2008 Baltimore Orioles Preview

Tuesday, March 25 2008 @ 06:51 PM EDT

Contributed by: braden

I thought for a while about what angle to take for my Baltimore Orioles preview. 

I considered comparing them to HBO’s The Wire but decided it’s just too good to be associated with these guys.  Then, I figured I would put as much effort into my preview as the O’s management has put into constructing their roster, but figured you guys would want more than a bunch of lame jokes and random letters.  (The lame jokes are staying, though).  Finally, I concluded that I’d try to convince you that Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road is actually a metaphor for the 2008 Orioles campaign.  Unfortunately, as I started re-reading the book, I realized McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic journey isn’t nearly depressing enough to convey how bad this O’s team really is.  So, in the end, I’m angle-less and will simply attempt to just plough through this entirely uninspiring bunch and give you a meaningless prediction at the end.

The Baltimore Orioles are not fond of September.  Over the past three years, the O’s have put up a 29-53 record over the season’s final month.  And that only counts the 30-3 drubbing at the hands of the Texas Rangers last September as one defeat, instead of the, like, five it should have been worth.  So what have the Orioles done to attempt to rectify their late season woes?  Why, ensure they suck equally all season long, of course.  No, folks, Camden Yards isn’t likely to be a fun place this summer as the Orioles find themselves starting what appears to be a long and painful rebuilding process.

While there’s little doubt that the O’s are, in fact, rebuilding, they’re going about it in an interesting way.  Instead of simply dumping most of their veterans and handing the keys to the kids, 2008 will see Baltimore again field a largely veteran squad with a few probably-not-ready-for-primetime youngsters thrown in.  Oh, and they’ll be without two of their best players from last season. 

Before we dissect this monstrosity, let’s take a look at who came and went during the past few months:

In: Luke Scott OF; Matt Albers SP; Troy Patton SP; Dennis Sarfate SP; Chris Roberson OF; Adam Jones OF; Steve Trachsel SP; George Sherrill RP
Out: Miguel Tejada SS; Erik Bedard SP; Jaret Wright SP; Paul Bako C; Kris Benson SP; Corey Patterson OF
Still Meddling in Everyone’s business: Peter Angelos Owner.


In their first major move of the offseason- and the first of new Team President Andy McPhail's tenure- the Orioles shipped Miguel Tejada to Houston mere days before his implication in the Mitchell Report.  In return, the O’s received more quantity than quality, with a package highlighted by outfielder Luke Scott and prized pitching prospect Troy Patton.  Unfortunately for Baltimore, in what can be seen as a metaphor for the franchise, the good news hardly lasted as Patton was diagnosed with a torn labrum mere days into his first Orioles spring training.  He’ll miss all of 2008 and his status as a prospect is in grave danger.  Scott, the other main component to the O’s haul, isn’t necessarily the type of player you rebuild around.  While he was excellent in part-time action in 2006 and 2008 will represent just his second full major league season, it will also see him turn 30 in June.  For the O’s sake, let’s just hope he’s a late bloomer or something.

In typical Orioles fashion, the Erik Bedard trade to Seattle was delayed due to owner Peter Angelos’s constant meddling.  When it was finally completed, however, the O’s found themselves with a couple of nice players.  Centrefielder Adam Jones has been compared to everyone from Torii Hunter to the man he’ll be replacing, Corey Patterson.  The O’s certainly hope for the former in the 22 year-old who was Seattle’s first round pick in the 2003 draft.  His first real taste of the Majors wasn’t much of a success, with a .267 OBP and a 6/43 BB/K ratio in 137 at bats.  However, Jones will be given every opportunity to take his lumps at the major league level this year. 

When closer Chris Ray went down with a torn UCL last summer, the O’s auditioned a few different relievers for the closer spot.  In what can hardly be considered a surprise, most failed miserably.  Thus, George Sherrill, the other main component to the Bedard deal, has been handed the role for the 2008 season.  Sherrill was excellent in Seattle last year, striking out 56 in 46.7 innings and posting a 2.36 ERA.  While the Mariners used Sherrill primarily against lefties, he was certainly no slouch against right-handed hitters either, holding them to a .579 OPS.  It remains to be seen how he’ll handle the pressure of the closer role.  However, given how few save situations he’s likely to face, it’s really not likely to make much of a difference.  The O’s also received three minor league pitchers from Seattle to round out the deal but let’s give the club a year or two to ruin them before wasting any bandwidth on their futures.

Now, given that the O’s already had the league’s second worst team ERA, you’re probably wondering how their rotation looks now that they’ve dealt its only proven piece.  Remember the old saying, “Spahn and Sain and pray for rain”?  Well, the Orioles will need a hell of a lot more than that just to get through the year.  We’re talking a storm of Biblical proportions.  Opening Day will see Jeremy Guthrie take the mound.  The same Jeremy Guthrie who the O’s picked up off waivers last year.  Now in his defence, Guthrie was actually very good over his 26 starts in Baltimore going 7-5 with an ERA of 3.70 (125 ERA+).  Guthrie is, of course, thrilled with his Opening Day assignment but believes it may not have been his were Bedard still knocking about.  In an interview with MLB.com, Guthrie admitted “The biggest reason is probably the Erik Bedard trade.”  No kidding, Jeremy.

Following Guthrie in the rotation will be some combination of The Enigmatic Daniel Cabrera, Adam Loewen, Steve Trachsel, and one of Brian Burres or Matt Albers.  Yikes.  O’s fans, of course, hope that this is the year Cabrera figures it all out and learns to harness his stuff just a little bit.  While he’ll likely continue to give the Jays fits, there’s no reason to believe he’s figured out the rest of the American League.  Loewen, no longer the second best Canadian in the rotation, and Trachsel are coming off injury and suckage plagued seasons, respectively.  The fifth spot is likely to change hands numerous times throughout the year but for some reason, many O’s fans seem to have pinned their hopes on Brian Burres and his 5.95 ERA and 1.4/1 K/BB ratio.  I’m sure that’ll work out just fine.

The group likely to take the biggest beating this season is the bullpen who will be expected to enter a lot of games in the fourth and fifth innings.  And if you’re expecting them to help shape things up, well, don’t.  Aside from Sherrill, and returnees Chad Bradford and Jamie Walker, the ‘pen is likely to feature James Hoey and his 7.30 ERA, Dennis Sarfate’s 16.7 career innings, and, likely, Matt Albers’s 5.86 ERA.  So, they’re likely going to need some mop-up guys for the mop-up guys.

The starting lineup can be summed up as a couple of bright, young stars, and a whole lot of veteran mediocrity.  The aforementioned Jones, along with right fielder Nick Markakis pretty much represent all that’s good and could be good in Baltimore.  Markakis is already knocking on stardom’s door after his torrid second-half where he hit .325/.389/.550 with 14 HRs and 61 RBI in 73 games, all at the age of 23.  Nick should continue to blossom for the next few years before finally liberating himself through either trade or free agency.  Reports out of spring training are already indicating that Markakis was unhappy with the way the Orioles handled his contract renewal.  Shocking.

While Markakis is years away from escaping the organization, second baseman, and fan favourite Brian Roberts has been awaiting the call all winter.  Numerous reports have had the O’s and Cubs set to deal for months now, though, like many Baltimore related transactions, nothing has been finalized.  However, it seems a virtual certainty that Roberts will be moved before the summer, thus completing the Orioles plan to field the least exciting infield in baseball.  That would be the one with the grossly overpaid Melvin Mora (3 more years and $24M left) at third, the extremely light hitting Luis Hernandez at SS, and the incredibly average Kevin Millar holding down first.  Just to make things even more boring, Aubrey Huff will DH, and Ramon Hernandez, who might still be kinda good, I guess, will catch.  If I were an O’s fan, I’d want to shoot myself.  Absolutely nothing could get me excited about cheering for that bunch.  Honestly, I’m getting bored just writing about them.

The bench is no better, really, featuring guys like Jay Payton, Freddie Bynum, Brandon Fahey, and Jay Gibbons.  The latter won’t be available until late in April due to a fifteen-game suspension for receiving HGH.  All in all, while Jones adjusts to the big leagues, and the old, average players get another year older and further away from average, the O’s offense will be almost entirely powered by Markakis and, well, that’s about it.  Combined with the pitching, you can probably expect a bunch of 9-3 games at Camden this year. 

So, there you have it.  The sorry state of affairs that is the Baltimore Orioles.  To be honest, 1,700 words is probably more than these guys are worth.  In ay event, heading into this preview, I figured I’d give them a 67-95 record and be done with it.  Not anymore.  I hadn’t realized just how much these guys are going to suck.  They could be one of the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked.  Plus, I’m docking them two wins for making me spend a few hours reading, thinking, and writing about them.  So, screw it.  59-103 it is.

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