MLB preview: Baltimore Orioles
I will say this for the Orioles — they are collecting a very nice crop of young, talented position players. They should already be able to score their fair share of runs, and in another year or two, their offense could be scary good. As for their pitching, it still might be decades away from respectability.
2009 record: 64-98 (39 games back in AL East)
2010 projected record: 76-86 (19 GB)
Probable starters:
C — Matt Wieters
1B — Garrett Adkins
2B — Brian Roberts
SS — Cesar Izturis
3B — Miguel Tejada
LF — Felix Pie
CF — Adam Jones
RF — Nick Markakis
DH — Luke Scott
SP — Jeremy Guthrie, Kevin Millwood, Brian Matusz, Brad Bergesen, Mark Hendrickson
CL — Mike Gonzalez
RP — Cla Meredith, Jim Johnson
Strengths: Markakis has already established himself as a very productive young big-league player. Jones joined him in reaching that stature in 2009, and Roberts remains a much better leadoff hitter than 90 percent of MLB teams can claim. Wieters is the franchise, and he hit .288 in a half-season at the big-league level last year. New additions Tejada and Adkins, along with Scott, figure to bring a decent amount of power to the table. Gonzalez and Meredith (who was acquired during the 2009 season) are bullpen upgrades.
Weaknesses: Starting pitching. Guthrie would have trouble finding a full-time job at the back end of some rotations due to his inconsistency. Millwood had a nice 2009 with Texas but struggled for years before that. Matusz, Bergesen and David Hernandez are young and on the way up but far from sure things. The bullpen should be better but still below average. The former Cubs in the lineup, Pie and Izturis, both are big offensive queston marks. Nolan Reimold might be the starter in left field, but his health is a big question mark.
