Rich Hill is ours – so throw him onto the pile of pitchers we don’t know what to expect from. Although his reteaming with Kranitz probably gives him the highest probability of re-succeeding, doesn’t it?

So, my projected rotation looks like: Guthrie-Uehara-Pauley-Hill-Hennessey (in no order). Liz to Norfolk, Penn to the ‘pen, Patton to Norfolk or Bowie, Albers either to Norfolk or the ‘pen. Of course, if Hill, Pauley, or Hennessey suck in Spring Training, things change. I don’t know what to do with Chris Waters, for one thing.

originally posted byAndrew in RochesterWoke up this morning, 2 damn weeks out from Spring Training, and I pondered briefly how little we know about this season.

Things we don’t know:

How well is Koji Uehara going to pitch? How well is he going to like it in Baltimore? How is he going to affect future Japanese investments? How long until Matt Wieters forces his way up to Baltimore? How are (and where are) David Pauley, Brad Hennessey, Rich Hill (maybe), and Hayden Penn going to pitch? How is Felix Pie going to play? How long do we give him to figure it out? How will Huff do everyday at first? Will Brian Roberts be here in September? Will he be here after that? How do Matt Albers and Troy Patton recover from torn labrums? How much improvement do Tillman, Matusz, Arrieta, and Erbe show? Will we ever hear from Reimold and Rowell? Or Snyder? What does Adam Jones do this year after a fantastic first full year? Do we see improvement in Radhames Liz?

Many important, important questions that will ultimately define the year for the Orioles.

Exciting isn’t it?? Excellent run-down of the issues and story lines to be following this season. A few questions I might add, although they are admittedly less exciting:

-Does Melvin Mora continue his renaissance or will he regress to his ’07 self (or his first-half of ’08 self)?
-What’s the future answer at 3B, anyway?
-Is Jamie Walker toast or was he just nagged by injuries last year?
-How will Scott perform as a DH? Will he be traded? (I agree with Greg that he might just need to be shipped out what with Pie, Reimold, Montanez, etc.)
-Chris Ray/George Sherrill?
-And finally, DT! How does he adjust, if at all, to a second full year as Manager, and will he impress us just as much with his organization, efficiency, and way with words?

Things we don’t know:

How well is Koji Uehara going to pitch? How well is he going to like it in Baltimore? How is he going to affect future Japanese investments? How long until Matt Wieters forces his way up to Baltimore? How are (and where are) David Pauley, Brad Hennessey, Rich Hill (maybe), and Hayden Penn going to pitch? How is Felix Pie going to play? How long do we give him to figure it out? How will Huff do everyday at first? Will Brian Roberts be here in September? Will he be here after that? How do Matt Albers and Troy Patton recover from torn labrums? How much improvement do Tillman, Matusz, Arrieta, and Erbe show? Will we ever hear from Reimold and Rowell? Or Snyder? What does Adam Jones do this year after a fantastic first full year? Do we see improvement in Radhames Liz?

Many important, important questions that will ultimately define the year for the Orioles.