Are we the best of the worst?

[fitzi22]

No we are the worst of the worst.  We only have 2 starting pitchers and 1 of them didn’t pitch last year. Wojo  is a coin flip at best most nights and the other 2 slots will be a revolving door of openers and AAAA guys.  I think we will lose 100 games both this year and next year.  We just don’t have the talent at the MLB level yet.

[atomic]

Did the Tigers sign any batters?  I mean they are the only team in our league.  I think we will battle them hard but lose out.

[TheOtherRipken]

The worst of the worst for sure. The Tigers made at least a few moves to try to improve, O’s really didn’t.

Worst bullpen and an offense where Villar is now subtracted. The only chance we have to improve is some young guys going crazy, and I don’t see it. I also don’t see a repeat season for Hanser Alberto at that level of production.

 

I think we are the team to “beat” to #1 pick and its pretty clear thats what Elias set up the team to achieve.

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

Just now, atomic said:

Did the Tigers sign any batters?  I mean they are the only team in our league.  I think we will battle them hard but lose out.

Their offense is pretty bad - but I think Matt Boyd, their veterans, and the likely debuts of Casey Mize and Matt Manning give them a leg up. Plus, they should get Michael Fulmer back midseason.

They are in a far weaker division, too. The O's are playing in an incredibly strong AL East with a completely inept pitching staff. 

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

Just now, TheOtherRipken said:

I think we are the team to “beat” to #1 pick and its pretty clear thats what Elias set up the team to achieve.

There's a reason MLBTraderumors.com writes "the tanking Orioles" anytime they are a topic of conversation. It's pretty clear what the strategy is.

[TheOtherRipken]

5 minutes ago, atomic said:

Did the Tigers sign any batters?  I mean they are the only team in our league.  I think we will battle them hard but lose out.

Schoop and Chron, certainly not world beaters but for sure an improvement on what they were putting out there.

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, atomic said:

Did the Tigers sign any batters?  I mean they are the only team in our league.  I think we will battle them hard but lose out.

I’ve seen some predictions that they’ll finish ahead of KC.

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, TheOtherRipken said:

The worst of the worst for sure. The Tigers made at least a few moves to try to improve, O’s really didn’t.

Worst bullpen and an offense where Villar is now subtracted. The only chance we have to improve is some young guys going crazy, and I don’t see it. I also don’t see a repeat season for Hanser Alberto at that level of production.

 

I think we are the team to “beat” to #1 pick and its pretty clear thats what Elias set up the team to achieve.

I think our bullpen will be significantly better in 2020, with Harvey around all season and some degree of bounce-back by Givens, Castro and Bleier.    

[weams]

28 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

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.  

Who knew how bad the Tigers truly were?

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, weams said:

Who knew how bad the Tigers truly were?

I sure didn't.  Had to really be worse than us, they played in an easier division.  

[Philip]

2 hours 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.

 

Well, poop...

[atomic]

40 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I think our bullpen will be significantly better in 2020, with Harvey around all season and some degree of bounce-back by Givens, Castro and Bleier.    

Means, Alberto and others played better than their past lead you to believe.  Will they perform as they did last year?  Also we didn’t have many injuries last season.  Will we be as lucky this year.  We got rid of 3 of our best performers from last season.       If Givems, Castro or ableist perform well they probably will be traded. 

[atomic]

Tigers added Cron and Schoop.  It is amazing how bad we are at improving our team. 

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

18 minutes ago, atomic said:

Tigers added Cron and Schoop.  It is amazing how bad we are at improving our team. 

It's by design.

[TheOtherRipken]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

I think our bullpen will be significantly better in 2020, with Harvey around all season and some degree of bounce-back by Givens, Castro and Bleier.    

Other than some defensive upgrades what gives you optimism for improvement? With Bleier perhaps being heathy, but what do you see on Castro and Givens? They seem to be more inconsistent year over year.