Earl Weaver Rules

MiLB.com continued their look at spring training camps with a look at the Orioles.  The burning question has to do with how well the Orioles have done the past two years in the draft and then there’s a Q&A with Jeff Fiorentino.  Good read with a ton of information.

Rob Neyer talks about the Mazzone Effect on his blog.  Erik Beddard put together an impressive run against the Red Sox recently and that’s his spring board into how much of an impact Leo Mazzone can have on the pitching staff.  He also predicts the Orioles to finish fourth, which also isn’t much of a suprise.

David Gassko at the Hardball Times recently took a look at the five key questions the Orioles have leading into 2007.  He talks about the reunion between Leo Mazzone and Jaret Wright as well as whether we can expect anything out of Melvin Mora in 2007.  He wraps things up with a prediction that the Orioles won’t do much in 2007.  He does have the Orioles with a winning record though, which would be a pleasant change.

I am somewhat optmistic about the Orioles heading into this year.  I know they won’t be in the playoff mix but I think they’re finally building a solid core and there’s some young guys to get excited about.

The Orioles managed only one run on five hits today against some pretty mediocre pitching by the Red Sox.  The only run of the game came when Aubrey Huff singled home Miguel Tejada in the fourth inning.

Daniel Cabrera was in his usual form. He gave up a single run but he walked five in five innings of work.  He struck out three and gave two hits.

The loss puts the Orioles at 9-8 on the season.  The Orioles have the day off tomorrow but then the Orioles play their first night game on Tuesday.  Jaret Wright gets the start.

The Orioles extended the contract of Brian Roberts by two years yesterday.  He’ll make an additional $14.3 million over that time, which isn’t too bad of a deal if Roberts can find his way back to his old form before his injury in 2005.  Regardless, he’s a productive second baseman and that’s nothing to scoff at.

PECOTA has Roberts coming down to earth in 2007.  They have him at a .263/.336/.390 line and a 17.1 VORP, which is almost half of last year’s total. 

In an organizational preview, MiLB.com takes a look at the Orioles minor league system.  There’s a ton of stuff here including player profiles for each farm team and it looks like the expected standouts are Bill Rowell and Pedro Beato.  It’s a nice read and a good overall look at the things.

It’s been a pretty good spring for the Orioles.  They’re now 7-2 and only the Yankees have a better spring record in the American League.  Even more impressive is that they did it against Japanese phenom Matsuzaka.  They bounced him for four runs in his four innings with Jason Dubois (two for three with a homerun and two RBIs) and Jon Knott (three for four with a solo homerun) leading the way with the bat.

Steve Trachsel had another mediocre outing.  He gave up two runs on six hits and a walk in three innings but Rob Bell threw two shutout frames to lead the pitching staff.

Next up is the Dodgers with Erik Bedard getting the start.  It’ll be another day game.

Pretty nice.  Melvin Mora doubled twice and he drove in four runs as the Orioles took out the Mets today 6-3.  Brian Roberts scored twice and he doubled and drew a walk.

Jaret Wright threw a shutout inning in the first inning Waters had a decent outing with two shutout frames.  Tomorrow, the Orioles take on the Marlins with Adam Loewen getting the start.

Spring baseball has started for the Orioles and similar to most days last year, the Orioles lost.  Steve Trachsel got the Orioles off to a rough start when he gave up three runs in the first inning.  Brian Burres was also hammered as was Deza, who gave up a two run walk off homerun to end the Orioles chances of walking away with a win.

Chris Gomez hit the only Orioles homerun and he finished with three RBIs and two runs.  Nick Markakis and Jeff Fiorentino each had two hits in the game.

Tomorrow will be a rematch between the Orioles and Marlins.  I’m thinking win this time.