Lack of talent showing....

[TinCup]

What did watching games against the Angels and Indians tell you about the talent level of the team?

That it is good enough to win. Impressive wins.

Conversely, this team has shown it is 'bad or weak" enough to lose as well.

How many times we win or lose...remains to be seen.

My bet says right around .500.

[TinCup]

In an effort to spin this thread back to the positive side, I am actually quite pleased we have 11 wins at this point! Seriously.

Especially when you consider the woeful offensive numbers of several of our players right now. Let's face it, look at Conine, Millar, Matos (notwithstaning his being on the DL), Patterson, Javy, Markakis - I mean, good lord....

:SuN048:

....we should be happy we are where we are.

Fortunately, Miggy, BRob, Ramon, Jay, and to a degree, MelMo have been carrying us.

Then, when you look at our pitching, (RLo, Chen, DCab, the middle relievers)....

:SuN023:

.....heck, we have made out quite well to have 11 wins! Thank goodness for Bedard, Ray, to some degree Benson, Leo.

We are right about where we should be.

Do we need more talent? Obviously.

But let's count our blessings too!!

[DrungoHazewood]

It's pretty obvison after watching games vs Boston, NY and the BJs that we lack the talent level to compete in the AL East. I've tried to be a most optimistic fan this season but we really lack in all phases on the game. 3/5ths of our rotation is really bad at this point. The back end of the bullpen is just horrible, we don't have a #2 hitter, and we start at least 3 guys every night who are under or fighting to stay above the .200 mark.

The sad part is we really don't have much to trade and can't take on much if any salary.

It could be a very long summer in Balmer.:002_scry:

Wow... then I feel absolutely great about this team! No kidding! From the way bigbird, keysersose, JoeOrsulak and others are describing the Orioles they have about three legitimate major league players in the entire organization. Everyone else is pure trash. But somehow that waiver wire refuse is 11-10, over .500, and took two series against two 90-win teams from last year, the Angels and the Indians. Man, if Markakis starts hitting, Brower gets replaced, and the Mazzone effect kicks in they may never lose another game. Ever.

[Fan4Life]

Wow... then I feel absolutely great about this team! No kidding! From the way bigbird, keysersose, JoeOrsulak and others are describing the Orioles they have about three legitimate major league players in the entire organization. Everyone else is pure trash. But somehow that waiver wire refuse is 11-10, over .500, and took two series against two 90-win teams from last year, the Angels and the Indians. Man, if Markakis starts hitting, Brower gets replaced, and the Mazzone effect kicks in they may never lose another game. Ever.

Lots of If's over the last 8 seasons... while the ones you propose might be more attainable, there isn't much debate at this point that we are the 4th best team in this division. We can look to last season to feel better about how things look in April-May... as they are subject to change without notice.

[osfan83]

5 of our 11 wins are against TB

6 of our 10 losses are against NY, Bos and Tor

Looks about right to me. We are better than TB, not as good as NY, Bos and Tor.

We are a 76 win, 4th place team. We will win most of our series against TB, KC, Tex, Sea, and lose most of our series against NY, Bos, Tor. We will play the other teams in the AL about even. Who knows what will happen against the NL, should get some wins against the Nats. This all adds up to around 76 wins.

The talent level needs to change for the record to change, and the past few years the talent level has been about the same.

[bgfield]

5 of our 11 wins are against TB

6 of our 10 losses are against NY, Bos and Tor

Looks about right to me. We are better than TB, not as good as NY, Bos and Tor.

We are a 76 win, 4th place team. We will win most of our series against TB, KC, Tex, Sea, and lose most of our series against NY, Bos, Tor. We will play the other teams in the AL about even. Who knows what will happen against the NL, should get some wins against the Nats. This all adds up to around 76 wins.

The talent level needs to change for the record to change, and the past few years the talent level has been about the same.

6 of our 11 wins are against the Yankees, Cleveland, and Anaheim. That's more than half of our wins against teams that will likely be contenders in September. Very misleading post.

[neveradoubt]

It's pretty obvison after watching games vs Boston, NY and the BJs that we lack the talent level to compete in the AL East. I've tried to be a most optimistic fan this season but we really lack in all phases on the game. 3/5ths of our rotation is really bad at this point. The back end of the bullpen is just horrible, we don't have a #2 hitter, and we start at least 3 guys every night who are under or fighting to stay above the .200 mark.

The sad part is we really don't have much to trade and can't take on much if any salary.

It could be a very long summer in Balmer.:002_scry:

And, I know at least 1 person that would be very upset if they traded Miggy.

[Frobby]

I don't think you can make too much of the fact that 5 of our wins are against Tampa, or the fact that we are 1-5 against Boston and New York. The fact is, so far we have played 13 games against teams that either were in the playoffs or close to it last year, and 8 games against teams that had losing records last year (including yesterday's game with Toronto). With that schedule, 11-10 is a decent performance.

There are three early season trends that are troublemsome:

1. Poor performances from Lopez, Cabrera and Chen. Actually, I thought Lopez pitched a solid game last night and hopefully he's getting it back together now. It is way too early to get worried about any of these three, we just have to see where they are after 8-10 starts.

2. Poor middle relief. Todd Williams should help tremendously once he's at full speed, and if Parrish comes back strong (by no means a sure thing), our bullpen actually could be a strength in the last 2/3 of the season. We will see.

3. Continued mediocre hitting in LF/CF. I really thought that our combination of players couldn't help but outperform last year's group, but so far, they have been abysmal, and the injuries to Newhan and Matos have not left us with many options. I'm just praying that Conine and Markakis start hitting better. I just don't believe Patterson is going to do much.

[bgfield]

Speaking of Matos, what's new with him? When is he due back?

[Frobby]

Speaking of Matos, what's new with him? When is he due back?

I haven't heard any news. He went on the DL on April 20 and so he's eligible to come off May 5,which is next Friday. Here is an excerpt form the Sun on the day he went on the DL:

Matos said he hopes to be on the DL no more than 15 days.

"The good thing is it is early and it is not that bad," he said. "You know, whenever they take an MRI, you think surgery, so it is good to know that it is a little thing that needs to go down and the swelling can go away and then I am going to feel better."

He said his shoulder has been sore since a jarring slide into second while stealing on Opening Day. His helmet crashed down and gashed his nose on the same play.

Matos uncorked several weak throws from center in the ensuing games, leaving manager Sam Perlozzo hesitant to start him.

"First of all, it is inflamed so we have to have it calm down and get the inflammation out of there," said Orioles vice president Jim Duquette. "And then, he'll have to go through a period of strengthening as well. So we placed him on the DL so we won't have to play short."

I have some optimism, based on spring training, that Matos will have a very solid year. I think his early performance was hampered by the shoulder injury he suffered on Opening Day, and assuming that he's fully recovered by May 5, I think Matos's return will be a big help.

[osfan83]

6 of our 11 wins are against the Yankees, Cleveland, and Anaheim. That's more than half of our wins against teams that will likely be contenders in September. Very misleading post.

Yes the wins over Cle and LAA were nice... but Cle did drop 2 of 3 to KC right after playing us.. so maybe the Cle wins aren't as impressive as we think.

Don't know what was misleading. Just stated the facts... and then gave my opinion on where we are in relation to our division foes. Don't think I said anything to outlandish...4th place 76 wins in not an extreme opinion. Sure you can argue a few wins either way based on good or bad breaks...but I don't think that win forecast is too pie in the sky or doom and gloom.

[bgfield]

I have some optimism, based on spring training, that Matos will have a very solid year. I think his early performance was hampered by the shoulder injury he suffered on Opening Day, and assuming that he's fully recovered by May 5, I think Matos's return will be a big help.

Same. I was disappointed to see him off to such a slow start. I guess it could be considered good news that he injured himself opening day, so he has a reason for his poor performance. I hope he can come back and maintain a good OBP. I know he'll never hit for much power, but we need one more outfielder besides Gibbons who can contribute somewhat regularly to our offense.

[bgfield]

Don't know what was misleading. Just stated the facts... and then gave my opinion on where we are in relation to our division foes.

The facts just don't mean much this early on. Especially when you're acting as though we can only expect to win against teams like Tampa.

This time last season we'd swept the Yankees. Unfortunately, that didn't mean squat at the end of the season :002_smad:

[AgentOrange]

I don't know if I'd say Mora .vs. Glaus is a toss up. If Glaus stays healthy, he's better in just about every stat, except batting average.

I agree with you about Depth being the difference. Half our offense is either batting below .200 or struggling to stay above it. Conine, Matos, Patterson & company are just killing us offensively.

Plus theres no way you can say Markakis is better than everyone shy of Wells. Not at this point anyway. Maybe in a few months, but he could also be back in the minors. I don't doubt he'll be a good player for us, but he's not been able to hit major league pitching yet. At least for now, he still has to be considered a liability on offense.

We still have too many guys dragging us down offensively to be on the same level as the AL East contenders.

There are a lot of little things that Mora can do a lot better than Glaus.

I would say they are pretty close when you put the two together.

We can not forget about the fielding as well.

As for Markakis, I don't belive the word better was used. I think it was more talented and hasn't put it all together yet. That is not better, IMO.

[AgentOrange]

Yes the wins over Cle and LAA were nice... but Cle did drop 2 of 3 to KC right after playing us.. so maybe the Cle wins aren't as impressive as we think.

Don't know what was misleading. Just stated the facts... and then gave my opinion on where we are in relation to our division foes. Don't think I said anything to outlandish...4th place 76 wins in not an extreme opinion. Sure you can argue a few wins either way based on good or bad breaks...but I don't think that win forecast is too pie in the sky or doom and gloom.

You are taking a small sample size and using it to back your feelings, which I would understand.

It is way to early to say anything like that though. If we beat the BJs last night, would that have given you enough information to think that the O's could be better than the Jays this year? No.

So really you can't take the first loss of the season to the Jays and think that is because we are a class below them...