ESPN mag says orioles will....

[SilentJames]

Be lucky to win 69 games. In their best case scenario they have the Orioles winning less than 70 games. Worst case scenario is breaking the team record of 107 losses.

Thoughts?

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[TiredofLosing20]

There is a lot of uncertainty around this team. Wouldn't expect anyone to be overly optimistic about them. Plus well it's the Orioles

[Can_of_corn]

ESPN the mag is still around?

Well once they allocate the Red Sox and Yankees 105 wins each there are not many left to go around in the AL East.

It is foolish to think that a 69 win team that didn't lose much will at most win 69 games.

[Barnaby Graves]

Be lucky to win 69 games. In their best case scenario they have the Orioles winning less than 70 games. Worst case scenario is breaking the team record of 107 losses.

Thoughts?

I agree. I'd probably set the over/under at 60 wins.

I really just don't believe in the young pitching anymore and I'm not really that excited about the hitting. Duke made a lot of solid moves (and IMO one truly terrible one) but there's a lot of AAAA and otherwise unexciting talent on the team and really, if I'm the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Rays, I'm not worried about facing Hunter/Arrieta/Chen/Hammel/Matusz, or any other permutation of five starters we can come up with. I think Markakis is going to have a brutal year.

But that being said I've been wrong lots of times and I like watching winning baseball so, bite me, ESPN the Ragazine. GO O'S.

[SammyBirdland]

We need a star pitcher in the worst way.

[Enjoy Terror]

This team is not worse than the last two years, IMO.

[RavNMadMan]

I don't see a lot of evidence to support a claim that the O's remain level or get worse in wins. It's too early to make a concrete prediction. I say the win range could be somewhere in the 70-80 win depending on several factors (pitching development, injuries etc) plus or minus a few.

[Can_of_corn]

I agree. I'd probably set the over/under at 60 wins.

I really just don't believe in the young pitching anymore and I'm not really that excited about the hitting. Duke made a lot of solid moves (and IMO one truly terrible one) but there's a lot of AAAA and otherwise unexciting talent on the team and really, if I'm the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Rays, I'm not worried about facing Hunter/Arrieta/Chen/Hammel/Matusz, or any other permutation of five starters we can come up with. I think Markakis is going to have a brutal year.

But that being said I've been wrong lots of times and I like watching winning baseball so, bite me, ESPN the Ragazine. GO O'S.

They won 69 last season with Scott and Roberts hurt, and Matusz putting in the worst season EVER. Do you really think loosing Vlad and DLee is going to have a negative impact on team wins? You think the O's are going to have a hard time replacing the 9-17 record Guts gave them?

What makes you think that this years team is 9 wins worse then last season?

[Skeletor]

ESPN the mag is still around?

Well once they allocate the Red Sox and Yankees 105 wins each there are not many left to go around in the AL East.

It is foolish to think that a 69 win team that didn't lose much will at most win 69 games.

They didn't add much either and every other team got better.

I'm assuming we are going to lose 3 pitchers from our opening day rotation which is already full of question marks. After that, we have depth like a big bucket of poo.

This year could be an outright disaster. But that's why we watch. To see if our team will limp to another win total in the 60s or will they reach the almighty "81".

[Can_of_corn]

They didn't add much either and every other team got better.

I'm assuming we are going to lose 3 pitchers from our opening day rotation which is already full of question marks. After that, we have depth like a big bucket of poo.

This year could be an outright disaster. But that's why we watch. To see if our team will limp to another win total in the 60s or will they reach the almighty "81".

How did Boston improve? If Pineda doesn't find his velocity did the Yankees improve? You think Hellickson is going to have a 224 BABIP again this season?

[RavNMadMan]

We need a star pitcher in the worst way.

I agree. But this season it will have to be a younger guy or "dark horse" that blows up.

[Skeletor]

How did Boston improve? If Pineda doesn't find his velocity did the Yankees improve? You think Hellickson is going to have a 224 BABIP again this season?

Boston lost an almost record amount of games lost due to injury and still won 90 some games. The Yankees could pull Jack McDowell out of retirement and make him successful. They do that stuff every year with guys like Colon and Garcia. They've been getting old for what seems like a decade now yet they're always winning 90 some games. TB is going to be a monster this year and even the Blue Jays look like a high 80 win team. The Orioles aren't within 10 wins of any of those teams.

[mrbig1]

We will lose 100 games this year. It's a sure bet.

[crissfan172]

I still don't see how we're worse than last year, but no reason to worry about preseason predictions.

[crawjo]

Boston lost an almost record amount of games lost due to injury and still won 90 some games. The Yankees could pull Jack McDowell out of retirement and make him successful. They do that stuff every year with guys like Colon and Garcia. They've been getting old for what seems like a decade now yet they're always winning 90 some games. TB is going to be a monster this year and even the Blue Jays look like a high 80 win team. The Orioles aren't within 10 wins of any of those teams.

No, but they don't need to be within 10 wins in order to exceed 69 wins from last year. I'd say that putting the Orioles ceiling at 69 is simple laziness.