We could easily – easily be sitting at 4 under after Boston and I’d be okay with it. Without Adam Jones, Matt Albers, or a fourth and fifth pitcher, .500 is probably a no-go, but we’re so damn close. If we get swept in Cleveland that’s all for my optimism. On the other hand, better draft picks await…

Although none of that means a damn if we can’t even sign the draft’s top pitcher to bolster our chances in the relatively near future. Matusz should be in Baltimore for good in 2010…but he has to sign first. At this point, every hour that goes by upsets me more and more. The entire draft process is so poorly handled by baseball it makes me want to scream.

Tuesday – losscolumn gathering for everyone who loves a good time (that’s everyone except neal) and i’ll be personally offended if joe and dan don’t show.

I’m very, very concerned about the O’s right now. But then again…I feel like I’ve said that six or seven times this year and every time they find a way to right the ship. I think .500 is out of the question, but a strong finish is still a very real possibility.

I’m reserving judgment — for now. Let’s see how the rest of the road trip and the Boston series go. If we can avoid a meltdown through all of that I’ll feel a lot better.

Definitely give us the Bowie report when you go. I really need to get down there at some point this season.

I’m heading out to Bowie on Friday to see either Tillman or Hernandez take on the B-Mets, so I’ll report back on Saturday with what I see. Neal seemed to like the report last time. I don’t think I’ll catch the Tides in Rochester when I’m back there next weekend, but if I can I’ll report in on them, too.

Now, the Orioles. My god. The bullpen has turned into the nightmares of seasons past. And then there’s the defense. And the starting pitching. And, honestly, I’m concerned about the lineup. I don’t think Payton is half the player Jones is, and that’s made the bottom of the lineup very weak.

Without Albers the bullpen fell into disarray. Sherrill’s probably gassed, or just revealing that he wasn’t really that good to begin with, and now without Bradford we’ve got a bunch of scrubs (Cabrera, Walker, Cormier, Castillo, Cherry) that are all struggling mightily. That leaves you with Jim Johnson – our real long remaining bright spot, and even he couldn’t get it done last night.

But make no mistake, this shit is on the defense and the starting pitching. Melvin Mora has looked just ridiculous out there the past 2 nights. Olson was okay, all things considered, but he didn’t set a good tone and he instead looked wildly inconsistent from inning to inning.

Now we’ve put ourselves in a position where if we don’t take these next two games and then present ourselves well in Detroit, we might be starting that snowballing effect, and we can certainly kiss the notion of .500 away.