Some news items out of the Orioles' FanFest event this weekend…
- The Orioles have discussed a multiyear contract with Jeremy Guthrie, the right-hander tells MASNsports.com's Steve Melewski. "I love pitching here and anytime you can provide your family with security, it's a great option," Guthrie said. "I'm very happy to also play it out year-by-year and have the motivation to go out and do the best that I can. Whatever happens, I'll be a good spot." Guthrie is going through the arbitration process for the second time in his career; MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith recently analyzed Guthrie's case.
- Kevin Millwood is still an option for the O's, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Andy MacPhail told the FanFest crowd that the idea of re-signing Millwood "hasn't been ruled out 'by any stretch,' " but the Orioles can't guarantee a rotation spot to Millwood or any free agent starter. We've heard that Millwood is interested in returning to Baltimore, but without the promise of a regular starting gig, he could turn to other suitors like the Indians or Yankees.
- Luke Scott has told Buck Showalter that not only is he willing to move to left field if Baltimore signs Vladimir Guerrero, but Scott "wants to play defense," Showalter tells Steve Melewski. Scott played 106 games in left in 2008 and had a very solid +5.8 UZR/150 rating, but he has made just 40 outfield starts over the last two seasons.
10,000 people showed up to their offseason fanfest today, to meet and greet players, coaches, and officials. Wow. If there is any doubt, if the Orioles can finally return to their past days of perennial contention, the huge fanbase will come back in droves.
For us older fans, it’s a shame that there’s a young gen right now who doesn’t know any different than the Orioles of the last decade.
yes truly a sad thing that last decade has been , but i think this year you gotta shot at not being as bad as you were. go Os
Basemonkey,
It’s bittersweet for me. I am glad that the support for the team is coming back.
However, it is also annoying since I’ve been with the team through thick and thin (mostly thin, I’m only 21 after all). Now everyone is coming back and talking about the team like they have a clue about what’s been going on the past few years.
Sigh.
Wouldn’t it be grand if they could hire Earl ‘the human Gerbil” Weaver back and get some spark back on the team?
I also am like you in that regard and TRULY miss the days of a year in and out 3 way dogfight between Baltimore, Boston and NY. What a shame pretty much every Angelos owned O’s team has been.
How about a 2/15 deal for Guthrie?
The Orioles have a pretty bright future. One of the better young cores of any team in the league, and they have the capability to sign and keep those guys, unlike some other teams. If the young pitchers pan out then this team could compete very soon. I have them finishing 4th this year, ahead of the Jays.
didnt they lose like 15 of 16 to the jays last year lmao , i dont know how much u think they improved but i have a hard time believing the Jays regressed that much and the O’s got that much better considering thier pitching was the worst part and they have yet to upgrade it.
You can lyao all you want, but that was a fluke and EVERYONE in baseball knows it. You clearly have no idea about the Orioles if you say the pitching was the worst part of the team. The worst part of the team was the fact that they were next to last in runs scored last year.
Believe it. The Jays traded their best pitcher and they have to rely on a guy who played so over his head last year it defies imagination. You really think Bautista can hit 54 again?
Head to head, the Orioles match up very well with the Jays and aren’t that far off many other clubs.
lol whatever makes you feel happy about a 5th place finish
LOL The Orioles won’t be finishing fifth. Sorry to disappoint you.
I want what your smoking.
Not smoking anything, just high on life.
all in all i think the jays and O’s are comparable on paper, O’s might have a stronger offense, jays should have stronger pitching. but really, what are we arguing here?? neither of us will sniff the playoffs without a major debacle in NY or Boston. the key comparison is long term, and in that case the jays farm system and salary commitments (or lack thereof) have to give them a huge edge even if the major league rosters are comparable at the moment
i would like to agree with you, but i think you’re being a little overly optimistic.
just to correct some of your jays comments…
EE will not be playing 3B unless something remarkable happens. our GM has already gone on record and said he is the regular DH and is the insurance policy for lind if lind cant handle 1B.
Lawrie will begin a transition to 3B in spring training, so he really shouldnt impact hill at all.
Replacing wells with rivera is pretty close to a wash (slight edge to wells) if you look at their career numbers. both are beginning to age, have a large history of injuries, show diminishing defense, and inconsistent offense from year to year. rajai davis as wells’ replacement in CF should help the team defensively.
overbay will be completely forgotten about in about 5sec unless lind really struggles defensively at 1B.
losing buck i think could hurt, but it really depends on jp arencibia here. its not out of the realm of possibility that jpa could fully replace buck on offense and defense, but this is probably the biggest question mark this team has.
i wouldnt worry about the jays’ power, thats the least of their problems. EE, lind, hill, and bautista should all be lock for at least 20HR’s. jp arencibia, travis snider and juan rivera could hit 20HR’s as well.
speaking of snider, you’ve forgotten about probably their highest upside position player. snider is one player who truly has elite potential. if you had told me that a blue jay was gonna hit 50HR’s last year, i would have predicted travis snider not jose bautista. snider has that kind of power.
patterson will be a bench guy, if he even makes the team.
jays bullpen is stronger than last year. downs is the only real loss and it was astounding that gregg performed as he did last year in the AL East. i would not give him very high odds for a repeat, but at least hes not the jays’ problem anymore. his replacement is likely frank francisco, who is undoubtedly better if he can stay healthy. also joining the pen are solid arms in rauch and dotel, added to camp and frasor and purcey who were all solid for the jays last year. the pen is very solid and has great depth, definitely better than last year.
it is definitely the general consensus that the jays farm is a quite a bit stronger than the O’s. i think you are using the term top prospect a little too generally.
you basically highlighted all of the major question marks for all the AL East teams, but i think the point is that these pale in comparison to the O’s question marks. they dont even know if they have 2 viable major league starters. who knows if lee will continue his degradation as an older player?? will roberts stay healthy? will hardy, wieters and jones ever be more than average? will reynolds hit for a BA that makes him not a black hole in the offense? i dont consider markakis a question mark, unless it is whether he can go from good to elite. continuing, will gregg repeat a solid performance?? can uehara stay healthy?
like holy crap! yes things are looking up for the O’s but to say they can make a 20 win improvement based on the above question marks and a solid end to last season under a new manager is really stretching it. it is not unusual for a struggling team to perform for a new manager, it does not mean that the real O’s are the team that ended 2010.