How many sure things do we have in our lineup right now?

[wildcard]

How many sure things did the O's have last off season.

Jones, Davis, Wieters and Hardy, but two turned out not to be sure at all and another forgot how to hit for power.

Schoop was a minor leaguer

Machado was coming off an injury

Markakis was coming off a sub 700 OPS season

Cruz was coming off a drug suspension and most every one in the league passed on him.

Lough was just traded from KC for Valencia as the O's leftfielder. Nothing sure there.

And the O's won the AL East by 12 games.

[Frobby]

Not contending? Hardly. No one thinks that.

Is not contending a "real possibility?" Of course it is. For just about every team in the major leagues.

[Dark Helmet]

This team may not have one regular OPS .800. That's a concern if your going to live and die by the HR.

[ChuckS]

Nick had the second or third best OBP on the team. Cruz put up HUGE numbers. Sean Pearce put up HUGE numbers. Pearce is not going to repeat what he did in 2014.

I don't understand how it is a foregone conclusion that our offense is going to be as good or better than it was last year. That would be great if we got full seasons out of Wieters and Machado and Davis bounced back, but I wouldn't count on all those things happening.

[weams]

This team may not have one regular OPS .800. That's a concern if your going to live and die by the HR.

That may be true. The team absolutely competes. To assume otherwise is at best foolish, and at worst disingenuous.

[mdbdotcom]

This team may not have one regular OPS .800. That's a concern if your going to live and die by the HR.

If that's the case, no amount of tinkering by the front office could fix it in one off-season unless they had the kind of prospects the Padres traded off at their disposal.

[weams]

Nick had the second or third best OBP on the team. Cruz put up HUGE numbers. Sean Pearce put up HUGE numbers. Pearce is not going to do what he did in 2015.

I don't understand how it is a foregone conclusion that our offense is going to be as good or better than it was last year. That would be great if we got full seasons out of Wieters and Machado and Davis bounced back, but I wouldn't count on all those things happening.

Nick's OPB propped up his .729 OPS. Come on. You've got to be better than that. And it's Steve. Steve Pearce. Davis 2013 is a huge year. Cruz 2014 is a real good one.

[mdbdotcom]

Nick had the second or third best OBP on the team. Cruz put up HUGE numbers. Sean Pearce put up HUGE numbers. Pearce is not going to do what he did in 2015.

I don't understand how it is a foregone conclusion that our offense is going to be as good or better than it was last year. That would be great if we got full seasons out of Wieters and Machado and Davis bounced back, but I wouldn't count on all those things happening.

I don't understand how you think the front office can bring in four or five guys in one off-season and just rebuild the team like BAM!

[Dark Helmet]

Not contending? Hardly. No one thinks that. We are verly nearly the same team that was third or fourth best last year. And don't got to 2016 again. Next year. How are we so bad? And don't say Cruz, he's not all that. He's a DH that could be counted on for a .800 OPS.

Cruz carried the team the first 6 weeks. If not for him, 2014 would have been different. Amazing how average he is now that he's not an Oriole.

[weams]

If that's the case, no amount of tinkering by the front office could fix it in one off-season unless they had the kind of prospects the Padres traded off at their disposal.

The Padres thing won't work well for them.

[Frobby]

This team may not have one regular OPS .800. That's a concern if your going to live and die by the HR.

Do you realize there were only 13 qualifiers who had an .800+ OPS in the entire AL last year? That's less than one per team. The Royals had none. Same with Oakland. Toronto, on the other hand, had two guys over .900.

[weams]

Cruz carried the team the first 6 weeks. If not for him, 2014 would have been different. Amazing how average he is now that he's not an Oriole.

I said he had a very good year. Let's not pretend that it was HUGE. I like Cruz. He was a great Oriole. Last year. He also made Adam Jones look selective for two months as well. Had a nice season with good power. You know how I admire the home runs. I told you I would have signed him if it were up to me. But it is not devastating to lose that.

[Dark Helmet]

That may be true. The team absolutely competes. To assume otherwise is at best foolish, and at worst disingenuous.

I'm not assuming they won't. I just said it's a real possibility. And it is. How is that foolish? I know your a huge fan, but your bias blinds you at times.

[weams]

I'm not assuming they won't. I just said it's a real possibility. And it is. How is that foolish? I know your a huge fan, but your bias blinds you at times.

I strongly disagree with this post. Do you see me making any outrageous predictions? You are just running with something.

[Roll Tide]

If the team is as bad as he makes it seem, there is no point in picking up one or two players to help us this year. They wouldn't be enough.

At times last year this team struggled to score runs when they didn't get the long ball. The situational hitting and OBP were in need of an upgrade. With Cruz and Markakis gone we lost two of our better guys in regards to both. Pretending that isn't the case is just dumb. Me thinks you been drinking the koolaid!

Worrying about what you are going to get out of Machado and Wieters is a legitimate concern.