[Explain the Orioles in GIFS]

[I'm starting to think we are 4-5 years away from competing for real]

On 7/28/2021 at 11:24 AM, kidrock said:

After reading through an article on who the Cubs may potentially trade away, I began to think that we are further away in the rebuild than I originally thought.  They have many decent to plus players who many think they are going to trade.  If they can't compete with a core of Bryant, Rizzo, Baez, Kimbrel, Hendricks, Davies, Wisdom, it makes me feel like the O's are just so far away.

Maybe I am being foolish or dramatic, but look at St Louis, Wash DC, Atlanta, Philly, NYM.  All have much better rosters, yet they are all around 500.  The Braves weren't doing that great before Acuna got hurt from what I remember.

Am I off base here?

It's not about how many stars your teams has.  It's about quality players overall, youth, depth and balance.  That's how teams like the Rays and A's compete nearly every year.  Easier said than done -- but it is doable if your owners hire the right people and support them -- and give them something of a budget to work with.  I doubt any team is more than 5 years away from competing if the team has the right people running it.  Of course you need some luck too.  But if you believe you're more than 4-5 years away from competing then you probably always will be -- until you get the right ownership and front office combo to get the club on the right path.

[Orioles 10-Run The Astros (Game Recap)]

I hadn't been to OPACY in years, so I chose to go to the 13-0 loss to the Astros.  The O's looked like the 1899 Cleveland Spiders.  OK, I wasn't around in 1899 so I'll just say they looked like the 2018 O's.  They were far more awful than I can could have imagined. 

That they just swept Houston in Houston is almost a miracle.  

[Mancini has been RISPin’]

Don't look now but Mancini leads the league in RBIs with 38.  Not bad for a guy that was in chemo last year.