BLOG: 2011 Orioles - Is There Cause For Optimism?
The Baltimore Orioles have been one of the busiest teams in the baseball off-season, yet the question remains; will the Orioles make any positive strides in the standings in 2011? We can honestly look at every position the Orioles added players to and without a shadow of a doubt say that they got better.
Mark Reynolds was acquired in a trade with the Diamondbacks and will be the new third baseman. Reynolds has both an upside and downside. Reynolds has belted 44 and 32 home runs in the past two seasons. However in those same two seasons he led the league in strikeouts, in fact in 3 straight seasons Mark Reynolds has struck out at least 200 times. In this case you have to take the bad with the good, last season at third base a very green Josh Bell showed he wasn't quite ready for the show. Right next to Reynolds in yet another trade the Orioles brought in a new starting shortstop in J.J. Hardy. This is quite the offensive upgrade at this position. Izturis is a gold glove caliber infielder but he has hit just 3 home runs and hasn't hit higher than .256 in his two seasons with Baltimore. Hardy had a down year last season but has shown when healthy he has the potential to hit 20 home runs in a season. Hardy not a great fielder but not horrible either. Finally our last stop in the infield is the addition of Derek Lee. Now, Lee is up there in age but he has averaged 28 HRs and 90 RBIs, which is a huge upgrade considering the lack of pop that came out of that position last year. The last big bat that the Orioles added this offseason was Vladimir Guerrero. No need to list the stats for this guy. If you follow baseball you know how dangerous of a hitter Guerrero is. Even at his advanced age he had an MVP type season with a .300 batting average, 29 home runs and 115 RBIs. The only question is can he have another season like that? If he does, the security he provides for the rest of the lineup is invaluable.
The Orioles also added some new faces when it comes to pitching. Justin Duchscherer will be a new starter for the Orioles, and Jeremy Accardo and Kevin Gregg are two guys who have come over from Toronto to solidify the bullpen. The main concern with Duchscherer is his health. Duchscherer has missed 2 full seasons (2002 & 2009), and has missed parts of seasons other years. Accardo will most likely be used as a middle reliever, while Gregg will most likely compete with Koji for the closer. Kevin Gregg was the closer for Toronto last season, he recorded a career high 37 saves in 2010.
We have talked about the Orioles, but how is the rest of the AL East shaping up? First up the New York Yankees. Usually the Yankees have a big offseason move, this year not so much. In fact maybe the biggest story for the Yankees is who left, Andy Pettitte retired. And looking at their signings nothing makes you go "wow" with guys like Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and Eric Chavez. The Yankees are still the Yankees, but you can't convince me that they got that much better if better at all. The team that might take the biggest step back is the Tamp Bay Rays. They lost Carl Crawford (Boston), Carlos Pena (Cubs), Rafael Soriano (Yankees), and Matt Garza (Cubs). Yes they added Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon, but this isn't 2004 so not a big deal in my opinion. Not much to say about the Blue Jays they lost more than they gained. Vernon Wells was traded to the Angels, and I mentioned the couple of relievers that are now wearing orange and black. Now to the team that may be the one to beat in 2011. The Red Sox added Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez. They didn't add any pitching but honestly they didn't have to with guys like Jon Lester, John Lackey and Josh Beckett. Boston is the early favorite to win it all, despite what the Phillies have done in the National League.
The Orioles did get better but the unfortunate part in all of this is the division they play in. If you put the Orioles in a division like the AL Central or maybe the AL West or NL Central, you can't tell me they wouldn't be able to compete for a playoff spot. The way things have been around here most Orioles fans will take just a .500 season, which shows you how low a once proud franchise has fallen. This town bleeds Ravens purple during the NFL season but we truly yearn for a successful baseball team.
I'm not saying this is a playoff team but this years Orioles team could finally bring a baseball season we can enjoy.
Andy Snakovsky - 105.7 The FAN Staff Writer
Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/AndySnakovsky
