Third, this morning’s Baltimore Sun had an article on what the off-season might bring to the beleaguered bottom-dwellers of the American League East. The general impression of the article? Don’t expect much in the way of free agent signings, and trades are unlikely as that would give away the pieces still developing. The funniest part of the article? Mentioning Prince Fielder as a trade possibility. Sorry, I don’t see Prince Fielder coming to Camden Yards, though there is a Dunkin’ Donuts about six blocks from the stadium for all his donut needs.
And that brings me to my personal prognostications.
I’m going to say it.
The Washington Nationals will post a winning season before the Baltimore Orioles do.
Guaranteed.
Maybe not next year. But certainly by 2012. The Nationals will post a winning season before the O’s.
I agree with Gibson's assessment that the O's won't bring Prince Fielder to town. Otherwise, I don't think the Baltimore resident pays close attention to the Orioles.
Granted, the Nats have an easier path to .500 playing in the N.L. East. However, Gibson's assuming at least three more losing seasons for the Orioles, which frankly isn't going to happen. They'll be a .500 club within three years. Guaranteed.
The Nats may have a winning season before the O's but only because of the relative competition...much easier to upgrade yourself in the NL than the AL.
ReplyDeleteWere the '09 O's any worse than the Reds or the Astros this year? Both those teams were close to having .500 seasons this year.
The Orioles will be a .500 club in 2010. Book it.
ReplyDeleteHeath - The difference in divisions is telling.
ReplyDeleteStacey - I love the confidence. Hope you're right. I definitely feel much better about the 2010 rotation, which will be a significant upgrade from what we started with this year.
Somebody (Roch?) posted a blog entry about how many one and two run games the O's lost this year. We aren't as far away as people think.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to wait and see what the off-season brings before committing, but Stacey is right to be optimistic.
It's amazing what a solid bullpen can do for a team. Just look at the Dodgers. A lot of those one and two-run losses will turn into wins with a good relief corps.
ReplyDeleteThe bullpen is a difficult area to address, but I think things will improve once our starters get deeper into games and allow the relievers more rest. That should begin to happen next season as some of these young guys go six and seven innings at a time rather than the five innings or less that seemed to be the norm for our rotation this year.