First off, what is up with this division?!? Up until we get to the Orioles, every team has three words in their name: Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays. Come on, people! You don’t need to take up so much writing space!
Biggest Additions: Derrek Lee, Mark Reynolds, Justin Duchscherer, J.J. Hardy, Kevin Gregg, Vlad Guerrero
Biggest Subtractions: Ty Wigginton, Kevin Millwood, David Hernandez, Corey Patterson
Offseason Review: Believe it or not, the Orioles improved a lot this offseason. I know that it doesn’t take much for them to improve over 2010 embarrassing debacle of a season, but after Buck Showalter took the helm, the Orioles were 34-23. Of course, they still finished 66-96 on the season, but it could have been a whole lot worse. The biggest thing the Orioles did this offseason was add a lot of pop to their offense without losing a whole lot. Lee, Reynolds, Hardy and Vlad are all going to be major improvements for the Orioles, who are still looking to build around Adam Jones and Matt Wieters for the future of the franchise; not to mention their young and talented pitching core. Perhaps the biggest problem they face is the fact that they are still the Orioles. They probably do have the talent to hang out around the top of the AL West, but they still play in the AL East.
Season Preview: It’s going to be a better season in Baltimore this summer. Again, it doesn’t take much to improve on 66-96, but look for the biggest jumps in wins in all of baseball to be in Baltimore this season. Unfortunately, it’ll only be enough to keep them in the cellar of the AL East.
Final Record: 75-87, 5th in the AL East
Pastor Swish - Life, Ministry, and Other Stuff 