a homerun") and John "Kenny" Maine, who is a #2 prospect. I'm hoping the Mets are using these guys to trade for Zito, but that's another topic, back to the O's. Mazzone has a guy who COULD be an ace in Kristin and can potentially refine the rest of the rotation into promising pitchers and possibly another ace out of Bedard or Cabrera.
My honest opinion is that while I can see their potential for possibly making the Wild Card slot, I realistically think they will finish either 3rd or 4th in the AL East, with Boston taking the other spot. The Yankees will finish 1st (blech) and the Blue Jays, with their improved roster, taking 2nd. The boys in Tampa will take up the rear again. I think the O's will compete early, like they did last year, but it will still take this year to mesh well. If this team stays mainly intact though, and can add another prime player or two, I can see the next year being a possible "this is the year, baby!" year.
And lastly, I found out that Kevin Millar is keeping a diary on the O's website to give us a little "insight" on the season. In the first installment, i picked out my favorite quote:
"I was joking around with Brian Roberts and Jay Gibbons, because we live in the same place, and I called them a couple days ago. I said, "I'm not eating alone anymore, so I'm inviting myself up to your place." I did that, but it takes time."
Looks like Millar wants the clubhouse to have a "Brokeback" kind of vibe if you ask me...
Thoughts?
posted by skretch at 9:53 AM
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