The Orioles are rich in pitching, with Hayden Penn, Adam Loewen, Radhames Liz and Brandon Erbe leading the way.

The pitchers of consequence that the Orioles have developed in the last 15 years, despite some very good young pitching talent, are Arthur Rhodes, Armando Benitez, Josh Towers and Sidney Ponson.  I guess Jorge Julio might fit the bill, and now Daniel Cabrera.  All of these guys they couldn't wait to get rid of, except for Ponson whose talent was pissed away and Rhodes - with Rhodes it took them five really awful years as a starter to realize that maybe his stuff would work better in the bullpen, so they got two good years out of him before giving him away to the Mets for Charles Johnson.  (Of course, as soon as Johnson - to everyone's surprise - started to hit the cover off the ball, they offloaded him to the White Sox for the OLDER Brook Fordyce.  You have to work hard to make those kinds of trades).

I know that there have been some minor changes in the Oriole brain trust and they have Leo Mazzone now, but I really question the organization's ability to help talented youngsters translate their talent into big-league success.  The hallmark of the Oriole teams over the last decade, as far as I have seen, has been one of talented teams that fail to play to their ability and players who go through the motions and then fold like a card table when faced with adversity.  I find this particularly ironic in that the Orioles are the industry leader in psychological testing - you'd think they would get players with less natural talent but more toughness, but instead they tend to have butter-soft players who wilt as the season progresses.

Leo's pitching program, provided that they have the organizational discipline to implement it from top to bottom and in all its details, may help them develop pitchers who understand how to pitch.  (The Oriole staff has been below the league average in walks allowed, usually far below, for the last eight years and are last in the league so far this year).  I am not holding my breath; there has been a systematic organizational failure to take responsibility for the team's brutal performance and there has been no consequent discipline to implement planning and control.  The Oriole refrain for most of the last decade has been "if everyone plays up to their potential, we'll do very well".

Good organizations are like good pitchers: they are very aggressive, they seek to exploit weaknesses, they trust the talent they have, they don't employ half measures, they are always working to hone their product, and they are ALWAYS planning ahead - to the next batter, the next inning, the next week, the next year, the next ten years.  The Baltimore Orioles aren't like any of that.  Their team on the field shows it.

Good comment, Bruce.  I suspect that Leo Mazzone will be able to fashion a good pitching staff out of the talent on hand, and that which is coming. Success in Atlanta, however, flowed not only from Mazzone's skill, but from astute management beginning with John Schuerholz.  There is indeed little evidence of that in Baltimore now, and as I suggested, good pitching alone is not likely to be enough in the AL East of the next few years.