Are we the best of the worst?

[Philip]

Orioles

cincinnati

Seattle

KC/Det

CO

Miami

The Reds may be improved this year, and Seattle may surprise a bit, but I see the Orioles as the best of the last-place teams as well as better than both the AL Central bottom-feeders.

i think the Orioles are projected for ~66 wins, which puts them ahead of only Miami and KC(?) but I think that’s pessimistic.

Still a top-ten pick, but not top-2-3, and I’m ok with that.

What says the crowd?

[Going Underground]

8 minutes ago, Philip said:

Orioles

cincinnati

Seattle

KC/Det

CO

Miami

The Reds may be improved this year, and Seattle may surprise a bit, but I see the Orioles as the best of the last-place teams as well as better than both the AL Central bottom-feeders.

i think the Orioles are projected for ~66 wins, which puts them ahead of only Miami and KC(?) but I think that’s pessimistic.

Still a top-ten pick, but not top-2-3, and I’m ok with that.

What says the crowd?

The Reds on paper are way better then the Orioles. Reds could even make the playoffs. I see the Orioles from third worst to worst this year. Injuries will of course play a factor.

[Going Underground]

Here is Pressbox presason rankings: I don't agree with many of them.

So here are my offseason rankings. The rankings come after many of the 30 teams have completed their heaviest lifting. Sure, plenty more additions are left to come. But below you’ll get a glimpse into my rankings as I see them in late January. Instead of doing a short blurb on all 30 teams — like I will do in my first official power rankings — I have instead decided to give you a glimpse of my preliminary power rankings and most improved teams (in bold).

1. New York Yankees
2. Tampa Bay Rays
3. Minnesota Twins
4. Atlanta Braves
5. Houston Astros
6. Los Angeles Dodgers
7. Washington Nationals
8. St. Louis Cardinals
9. Arizona Diamondbacks
10. Cincinnati Reds
11. New York Mets
12. Chicago White Sox
13. Oakland Athletics
14. Cleveland Indians
15. Philadelphia Phillies
16. Milwaukee Brewers
17. Texas Rangers
18. Boston Red Sox
19. Chicago Cubs
20. Los Angeles Angels
21. San Diego Padres
22. Toronto Blue Jays
23. Miami Marlins
24. Seattle Mariners
25. Kansas City Royals
26. Colorado Rockies
27. Pittsburgh Pirates
28. San Francisco Giants
29. Detroit Tigers
30. Baltimore Orioles

[interloper]

Maybe not the best but I think we'll be close. Top 3? 

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

58 minutes ago, Philip said:

Orioles

cincinnati

Seattle

KC/Det

CO

Miami

The Reds may be improved this year, and Seattle may surprise a bit, but I see the Orioles as the best of the last-place teams as well as better than both the AL Central bottom-feeders.

i think the Orioles are projected for ~66 wins, which puts them ahead of only Miami and KC(?) but I think that’s pessimistic.

Still a top-ten pick, but not top-2-3, and I’m ok with that.

What says the crowd?

What many of Cincinatti's moves have been puzzling to me personally, they are a legitimate team with a serious shot at a wide open NL Central. Despite Colorado's struggles last year, they still have plenty of talent to compete. And, Seattle, while in a rebuild, isn't completely useless.

That leaves Kansas City, Detroit, Miami, and Baltimore amongst the tanking bottom-feeders.

Personally, I think the O's are the worst out of the bunch because their starting rotation is an abyss of darkness and their bullpen is a black hole of despair. The lineup might be slightly better - but that depends on Hays/Mountcastle outperforming Villar's contributions.

You won't find a single knowledgeable baseball writer who hasn't pointed out that Means' numbers last year most certainly point to serious regression. Cobb is injury-prone and not dependable. If anyone in the bullpen besides Harvey performs well, they'll be traded.  

So, to answer your question, I think the Orioles on paper are the worst team in baseball.

 

[Aristotelian]

I can't say that we are objectively better than any of those other teams. Somehow I don't think we will finish with the 30th worst record.

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Philip said:

Orioles

cincinnati

Seattle

KC/Det

CO

Miami

The Reds may be improved this year, and Seattle may surprise a bit, but I see the Orioles as the best of the last-place teams as well as better than both the AL Central bottom-feeders.

i think the Orioles are projected for ~66 wins, which puts them ahead of only Miami and KC(?) but I think that’s pessimistic.

Still a top-ten pick, but not top-2-3, and I’m ok with that.

What says the crowd?

I haven’t seen Baltimore projected at 66 anywhere.    BP’s PECOTA projected standings have us at 63 wins, with nobody else lower than 66.     The three Vegas sites I looked at had the Orioles’ over/under between 55.5 and 57.5, in each case the lowest, though tied with Detroit in two of the three.   

Bottom line, on paper we’re the worst team in baseball.     But I won’t be surprised if one or two teams out-terrible us, because baseball isn’t that predictable.   Don’t ask me who, but the Reds don’t belong on the list of possibilities.   BP has them winning the AL Central and some of the Vegas sources have them over .500.
 

[Number5]

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I haven’t seen Baltimore projected at 66 anywhere.    BP’s PECOTA projected standings have us at 63 wins, with nobody else lower than 66.     The three Vegas sites I looked at had the Orioles’ over/under between 55.5 and 57.5, in each case the lowest, though tied with Detroit in two of the three.   

Bottom line, on paper we’re the worst team in baseball.     But I won’t be surprised if one or two teams out-terrible us, because baseball isn’t that predictable.   Don’t ask me who, but the Reds don’t belong on the list of possibilities.   BP has them winning the AL Central and some of the Vegas sources have them over .500.
 

Did you mean to say everybody?

[Frobby]

Just now, Number5 said:

Did you mean to say everybody?

No.    There is nobody but the Orioles projected below 66 wins by PECOTA.

[Number5]

1 hour ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

What many of Cincinatti's moves have been puzzling to me personally, they are a legitimate team with a serious shot at a wide open NL Central. Despite Colorado's struggles last year, they still have plenty of talent to compete. And, Seattle, while in a rebuild, isn't completely useless.

That leaves Kansas City, Detroit, Miami, and Baltimore amongst the tanking bottom-feeders.

Personally, I think the O's are the worst out of the bunch because their starting rotation is an abyss of darkness and their bullpen is a black hole of despair. The lineup might be slightly better - but that depends on Hays/Mountcastle outperforming Villar's contributions.

You won't find a single knowledgeable baseball writer who hasn't pointed out that Means' numbers last year most certainly point to serious regression. Cobb is injury-prone and not dependable. If anyone in the bullpen besides Harvey performs well, they'll be traded.  

So, to answer your question, I think the Orioles on paper are the worst team in baseball.

 

So, we are definitely in the top 4 of the bottom 4.

[SteveA]

1 hour ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

What many of Cincinatti's moves have been puzzling to me personally, they are a legitimate team with a serious shot at a wide open NL Central. Despite Colorado's struggles last year, they still have plenty of talent to compete. And, Seattle, while in a rebuild, isn't completely useless.

That leaves Kansas City, Detroit, Miami, and Baltimore amongst the tanking bottom-feeders.

Personally, I think the O's are the worst out of the bunch because their starting rotation is an abyss of darkness and their bullpen is a black hole of despair. The lineup might be slightly better - but that depends on Hays/Mountcastle outperforming Villar's contributions.

You won't find a single knowledgeable baseball writer who hasn't pointed out that Means' numbers last year most certainly point to serious regression. Cobb is injury-prone and not dependable. If anyone in the bullpen besides Harvey performs well, they'll be traded.  

So, to answer your question, I think the Orioles on paper are the worst team in baseball.

 

You need to include PIttsburgh in the bottom feeders.

[George Zuverink]

Define "best."

[Number5]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

No.    There is nobody but the Orioles projected below 66 wins by PECOTA.

Oh, gotcha.  I thought the "nobody" was referring to the folks issuing the ratings, rather than the teams.

[bobmc]

1 minute ago, George Zuverink said:

Define "best."

Exactly!  Is "best" = worst or is best = fourth from bottom?  

[Moose Milligan]

1 hour ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

What many of Cincinatti's moves have been puzzling to me personally, they are a legitimate team with a serious shot at a wide open NL Central. Despite Colorado's struggles last year, they still have plenty of talent to compete. And, Seattle, while in a rebuild, isn't completely useless.

That leaves Kansas City, Detroit, Miami, and Baltimore amongst the tanking bottom-feeders.

Personally, I think the O's are the worst out of the bunch because their starting rotation is an abyss of darkness and their bullpen is a black hole of despair. The lineup might be slightly better - but that depends on Hays/Mountcastle outperforming Villar's contributions.

You won't find a single knowledgeable baseball writer who hasn't pointed out that Means' numbers last year most certainly point to serious regression. Cobb is injury-prone and not dependable. If anyone in the bullpen besides Harvey performs well, they'll be traded.  

So, to answer your question, I think the Orioles on paper are the worst team in baseball.

 

This is a really great summary, pretty much sums up how I feel.

Add in that this team will get its brains beat in by the Yankees, Sox and Tampa...and the Jays should have a good lineup, too.  It's going to be really nasty.  I don't think the Sox will be that great but they should have a decent lineup.  With the Jays, if Vlad Jr, Bichette, Biggio all take steps forward, that will be tough for us, too.

That all said, I felt like we'd cruise to be able to select #1 in 2020 and we didn't.  I certainly feel like we'll be contending for it again, though.