Comments on: Are the Orioles Moving Too Slowly?

By: neal s

neal s — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:29:29 +0000

@Andrew - I just got a main post up about Gonzalez. I'm not sure how you can call it indefensibly stupid. That seems like an overreaction.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 02:19:07 +0000

Jesus Christ. If it’s true that the Orioles are going to pay Mike Gonzalez 12 million dollars to play in Baltimore for two years AND give up their second round draft pick, I might have to take back all of the nice things I have to say about Andy MacPhail.

That’s just an indefensibly stupid move.

By: dan the man

dan the man — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:40:40 +0000

It’s going to be all about the rotation. If it’s healthy and productive and the young guys get better, we’ll have a shot at .500. Any solid additions to 1B/3B and the bullpen will certainly help. But I don’t any illusions of contention. I do, however, believe that the 2010 Orioles will be a better team than the 2009 Orioles in an obvious enough way to say, yeah we’re finally getting somewhere with all these young guys.

It’s QUIET right now, which bugs me out. Either Andy is up to something or we should all be preparing for the very real possibility of a disappointing offseason.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:05:35 +0000

@neal s – Interestingly, I, too, had the O’s had 74 wins pre-Millwood, but I kinda love the vastly different paths we took to our respective destinations.

Myself, I noted the Orioles had a pythag of 69 wins last year, figured a bunch of guys would get better, and only Roberts figures to decline, and subtracting Hill, Eaton, Simon, Uehara, Berken, Hernandez, and Hendrickson from the rotation would be a big net gain. But I also figured at least one player will disappoint, so I figured a five game bump was about right. I also figure Millwood is two games better than Berken and Hernandez combined, so that’s how I’m at 76.

Anyway, we all seem to be roughly on the same page. High 70s right now, probably high 70s and maybe 80 or 81 given some more signings, but nothing to really write home about yet. I’m glad to see that as a community we all seem to have our head on our shoulders. Honestly, that makes me really, really happy after all the arguing we’ve done around here this past year.

By: neal s

neal s — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:54:42 +0000

@Andrew – Pre-Millwood I might have been closer to 70, but I don’t think his acquisition dramatically changes my mind. I think, like sci, that we’ll see at least one young pitcher step up, that Bergesen will stay solid, and that Guthrie will bounce back somewhat. Those things alone should be good for a ten win improvement, and that would put us at 74. Add Millwood and maybe get a few more. Add bullpen depth and two halfway decent corner infielders and maybe 81 isn’t out of reach.

That’s all the rawest of raw speculation, but I think it at least makes sense.