Lack of talent showing....

[osfan83]

The bottom line about this team is it is a team that can win 70 or win 90.

For it to win 70, everything has to go wrong, including injuries, Tejada being dealt(and whining before that to hurt the clubhouse) and other guys being dealt as well.

For us to win 90, almost everything has to go right.

So, end of the day, you meet in the middle and you have a team that should finish right around 500, give or take a few games either way.

You can throw out all the early stats you want but at this point in the season, they are meaningless.

A few bad games, just as a few great games, really skew the numbers.

A bad 20 ab stretch for a player makes it look like he is horrible.

It is still April. It just continues to amaze me every single year how freaked out people get early in the year.

You guys can b!tch about the talent all you want and sure, it is not a team talented enough to compete with Boston and NY(in all likelihood) but it certainly is a team that can compete with Toronto and a team that could/should give us our first winning record since 1997.

1. You are right anything can happen.

2. I'm not freaked out, quite the contrary, I think we are doing what was expected. Some good wins against some quality teams (Cle, LAA) Dominating lesser teams (TB) and struggling against more talented teams (NY, Bos).

3. I hope we win the next 2 against Toronto. If we do, great..I will still think we are about a 76 win team..If we lose the series, I will still think we are about a 76 win team.

4. For me to change my win forecast I need to see something more substancial one way or the other. (7 game win streak sweeping a playoff caliber team) or (7 game losing streak, getting swept by a non playoff caliber team).

5. I'm rooting hard for .500 this season. If that happeneds it would be very satisfying.

[MP]

I don't think Toronto is light years ahead of us or anything, but I don't get this underestimation of them. They were better than us last year, and then they improved. Glaus, Overbay, Hillenbrand... nice acquisistions who all had a nice hand in beating us yesterday. Vernon Wells is maturing into a beast. Plus they got big nasty BJ Ryan just itching to come into a game against us, and Mr MRI waiting in the wings.

I hate to say it but we're not as good as Toronto. Sure we'll win some games against them, this is baseball. But at the end of the year they'll finish above us.

[Sports Guy]

But at the end of the year they'll finish above us.

In all likelihood, this is a true statement.

However, finishing 3-5 games behind them does not show them to have a ton more talent than us.

[MP]

In all likelihood, this is a true statement.

However, finishing 3-5 games behind them does not show them to have a ton more talent than us.

Well yeah. But who says we'll be that close? Last year we were 6 games off their pace, and in my opinion they have improved where we have not. I don't see why we would close the gap on them, but here's hoping we do. I personally think we'll finish more like 8-12 behind them.

[Sports Guy]

Well yeah. But who says we'll be that close? Last year we were 6 games off their pace, and in my opinion they have improved where we have not. I don't see why we would close the gap on them, but here's hoping we do. I personally think we'll finish more like 8-12 behind them.

Well, we are a better team than we were last year as well. Toronto obviously improved but they lost some defense with Koskie and Hudson not there anymore.

Hillenbrand had a monster year last year, so Overbay needs to replace that, which he should.

The BJ's REAL improvement will come if guys like Rios, Hill and Adams really take their game to another level.

[DrungoHazewood]

Hillenbrand had a monster year last year, so Overbay needs to replace that, which he should.

If a .792 OPS is "monster" the O's have about seven or eight monsters in the lineup.

[Sports Guy]

If a .792 OPS is "monster" the O's have about seven or eight monsters in the lineup.

LOL...Is that all he had? Damn..I remembered him having a high OPS last year...I guess he faded down the stretch or it just was not as good as it was perceived. Oh well.

[MP]

http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/players/player/gamelogs/2005/21583

Hillenbrand was like the O's last year, he had a fantastic April. Look at all those multi-hit games! But he came back down to Earth quickly after that.

[keysersose]

Well, we are a better team than we were last year as well. Toronto obviously improved but they lost some defense with Koskie and Hudson not there anymore.

Hillenbrand had a monster year last year, so Overbay needs to replace that, which he should.

The BJ's REAL improvement will come if guys like Rios, Hill and Adams really take their game to another level.

The Orioles improved over 2005 by dumping their roten garbage, Raffy & Soso. The Blue Jays did it by acquiring talent.

[AgentOrange]

The Orioles improved over 2005 by dumping their roten garbage, Raffy & Soso. The Blue Jays did it by acquiring talent.

Go root for the BJs then.

[TonySoprano]

If a .792 OPS is "monster" the O's have about seven or eight monsters in the lineup.

2005/ 2006 OPS for our current line-up

"Monsters"

Roberts .903 /.793

Tejada .864 / 1.105

Gibbons .833 / .895

Mora .822 / .813

Hernandez .772 / .917

"Near-Monsters / Wannabes"

Lopez .780 / .724

Conine .777 / .522

Millar .754 / .646

Matos .713 / .546

Gomez .701 / .717

Patterson .602 / .406

Newhan .591 / .747

[thrifty]

Why does anyone care whether the team has more or less talent than the Blue Jays, or whether we will win 70 games or 80? The whole point is that this team has no chance to go the playoffs for the 9th straight year. And it is due to the failure of this front office, particularly Mike Flanagan and Peter Angelos, to pay the money necessary to acquire great players. You guys remember Flanny's talk about "not bidding against ourselves" and a bat being a "luxury" and a how there were "a lot of irons in the fire", and Mr. Angelos's comments about being "in the faces" of the Yanks and Sox. These guys have failed this teasm miserably. We refuse to take on big contracts, and that is the only way the team can compete. We don't have enough to make significant trades, and we are unable to lure premium free agents even when we are the sole bidders in the market. The only way to go is to start taking on deals that other teams can't afford, like Burrell or Helton, etc. If we keep looking for specials, we are going to be bad for 9 more years. The young pitchers on this team are encouraging, but they will not take this team to the promise land. We must acquire more offense. We must acquire more premium talent. And we must draft well. Can you guys imagine now how stupid it would have been to trade Tejada and Bedard for Prior and Pie? They are our two best players.

[boogidownoriole]

Why does anyone care whether the team has more or less talent than the Blue Jays, or whether we will win 70 games or 80? The whole point is that this team has no chance to go the playoffs for the 9th straight year. And it is due to the failure of this front office, particularly Mike Flanagan and Peter Angelos, to pay the money necessary to acquire great players. You guys remember Flanny's talk about "not bidding against ourselves" and a bat being a "luxury" and a how there were "a lot of irons in the fire", and Mr. Angelos's comments about being "in the faces" of the Yanks and Sox. These guys have failed this teasm miserably. We refuse to take on big contracts, and that is the only way the team can compete. We don't have enough to make significant trades, and we are unable to lure premium free agents even when we are the sole bidders in the market. The only way to go is to start taking on deals that other teams can't afford, like Burrell or Helton, etc. If we keep looking for specials, we are going to be bad for 9 more years. The young pitchers on this team are encouraging, but they will not take this team to the promise land. We must acquire more offense. We must acquire more premium talent. And we must draft well. Can you guys imagine now how stupid it would have been to trade Tejada and Bedard for Prior and Pie? They are our two best players.

One big power hitter and this team contends.

[bgfield]

Why does anyone care whether the team has more or less talent than the Blue Jays, or whether we will win 70 games or 80? The whole point is that this team has no chance to go the playoffs for the 9th straight year. And it is due to the failure of this front office, particularly Mike Flanagan and Peter Angelos, to pay the money necessary to acquire great players. You guys remember Flanny's talk about "not bidding against ourselves" and a bat being a "luxury" and a how there were "a lot of irons in the fire", and Mr. Angelos's comments about being "in the faces" of the Yanks and Sox. These guys have failed this teasm miserably. We refuse to take on big contracts, and that is the only way the team can compete. We don't have enough to make significant trades, and we are unable to lure premium free agents even when we are the sole bidders in the market. The only way to go is to start taking on deals that other teams can't afford, like Burrell or Helton, etc. If we keep looking for specials, we are going to be bad for 9 more years. The young pitchers on this team are encouraging, but they will not take this team to the promise land. We must acquire more offense. We must acquire more premium talent. And we must draft well. Can you guys imagine now how stupid it would have been to trade Tejada and Bedard for Prior and Pie? They are our two best players.

There weren't exactly a lot of great players on the FA market in 2005. We made a great offer to Konerko, one that he apparently considered, but he decided to stay with his team instead. What more do you want? The only way we could have traded for a big bat would be if we were willing to part with one of our top prospects. Something I'm glad we didn't do.

You can blame Angelos if you want, but Flanagan just landed the job and I'd say our 2005 offseason was not too bad at all. And I disagree with the poster above me. One big bat would NOT make us contenders.

[thrifty]

I have been saying what I am about to say for a long time. And no one seems to get it. The Orioles knew who would be on the free agent market in 2005 when they fooled around with Vlad the year before. They knew that more teams were going to have money to spend to bid on free agents in 2005as opposed to when we were the only team in the market with Vlad that could psend money that year. All of this was predictable. Angelos gets the revenue numbers for MLB every year. Everyone in baseball knew. So, it is no excuse to say that the 2005 free agent pool wasn't any good. So, what more do I want them to do? I want them to have some foresight. I want them to be sensible and see the writing on the wall before things happen. They knew or should have known that the market for pitchers like Ryan was going to be high last year by looking at the numbers of potential free agents and the numbers of potential bidders. They should have addressed his situation before he hit free agency. They also should have offered even more money to Konerko, again knowing who would be a free agent at that position in 2006. You also have to anticipate that some potential free agents, like Lee, will resign before they hit the open market.

And about Mike Flanagan, I think his heart is in the right place. But he HAS been part of the problem. Offense has been a problem since when he was a broadcaster. Flanagan made the mistake of thinking that signing Tejada would make acquiring even more offense a "luxury." He should have kept trying, and he never should have thought that he had Vlad by the balls. You do whatever you have to do to get the player. Flanagan has mostly been a failure. But there are some positives, like the farm, and he is learning his trade. He didn't have any experience coming in, but he is smart, very easy to get along with, and he will get better.