We really are in a monster of a division

[dystopia]

I know it's early, yada yada but Boston is in last place at 9-9. We're tied for 3rd/4th at 10-7. Tampa is 15-3. Our division is insane.

[Aristotelian]

Instead of the wild card there should just be an AL East round robin.

[Orioles0615]

Yea I think the only downside to the balance schedule is we can’t beat on each other.

 

I feel like last year we already had like 3 series against the Yankees at this point 

[Sports Guy]

All the more reason you can’t just assume playoff appearances are just going to be raining down on us because we have the #1 farm system.

That doesn’t guarantee anything.

Elias has to show he can build a team that can contend in arguably the toughest division in sports…oh and ownership has to let him.

[glenn__davis]

7 minutes ago, Orioles0615 said:

Yea I think the only downside to the balance schedule is we can’t beat on each other.

 

I feel like last year we already had like 3 series against the Yankees at this point 

Not a balanced schedule.  Just less unbalanced.

[Jagwar]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

All the more reason you can’t just assume playoff appearances are just going to be raining down on us because we have the #1 farm system.

That doesn’t guarantee anything.

Elias has to show he can build a team that can contend in arguably the toughest division in sports…oh and ownership has to let him.

It would seem to me that it's easier to get a short term #1 ranking for your farm system than it is to build a top 5-10 system that feeds a contending ML team for the long term. 

Oh... and dead-horse-beating alert. Elias has to show that he can draft/acquire/develop pitching.

[Going Underground]

Too early to make any judgements yet but looks like the toughest division with not a real bottom feeder.  But right now Pirates make the playoffs and the Diamondbacks win the NL West. Dodgers,Padres and Astros don't make the playoffs.

[Frobby]

It’s a very tough division, but that’s mostly irrelevant to the wild card race, which realistically is what we’re shooting for this year.  More than 2/3 of our games are outside the division.  Win 90+ games, I don’t care against whom.  The rest will take care of itself.  We’re on a 95-win pace right now.  I’m pretty sure every poster here would sign up for that in a heartbeat for 2023.   

[TommyPickles]

40 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It’s a very tough division, but that’s mostly irrelevant to the wild card race, which realistically is what we’re shooting for this year.  More than 2/3 of our games are outside the division.  Win 90+ games, I don’t care against whom.  The rest will take care of itself.  We’re on a 95-win pace right now.  I’m pretty sure every poster here would sign up for that in a heartbeat for 2023.   

Absolutely.

It only took the Rays 86 wins to get a postseason spot last year. I'd take that in a heartbeat too.

[Oriole1940]

I guess  this is a jinx, but by the end of the day the Orioles could be ahead of the Yankees in the AL East.

[Frobby]

11 minutes ago, TommyPickles said:

Absolutely.

It only took the Rays 86 wins to get a postseason spot last year. I'd take that in a heartbeat too.

I bet 86 wins won’t make the playoffs most years.  The Rays kind of coasted last year after clinching their spot.  Plus, with the more balanced schedule, the AL  East teams may each win 2-3 more games than they would have under the old schedule.  So, I would not take 86 wins in a heartbeat, even though I think that would be a pretty solid outcome for this team.  

[interloper]

I'm kind of eager to play the Rays and Jays to see how we match up. 

I think we match up well against the Sox, but just had a weird series.

I don't think we match up great against the Yankees, but I also don't feel like they are necessarily a better team than us. 

[LA2]

1 hour ago, interloper said:

I'm kind of eager to play the Rays and Jays to see how we match up. 

I think we match up well against the Sox, but just had a weird series.

I don't think we match up great against the Yankees, but I also don't feel like they are necessarily a better team than us. 

I think that if one believes in the importance of top-level starting pitching, they are better than the Orioles. If Grayson and Means make fantastically good, the difference narrows but doesn't disappear--and it's going to be a long while before we know.

[Bemorewins]

5 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

All the more reason you can’t just assume playoff appearances are just going to be raining down on us because we have the #1 farm system.

That doesn’t guarantee anything.

Elias has to show he can build a team that can contend in arguably the toughest division in sports…oh and ownership has to let him.

AGREED WHOLEHEARTEDLY! 

There will be no givens and we are not going to leapfrog anyone without making good/great decisions. And some come with risk and others will cost real money. Nothing will be handed to the Orioles and they are not going to be able avoid hard choices to get there.

[Bemorewins]

16 minutes ago, LA2 said:

I think that if one believes in the importance of top-level starting pitching, they are better than the Orioles. If Grayson and Means make fantastically good, the difference narrows but doesn't disappear--and it's going to be a long while before we know.

Even if those two things happen, we will still need more. The Yankees alone have 3 top flight starting pitchers in Cole, Cortez, and Rodon along with a very good bullpen. We are not going to be them, the Rays, Astros, Mariners or Guardians and probably the Jays too, without very good starting pitching in those matchups in the post season. And especially if we ver plan to get through more than one of those teams.

In the NL you probably don't need starting pitching that is as good in order to win October baseball. But in the AL you do!