Another disappointing season is in the books for the Baltimore Orioles. This is the ninth straight losing season for the Birds, who have not had a winning season since firing Davey Johnson after he led the club to the ALCS in 1997.

Many Oriole fans were disappointed in this season, where the Orioles finished with a 70-92 record (.432 winning percentage) and where the Blue Jays, perennially in third place, improved to second place and were in the playoff picture into August.

The fans had reason for excitement in the off-season. Sam Perlozzo was officially given a three year contract, and had the “interim” removed from his managerial title. His best friend Leo Mazzone was brought in to serve as the pitching coach. The Orioles added free agent catcher Ramon Hernandez (who also played a role in backing Miguel Tejada out of his trade demands), traded for Cubs outfielder Corey Patterson, and was confident in their young pitchers.

Also, the club broke a trend under Angelos. He actually ponied up the cash to keep Melvin Mora from hitting the free agent market just a few weeks into the season, in a pre-emptive strike that is quite rare for him.

Still, the Orioles floundered, or should I say, struggled to take flight. The starting pitching was a huge reason for this.

Leo Mazzone demands a lot from his pitchers, specifically the starters. He usually runs an off-season camp, where all pitchers come down for at least a week, and throw bullpen sessions every day with him. The Orioles did not host Camp Mazzone this off-season. They were also hurt with four of the starters at the beginning of the year missing the bulk of Spring Training for the World Baseball Classic, further setting them back with their coach.

In-season, Mazzone demands even more, if that is possible. The starters must throw two bullpen sessions between starts, instead of one. Mazzone is one of the few, if only, pitching coaches that require his starters to do that.

The problems with the pitching had to do with stamina. The starters struggled to adapt to the new routine, and for much of the season, struggled to even make it into the sixth inning. The bullpen, which was great when Chris Britton, Kirk Birkins, and Slendy Rheal were just called up, struggled because of the amount of innings they had to throw, as well as inexperience in the big leagues.

As for the offense, the Orioles were an average team. They have some good bats, but still lack another 4-5 hitter that is primarily a power guy. Brian Roberts, Mora, and Miguel Tejada are a great opening combination, but there isn’t a 40 homer threat behind them. There is just Jay Gibbons, who is a 25, maybe 30 homer player, and he’s proven to be prone to injury.

Even amid a 90 loss season, there is still cause for optimism in Baltimore for the off-season, and the coming year.

Perhaps the most well-known Oriole success has to be outfielder Nick Markakis. After making the team straight out of Spring Training, Markakis spent time at all of the different outfield spots, and receiving a few starts a week. Around the All-Star break, Perlozzo gave Markakis the full-time job in right, and he responded by hitting around .400 for much of the summer, going from 9th in the order up to 2nd, and providing great defense. He finished with a .291 average, 16 homers, 62 RBI, .351 OBP in 491 at-bats.

The O’s had many young pitchers explode onto the scene. Aside from a rocky May, left-hander Erik Bedard earned the title of ace, and was downright dominant over the summer. Bedard finished up the season with a 15-11 record, 3.75 ERA, and 171 strikeouts.

Daniel Cabrera is also a success story. Throughout the first half of the season, Cabrera was the wildest pitcher in the MLB. The Orioles sent him down after a start on July 13th, and then brought him back on August 8th. Cabrera had a few bad starts, but for the most part, he was dominant over the final two months, and capped his season with a one-hitter against the Yankees, which was actually a no-hitter into the 9th inning.

The Orioles also brought along Adam Loewen and Hayden Penn this season, with Loewen pitching about half the season as a starter. Both performed fairly well, and signs are optimistic for bright futures.

The bullpen has a bright future as well. Rookie closer Chris Ray was the highlight of the ‘pen, with a 4-4 record, 33 saves, and a 2.73 ERA. He was very reliable out of the back end of the bullpen, and is a great ground-ball pitcher. He’s really responded to Mazzone, as well.

The hope is that the Orioles pitchers build up their stamina over the off-season, so they can pitch more innings. If the starters can consistently get into the 7th inning, guys like Birkins, Britton, and Rheal can handle it from there. Until they were gassed from constantly being overworked, all three performed extremely well.

The Orioles now head into the off-season, where many fans are excited about the upcoming season. That is not to say that the Orioles have all the pieces, and should count on “improved young players” to carry over into next season.

The main problems the club needs to address this off-season are three-fold: a top of the rotation starter (not necessarily an ace), a power-hitter capable of 35-40 home runs (particularly a left-fielder) and a top of the line reliever.

For starting pitcher, the Orioles should not be looking at an ace. Barry Zito would be nice, but Erik Bedard is poised for that next step. A perfect option for the Orioles would be Mike Mussina, if he is available. Mussina has an option left with the Yankees, and rumor has it that Steinbrenner could decide to buy out Mussina instead of accept the option. Mussina would be able to finish out his career in Baltimore, and serve as the #2 starter behind Bedard. Other options the O’s could consider include Zito, Greg Maddux, Jeff Suppan, Jason Schmidt and Mark Mulder.

Hitters appear to be in scarce supply this season, and the only two 35 homer guys on the market are Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Lee. Both are a lock for at least a five year deal, with $65 million coming in their direction. Either one would be a good fit in Baltimore, as they would slide right behind Tejada to hit cleanup or in the fifth spot, and serve as a true home run threat in the lineup. Unless the front office decides to go the route of a trade, Lee and Soriano are the only two options that fit here, and both are left-fielders, filling that void.

Finally, the Orioles should stabilize the bullpen by adding another veteran reliever to the staff. Todd Williams is a good veteran, but he’ll need some help in there with the younger Britton, Rheal, and Birkins. David Riske looks to be an option, Danny Kolb would be another solid option, as would Ray King.

How are the Orioles going to sign these guys? The Orioles need to prove to any player on their wish list that they are dedicated to him, and want him to join the club. That means contacting the agent at the start of the signing period, scheduling a visit, and immediately offering an above-market price deal. For a Soriano or Lee, that might be five years and $75 million.

One thing is for sure, the Orioles can’t wait on Angelos to decide on whether the bottom line is going to work out. If the club did not have that hindrance, the team would include Ivan Rodriguez, Vladimir Guerrero, and still retained Mike Mussina, among other players.

Angelos has the money. He splurged for Tejada, adding an extra year and $22 million a few off seasons ago (despite being quoted later on as saying he would never pay $20 million a year for a ball player.) Angelos is one of the most successful attorney’s around, and now has the MASN cable network.

As it does with every off-season, the success of the Orioles will fall upon Peter Angelos, owner, to make the choice on whether or not to be concerned with the bottom line, or about bringing in players to win now. Winning now will increase the bottom line in the long term. I don’t think Angelos has realized that yet, and this could be another long off-season full of complaints from Baltimore.

If Thomas had his way, the starting Orioles would look like this for 2007:

2B Brian Roberts
3B Melvin Mora
RF Nick Markakis
SS Miguel Tejada
LF Carlos Lee
DH Jay Gibbons
C Ramon Hernandez
1B Kevin Millar
CF Corey Patterson

UTIL Brandon Fahey
UTIL David Newhan
INF Chris Gomez
C Eli Whiteside

#1 Erik Bedard
#2 Mike Mussina
#3 Kris Benson
#4 Adam Loewen
#5 Daniel Cabrera

LR Hayden Penn
MR Kirt Birkins
MR Slendy Rheal
MR Chris Britton
SU Todd Williams
SU Danny Kolb
CL Chris Ray

who said the other team the other team would say yes

Rumor has it that Tex is on the trading block. I would love to see him in a O's uniform sooner rather than later. But overall, I agree completely. Just have to do something about Millar at 1st base.

Carlos Lee will no doubt be a Astro. They have like 55 million coming off the books and Carlos has a ranch near the stadium.


Heres a tihng about it if you don't beleive me.

According to SI.com's Jon Heyman, people around baseball all believe Carlos Lee will sign with the Astros.

The Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice has been suggesting the same thing. Lee has a cattle ranch near Houston and Minute Maid would be a great place for him to hit. Also, the Astros seem prepared to spend big for another bat. Given that he'll likely command from $13 million to $15 million per year, Lee is a poor long-term investment, especially for an NL team. However, he'd provide quite a boost to the Astros' offense next year. His arrival would put Luke Scott in right and make it even more likely that Morgan Ensberg will be traded.


Also 15 million a year for Soriano isn't overpaying, if anything its underpaying. He will probably get 17 at the least.

Just because that is what he will get, does not mean he still won't be overpaid. Look at Beltran a couple of years ago. He signed that HUGE contract a couple of years ago, and still hasn't lived up to that kind of money.

Soriano should be payed about 12-14 mil per season. He'll be payed more than that, but that team will be overpaying. BTW, I hope to God that the Orioles are one of the teams willing to overpay.

I would think Angels would get Soriano. Lee to the Astros. Zito to, ugh the mets. :( Matsuakza to the Yankees. I would think after all that "I want to be a yankee" crap Moose would sign with us if we even want him. I know Mulder wants to go back to the A's for one year. So I mean F/A are winding down. I do however think you might get Tex, Ragners need some pitching and maybe berand and Loewen and maybe a spect could get you him. I think his numbers would fall away from texas though.

You do know that Tex did far and away better on the road this past year, don't you?

I feel, if traded, he will come out with a breakout season. 40+ HR, and a .300 BA again. And if he comes to Baltimore, he would have an easy chance to surpass those numbers. Short right field fence at Camden Yards never hurts a lefty.

I think you could get him, I don't know of another team thats really interested in him. I do think that the Red Sox would go after for the purpose of blocking you from having him and they could trade Youk or Lowell then. Who do you tihnk the O's would trade for Tex?

Some of the young pitchers they have coming up. Hayden Penn, Brandon Erbe, and possilby Cabrera. No way they trade Bedard though.

Penns value might be to low. I would think Cabrera and Adam Loewen. Maybe your Triple-A 1B also.

If the Rangers traded Teixeira it would not be to the Orioles. No disrespect, but they just don't have the type of young talent that the Rangers would want. They would be very careful when it came to trading Tex. I'm not saying that you guys don't have young talent, but just not what we want in Texas. Maybe Bedard, but that wouldn't even be enough.

If Teixeira was to be traded, he would go to the Marlins. They are pretty much the only team in which the Rangers could put together a trade and make both sides happy.

In my opinion, and in most peoples, Teixeira will be back.

How abou to the Yankees lol

Dont know...lol