Are the Orioles a Top 5 team?

[SilentJames]

that is why i say it depends on our pitching if he or someone esle step up and proves to be an ace type pitcher then they a top five team. our line up is sick so there fore i say if depends on how well our starting staff does. and matusz could be something special but at this time he is not a proven ace type pitcher

Yeah but define "ace" are you going off of wins? Because that is a pretty bad stat to go on.

I'm not saying Matusz is an "ace" but he is a damn good pitcher and would be 1/2 in a lot of rotations.

[cbuchanan]

i like matusz and also think he could end up in that role . and what he did in aug. on gives me that hope, but what he did before that .would put him as a number 3 pitcher. and no i dont go off of wins i do think of hernandez as an ace for seattle.

[Hank Scorpio]

I'll give you Romero there, but that's it.

Brandon Morrow?

[Winter]

Its all about being in the hunt then getting hot in the end and sneak in and our team is good enough to get hot enough.:thumbsup1:

[Osfan13]

I don't think the Yankees have any more questions than any other team; it's just that they have more questions than they have had in years. This is the worst team the Yankees have fielded in a long time - and it is still a pretty damn solid team.

We can sit here and pick at A-Rod and Tex and Posada but with all their questions they are still, as of today, more likely to finish ahead of the Orioles than not.

I have to disagree. The Yankees have huge holes in their starting rotation, and many question marks in other areas. In fact, that is THE issue when it comes to the Yankees this year: starting pitching.

How can a team with a #3 starter who could have an ERA over 5 and a WHIP over 1.6, a team where even they don't know who will be pitching Day 4 or Day 5, be considered a threat to win 90+ games?

[DanS]

Everyone is tied for first now, and it's fun to be optimistic. Sorry to dampen any enthusiasm. We were 29 games behind the Wild Card team last year. We finished ahead of only 1 team in the AL. It's a long way to the top 5 from there, and you need to climb over a lot of teams.

[Hank Scorpio]

Would you compare Buehrle to Matusz?

It's tough to compare the two given their age difference, but I'd prefer Matusz at this point.

Let me ask you this: If Matusz was in that rotation, where do you think he'd be slotted?

[cbuchanan]

danks, floyd, matusz over burhrle

[SilentJames]

Brandon Morrow?

I think Morrow and Matusz are fairly equal, last year Morrow was pretty feast/ famine. When he wins he is very very good - when he loses he is very very bad.

[Osfan13]

It's tough to compare the two given their age difference, but I'd prefer Matusz at this point.

Let me ask you this: If Matusz was in that rotation, where do you think he'd be slotted?

I think that Matusz would pitch well as a #3 on the White Sox staff. I'd break up Buerhle and Matusz with Danks probably & have Floyd pitch #4

[Hank Scorpio]

I think Morrow and Matusz are fairly equal, last year Morrow was pretty feast/ famine. When he wins he is very very good - when he loses he is very very bad.

10.85 K/9 & 11 HR in 146 innings.

That's a lotta feastin'.

[SilentJames]

i like matusz and also think he could end up in that role . and what he did in aug. on gives me that hope, but what he did before that .would put him as a number 3 pitcher. and no i dont go off of wins i do think of hernandez as an ace for seattle.

Well that is all well and good, but calling Hernandez an "Ace" isn't really going out on a limb. I mean by your standards do you need to be in the Cy Young hunt to be considered an Ace?

[Hank Scorpio]

I think that Matusz would pitch well as a #3 on the White Sox staff. I'd break up Buerhle and Matusz with Danks probably & have Floyd pitch #4

Danks is a lefty as well.

[Osfan13]

danks, floyd, matusz over burhrle

I gotta give Buehrle the nod as a #1, even if he's coming off of a down year. He's a big game pitcher.

[Arthur_Bryant]

Yes, but 20 wins from your #1 starter is 10 wins more than you'll likely get even from a very good #5. And while I agree on Burnett, his stuff is still nasty... which makes me think he could just as easily post a 16-win, 3.80-era season... or a 10-win 4.50 bomb.

I hope you are right and that ARod finally just plain friggin' crash lands. Nothing personal against the guy, mind you. This is just baseball. But it would be sweet if the whole Yankees' implosion we're waiting for began with ARod struggling near the Mendoza line for the first couple months of the season... and the deeply buried dysfunction within their organization explodes like a dormant volcano. (I need counseling, obviously.)

Regardless, it is perfectly conceivable to me that the Orioles could finish above the Yankees this season. This is baseball, after all.

Burnett's stuff isn't nearly as nasty as it used to be. FB velo has been down every season since 2007, k/9 down every season since 2007, to a point where it was nothing special last season (7.0/9). And he has never had great command to compensate for the decline of pure stuff. Two of the past three seasons, he has literally been a below-average pitcher as measured by ERA+. His ERA has been above 4.00 each of the past three seasons, so I think it's a reach to see him down at 3.80 ever again, though anything is possible.

Really, take away Burnett's name and rep, I don't see much to get excited about. Especially not at age 34. Imagine for a moment that the #3 slot in the O's rotation was a 34-year-old pitcher, coming off a 5.26 ERA season, with declining numbers over the past three seasons. Now imagine that his name was not A.J. Burnett.

What would be the reaction here? What would it say about the rotation?

Re: ARod,the red flag for me is that a history of PED use seems to be associated with chronic joint problems as players get into their 30s. I think there's a good chance that he doesn't ever hit 30HRs in a season again.