2011 A Big Year

Let me start by saying this year's baseball season will be the first season I will have followed closely for a few years, However, while i was on an unofficial hiatus i always kept my eye on my favorite team, the Baltimore Orioles.

No matter how atrocious they looked, and played for that matter, I found myself enjoying at least one game per year in Camden Yards, as it is a timeless stadium for true fans. That being said, I hope that this year is the turning point, this year is, as Baltimore fans say perenially, "THe Year".

Before we take a look at anything as far as predictions go, we have to examine the cold hard facts. The Baltimore Orioles play in the AL East, one of the perenially toughest divisions, and one of the divisions with the highest payroll amongst its teams. That fact alone is no excuse for Baltimore playing as poorly as they have been for the past decade; its clear that the schedule of the structure is unfair to Baltimore, but I'm confident they should be able to make a splash and put up some numbers this year.

Let us begin by taking a look at the offseason. The 2010-2011 offseason was clearly one of the most ambitious offseasons that Baltimore has seen in a good while, possibly since the 2004 offseason that brought Lopez and Palmeiro to Baltimore. Baltimore went into the offseason with several major gaps, primarily within the infield and the bullpen; the 2010 infield was constructed of the usual singular piece of particle-board used to patch the giant hole in the side of the house. Itzturis, while a good defense shortstop, simply did not have the numbers to be a full-time player, the corner spots on the infield were also empty as the Orioles lost Ty Wiggington, one of their major offensive producers, I understand the last part of that sentence hurts the eyes to read, but it is a sad fact.

So Andy Macphail, while he takes a good deal of heat from the fans, did a solid job of signing a few key free agents and trading for some quality players.

The Orioles brought back a key player in Koji Uehera, while letting last year's "Ace" Kevin Millwood go, I doubt he will be signed though.

This was one of the Front Office's most aggressive seasons, they landed SS J.J. Hardy, 2B Brendan Harris, and 3B Mark Reynolds in trades; and signed RP Kevin Gregg, RP Jeremy Accardo, and 1B Derek Lee all to reasonably priced deals.

What does that mean for the Orioles?

Well, essentially it means that the Orioles filled most of the gaps they had going into the offseason, which bodes well for the coming season; and in essence I feel that what the front office has done leads to 5 important points about the 2011 season:

1- The presence of Derek Lee. Derek Lee is not only a 13 year veteran of baseball, but he is also a Gold Glove Winner and was a member of the 2003 Florida Marlins, who were World Series winners. For the Orioles, this means that they get a solid glove and bat at first base, Lee has over 300 Home Runs and over 1000 RBI and a career .282 Batting Average; thats not shabby over the course of 13 years. More importantly, Lee will give the Orioles the veteran leadership they need as he is the oldest and most experienced member of the team, the only obstacle that could stand in Lee's way would be his health.

2- Bringing back Uehera and the addition of Gregg and Accardo adds a decent amount of depth to the bullpen and it should be interesting to see Uehara and Gregg fight it out for the closer spot. It is worth mentioning that Gregg and Accardo have 140 saves between the two of them. Unfortunately, the Orioles do not have much as far as Lefties go in the pen, they have Mike Gonzalez, but go figure that when the Orioles pay him 6 Million dollars a year his ERA balloons to 4.01, however it is still at a career 2.68. We can also go ahead and make the assumption that Alfredo SImon wont be joining the Orioles for a while, as i imagine the Dominican government sees Simon as a low priority.

3- Front Office brought in 4 infielders this offseason, the only infielder that remains from the 2010 season is Brian Roberts (excluding Itsturiz). This can be seen as the simple reshaping of the infield, four guys who have never played together (with the exception of Hardy and Harris) will take the field, who knows how it will shape up, I especially think that the Hardy Roberts combination could shape up quite well in the middle, while Lee will most definitely be an improvement over the situation at First Base in the 2010 season.

4- When i first read that Front Office traded Kam Mickoliko and David Hernandez for Mark Reynolds I was slightly disappointed to tell the truth. Looking at him by the numbers, in 3.5 years with the Diamondbacks Reynolds racked up 767 strikeouts, that is a great deal of strikeouts no matter who you're talking about. He also has 121 Home Runs in four seasons, his 2009 season was a miraculous one in which he hit 44 Home runs and stole 24 bases. Stats like that are damn impressive, unfortunately he failed to replicate in 2010 with a .198 BA, but i have hope for Reynolds none the less, I feel like he can really flourish in a fly ball park like Camden Yards.

5- The 2011 offseason has brought better stigma to the club, almost a renewed sense of optimism, I feel like this team can produce alot of runs, which will give run support to the burgeoning pitching staff.

When all is said and done, this may not be a playoff year for the Orioles, but improvement is better than nothing, and is the first step to an AL Wild Card and I think i speak on behalf of all Orioles fans when I say I'd be content with a .500 year.