'08 Orioles Media Predictions Omnibus

Link here.

If you have trouble recognizing the Birds, that's exactly how the club wants it.

"Hey, George," a front-row fan at Fort Lauderdale Stadium called to a Baltimore pitcher before an intrasquad game this spring. The player didn't respond.

"George!" the fan persisted. Still no response.

"George, are you pitching today?"

Finally, the pitcher turned around.

"It's Garrett," said the minor league lefthander, Garrett Olson.

After the latest debacle MacPhail, who was hired last June, cried uncle and launched an honest-to-goodness rebuilding plan, with pitching, defense and fundamentals as its foundation. "To think that if everything breaks right, you might win 85 games and have a shot at the playoffs is the thinking that had to change," says MacPhail, who had previously turned the Twins and the Cubs into playoff teams. "That's not going to cut it in the AL East. You're up against two of the most well-financed and well-operated franchises in the game. The only way to trump that is through solid pitching from one through 11. This is the only path available to us -- better than being stuck in neutral."

MacPhail invested $6 million on his top draft pick alone last year (catcher Matt Wieters), commissioned a training academy in the Dominican Republic, established the position of international scouting director and spent $250,000 on a state-of-the-art video system. His most visible moves, however, were trades with Seattle and Houston that turned two of the club's most valuable assets, pitcher Erik Bedard and shortstop Miguel Tejada, into 10 new players -- seven of them pitchers and only two of them older than 28. The best of the pitchers are prospect Chris Tillman, 19, who was the Mariners' minor league pitcher of the year last season; Dennis Sarfate, 26, a power righthanded setup reliever; and Matt Albers, 25, who could start or provide help for what was a ghastly bullpen last season (5.71 ERA).

Baltimore still doesn't have a bona fide shortstop or closer, and second baseman Brian Roberts figures to be the next veteran asset traded for inexperienced players. In the short term the Orioles may be risking a last-place finish for the first time since the infamous 1988 team that started 0-21. This year won't be pretty, but they're trying.

Not a terribly good one, but what else are people that aren't Orioles fans supposed to say about this team? They are not interesting.

Yeah, it's a joke, but the part about having no heart and giving up is spot on.

O's Preview

o's open the season dead last in their "hit list" rankings. joe sheehan has predicted 57 wins.