It is one thing to be an excruciatingly terrible team in a normal division. There may be the odd game that you catch a break and win here and there, a couple of players could preform far above their expectations, and might end up near .500. Then there are the Baltimore Orioles, a terrible team stuck in the best division in baseball. Losing less than 100 games would be a shock.
The offense revolves around two legitimately good players in All-Star catcher Matt Wieters and center fielder Adam Jones. Wieters is well on his way to becoming one of the top backstops in all of baseball, and Jones is a solid threat for twenty home runs and twenty stolen bases per year. Nick Markakis returns in right field, and while he is a decent player, has been a disappointment. Nolan Reimold figures to get the first chance at left field, but is coming back from injuries and may not be ready for the start of the season. If he is unable to play, then newly acquired Endy Chavez would take his spot, providing a decent glove and not much offense.
The infield consists of a plethora of questionable players. Brian Roberts was once one of the best second basemen in all of baseball, but is dealing with the aftermath of a severe concussion. It would be surprising if he manages to play with any effectiveness again. In his place is Robert Andino, best known for having a solid glove and getting the hit to complete the Red Sox epic collapse last season. On a good team, he is a utility player – on the Orioles, he’s probably going to be one of their most productive players. Shortstop is held down by J.J. Hardy, who managed to be healthy for the first time since 2008 and put up a career year. Third baseman Mark Reynolds and first baseman Chris Davis are the ultimate at being Rob Deer 2.0 - they will strike out, walk, or hit the ball around 500 feet. Add their batting averages together this year, and you may get to around .350. Neither player is a long term answer.
The pitchign staff is littered with AAAA players. Brian Matusz, Jake Arrietta, Chris Tillman, and Zack Britton look great in the minors, but are completely unable to get out major league hitters. Newly acquired Dana Eveland, if healthy, may end up being their best starting pitcher, which should indicate the truly horrific nature of this pitching staff. Seeing Rosie O’Donnell naked may be slightly less horrifying than watching one of their starts.
The bullpen is actually a slightly bigger disaster than the rotation, if that can be believed. Kevin Gregg held down the closer job last year, mainly because he was a closer before, despite a WHiP of 1.642 and a K/BB ratio of 1.325. Jim Johnson is expected to be the closer this season, and would be an upgrade just by removing Gregg from the equation. Matt Lindstrom is a decent pitcher as a middle reliever, but is expected to be a setup man. The rest of the bullpen consists of rookies and no-name players that were pulled off the scrap heap. They may as well just bring in a can of petrol and a match.
The Orioles are destined to finish in the basement of the AL East again in 2012, padding the records of the other AL East teams.
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