After losing Nick & Nellie and standing pat at the Winter Meetings, O's still the best in AL East

[mdbdotcom]

Red Sox made a lot of splashes but their starting pitching still isn't much.

Yankees are still trying to put a team together.

Blue Jays need pitching.

Rays are the Rays.

The O's still have excellent defense, good pitching, and a lineup that will score runs. They are the most balanced team in the division and have a solid group of players who have been together for a few years now and enjoy playing together.

They have a few holes to fill, but nothing major. And, the O's still have money to spend.

Lookin' good!

[LoyalBirdFan]

Red Sox made a lot of splashes but their starting pitching still isn't much.

Yankees are still trying to put a team together.

Blue Jays need pitching.

Rays are the Rays.

The O's still have excellent defense, good pitching, and a lineup that will score runs. They are the most balanced team in the division and have a solid group of players who have been together for a few years now and enjoy playing together.

They have a few holes to fill, but nothing major. And, the O's still have money to spend.

Lookin' good!

:agree:

[waroriole]

No no no. The sky is falling. Our GM is a secret agent for Toronto and we are tanking. Get with the program.

[Dipper9]

Red Sox made a lot of splashes but their starting pitching still isn't much.

Yankees are still trying to put a team together.

Blue Jays need pitching.

Rays are the Rays.

The O's still have excellent defense, good pitching, and a lineup that will score runs. They are the most balanced team in the division and have a solid group of players who have been together for a few years now and enjoy playing together.

They have a few holes to fill, but nothing major. And, the O's still have money to spend.

Lookin' good!

Now this is an educated post.

[ArtVanDelay]

Red Sox made a lot of splashes but their starting pitching still isn't much.

Yankees are still trying to put a team together.

Blue Jays need pitching.

Rays are the Rays.

The O's still have excellent defense, good pitching, and a lineup that will score runs. They are the most balanced team in the division and have a solid group of players who have been together for a few years now and enjoy playing together.

They have a few holes to fill, but nothing major. And, the O's still have money to spend.

Lookin' good!

I agree with you 100%. The Red Sox rotation is full of #4 and #5 starters. The Yankees have no uninjured starting pitchers. The Blue Jays will win their usual 79-84 games. And I could see the Rays losing 90+ games next year. Of course we still have a long off-season ahead of us so things can change, but I feel pretty good about the 2015 O's.

[waroriole]

I like our guys.

[VeveJones007]

Agree completely. I would have been concerned if Boston added two TOR pitchers, but that won't happen. Boston and Toronto will win more in 2015, but the Rays will win fewer. The O's will be around the same with a healthy Manny, Wieters, and a 2012-like season from Davis.

[Frobby]

Gotta fill a few holes, though. Not necessarily with huge acquisitions. I'm confident Dan will take care of it.

That said, every season is different. Just look at Boston's yo-yo ride the last three seasons. Our core remains very good, but you never know who gets hurt and for how long, and who just has a lousy year. You simply cannot count on Wieters, Machado and Davis all coming through while nobody else gets hurt or falters. That's not how it works.

[Dipper9]

Gotta fill a few holes, though. Not necessarily with huge acquisitions. I'm confident Dan will take care of it.

That said, every season is different. Just look at Boston's yo-yo ride the last three seasons. Our core remains very good, but you never know who gets hurt and for how long, and who just has a lousy year. You simply cannot count on Wieters, Machado and Davis all coming through while nobody else gets hurt or falters. That's not how it works.

That's not how it works. That's not how any of this works!

[weams]

That's not how it works. That's not how any of this works!

[Scrat1]

Our team has gotten to the point where I no longer agonize over the preseason rosters. We've got a talented squad, where even if they are more or less talented than other teams in the division I know we've got strong leadership and a legitimate shot at contention. I'm very pleased with how this off season is going because even though the Red Sox and Jays may be better on paper, I generally like the philosophy of consistently fielding a ~85 win team, which will overachieve some years and underachieve others. Don't sell out the future in order to try and field a ~90 win team, because, I suspect, the actual odds of you contending are not all that much higher. Simply too many variables.

If we get Young and Rasmus or Morse and Aoki and then a bullpen arm, I think we'll be sitting pretty. The O's win on depth, not star power.

[weams]

Gotta fill a few holes, though. Not necessarily with huge acquisitions. I'm confident Dan will take care of it.

That said, every season is different. Just look at Boston's yo-yo ride the last three seasons. Our core remains very good, but you never know who gets hurt and for how long, and who just has a lousy year. You simply cannot count on Wieters, Machado and Davis all coming through while nobody else gets hurt or falters. That's not how it works.

I truly believe Boston was not a yoyo. Just extremely lucky in 2013.

[mattman0182]

Keep in mind that either the Sox or Yanks will end up with Scherzer.

[mdbdotcom]

Keep in mind that either the Sox or Yanks will end up with Scherzer.

The Sox would pay more for Scherzer than Lester? That would be interesting.

[PA724_Oriole]

Os still have a injury prone 3B who they will have to bank on to stay healthy ALL year.

A young 2B they have little confidence in otherwise they wouldn't have made a play for Kendrick.

A pitching staff that isn't that much better than the Red Sox.

2 hooked on the OF until they figure out what they want to do with De Aza.

Hole at DH unless everyone thinks that's Pearces job to lose.

And IMO the bullpen lacks depth and versatility.

CD is the biggest strike out machine in the league outside of maybe Mark Reynolds and Adam Dunn.

And unless CD gets back to his 2012 self, I think this team will be in the bottom half of runs scored.

Pearce, Jones, Hardy, and a healthy Machado would be the only ones id bank on for solid offensive production and Pearce is a ? Still.

I'm always optimistic, but I try to be a realist as well. Yall are seeing the glass half full and I'm seeing it half empty.