Now that the bar has been raised, what’s your definition of a successful season in 2024?

[oriole]

Expectations rely heavily on what is done during the offseason rather than what they did during the regular 2023 season. If they go in without upgrading the rotation in any way and still throwing Mateo/Urias out there on a semi-regular basis then it’s hard to realistically expect them to win the division. Then it’s another year of “rebuilding” from my perspective. IMO the rebuild is over and multiple proven players should be added to supplement the young guys and we should have expectations of a division title repeat. But that’s totally unfair to expect that from the current roster. 

[RZNJ]

2 minutes ago, oriole said:

Expectations rely heavily on what is done during the offseason rather than what they did during the regular 2023 season. If they go in without upgrading the rotation in any way and still throwing Mateo/Urias out there on a semi-regular basis then it’s hard to realistically expect them to win the division. Then it’s another year of “rebuilding” from my perspective. IMO the rebuild is over and multiple proven players should be added to supplement the young guys and we should have expectations of a division title repeat. But that’s totally unfair to expect that from the current roster. 

What were your expectations after last winter?    It will be tough to win 101 games again no matter what they do but I could argue that if they returned the same roster they ended last season with, they would be just as good, if not better, on paper.

[Flash- bd]

101 wins is incredibly hard to duplicate in our division (saying nothing of our payroll). For me, taking into account the amount of talent we have in our organization to work with--which has to be balanced against the payroll point--a successful season would be a playoff berth. I guess 90 wins or about that if I'm being picky. Obviously anything further than that pushes up further my delight, with a deep run into the playoffs obviously being the desired thing. 

[Since1984]

For me it is the continuation of organization progress. We have yet to see ME accomplish a successful trade for a known impact player, which I define as an ace, MOO, closer. He mentioned in his last presser that there were attempts to make these kind of moves.

I would like to see at least one impact FA signing. It gives better flexibility for trades and building depth with players like O’Hearn and Hicks. An Ace, MOO and a potential closer/setup (X’s 2) will go a long way.

I think these are the ingredients needed to raise the bar! And my enjoyment of this past season is watching exciting baseball all year, with playoffs on the horizon through 162.

 

[Moose Milligan]

Playoffs again and win a postseason series.  

Kind of ties into the other conversation we've had on here...does the first round bye really help or hurt?  We looked so comatose in the ALDS and it's sacreligious to say but I'm not sure if I want them to have that bye again.  But I also have a hard time believing that I'll feel that way if we're headed down the stretch in September and battling it out for the division again.

So, yeah.  Playoffs again and winning a postseason series.  That scenario probably means that rookies like Holliday and Mayo have come up and performed well, Gunnar and Adley and G-Rod have had great seasons, etc.  

[drjohnnyfever1]

Wildcard, at a minimum.  Winning a Playoff series would be more indication that we're going to be a regular fixture in the post season.

[glenn__davis]

Make the playoffs.  That's all you can reasonably ask for.  Everything from there is just a matter of playing well at the right time.

[Sports Guy]

I do think it’s very possible they take a relatively big step back next year if they don’t make real additions in the offseason.

The integration of more youth and just some lucky things breaking the other way could hurt the team.  But the Felix injury really changes things for an entire season.

They should be able to add a lot of quality to this roster if they are aggressive and if JA is willing to open up the checkbook not just in terms of upping the payroll but a willingness to add longer term pieces for bigger money.

And Elias has to show a willingness to trade some of these assets.

Edited October 18, 2023 by Sports Guy

[RZNJ]

Expecting this team to regress is normal.  101 wins is a tough act to follow.  We thought they overachieved in 2022 and again last year.  However, how many of our guys had career years?   Bradish?  Bautista?   O’Hearn?   There really weren’t too many you’d say played or pitched way over expectations.   The biggest loss is Bautista.  However we may have Wells and Hall in the bullpen from the beginning.   Henderson doesn’t figure to backslide much if at all.  On the contrary he could make a big jump forward.  Holliday is likely here by June if not sooner.   Whether he’s the SS or 2B he’s a likely upgrade from Urias/Frazier, maybe in a big way.  Westburg at 2B or 3B has half a season under his belt.  Again, at a minimum he replaces Urias/Frazier but there is potential for a significant jump forward.   Hays, Mullins, and Santander are all about being healthy to  repeat last year or do better.  Kjerstad could get worked in slowly or take over RF full time.   If Mateo comes back, it would be tough to be worse and we still remember April.   He could be replaced by Ortiz if Ortiz is not dealt.   GRod has those big hiccups out of the way and starts the season entrenched in the rotation.  John Means will be another 4-5 months past his TJ surgery and, potentially, a huge boon to the rotation.

It’s not too hard to spin an optimistic picture without the middle of the order hitter or the #1 - #3 pitcher.   I notice some have asked/demanded for 2 starting pitchers.   Yikes.

[Frobby]

16 hours ago, RZNJ said:

What were your expectations after last winter?    It will be tough to win 101 games again no matter what they do but I could argue that if they returned the same roster they ended last season with, they would be just as good, if not better, on paper.

Not quite, since we didn’t have Bautista at the end of the year.  But this is a team with no glaring weakness, which has a lot of young players who figure to keep improving, and a bevy of AAA-tested prospects ready to help.  There’s literally no team I’d predict to win 101 games next year, but the O’s should be a strong contender regardless of what they do this winter.   I’d love for them to shore up what they have this winter, but people shouldn’t underestimate the team we have already. 

[NCRaven]

I wouldn't waste a dollar on position players, other than arbitration increases or possible (in my dreams) extensions for someone like Gunnar.  Bradish, Rodriquez and Means are a good starting three in the rotation, so I'd like to add a quality starting pitcher.  A high leverage reliever would be nice.  But, those guys can pop up out of nowhere.  Who knew that Bautista, Cano, Perez, etal. would be good bullpen arms?  How do we know that Hall isn't the next Zach Britton?

Edited October 18, 2023 by NCRaven

[DrungoHazewood]

23 hours ago, clapdiddy said:

If you would have told me two years ago that the 2023 Orioles would win 101 games, I would have bet you any amount of money that it would not happen.

 

 

23 hours ago, RZNJ said:

You, and everyone one else on here.

Every year there's a poll, and every year (even 2019) someone says they were going to win 88 games. I'm sure two years ago some dude predicted 101 after 11 Schlitz Ices.

[NCRaven]

3 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

 

Every year there's a poll, and every year (even 2019) someone says they were going to win 88 games. I'm sure two years ago some dude predicted 101 after 11 Schlitz Ices.

It was Yuenglings damnit!  And I was just two years off.

[DrungoHazewood]

22 hours ago, Flash- bd said:

101 wins is incredibly hard to duplicate in our division (saying nothing of our payroll). For me, taking into account the amount of talent we have in our organization to work with--which has to be balanced against the payroll point--a successful season would be a playoff berth. I guess 90 wins or about that if I'm being picky. Obviously anything further than that pushes up further my delight, with a deep run into the playoffs obviously being the desired thing. 

It's borderline impossible to have a team that has a 101-win true talent baseline. Almost all 100-win teams are really 95-win teams having really good luck. This exact same team could win 90 next year. Or 83 with some things not going their way. 

Look at the late 90s and 2000s Yanks, that pretty much maxed out payroll and still had homegrown talent. Even they'd throw out a 87-win season once in a while. The Ruth-Gehrig Yanks were from 1925-34, and they has seasons of 69, 88 and 86 wins in that run, with two of the 10 best players who ever lived and multiple other HOFers.

So I'm going to try not to lose my mind if the '24-27 Orioles have a year or two of "just" 85-90 wins.

[waroriole]

9 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

I do think it’s very possible they take a relatively big step back next year if they don’t make real additions in the offseason.

The integration of more youth and just some lucky things breaking the other way could hurt the team.  But the Felix injury really changes things for an entire season.

They should be able to add a lot of quality to this roster if they are aggressive and if JA is willing to open up the checkbook not just in terms of upping the payroll but a willingness to add longer term pieces for bigger money.

And Elias has to show a willingness to trade some of these assets.

Meh. People said the same thing last year and they did nothing in the off-season. I could see a step back to 90ish wins, but I would t consider that a big step backwards