In a lot of ways, it’s more of the same for the Orioles. They’re probably going to lose 90 games and they were never really in contention in the second half of the season. But unlike most years, I think there’s some glimmer of hope you can take from 2007 as you think about the teams future. First and foremost was the emergence of Erik Bedard as an ace. While the term ace is often overused, Bedard would have led the league in strikeouts and would have won 15 games for the second straight season. The oblique injury is something to be concerned about but with nothing to play for, they made the rigth move and shut him down.
Jeremy Guthrie was a pleasant surprise as well. He only finished with seven wins but 200 innings out of the question and anytime you have an American League pitcher, especially one who throws in the AL East, who had an ERA below 3.75, you have something there.
Probably the biggest quandry was Miguel Tejada. Yes, he led the team in hitting and he had the RBIs to go with them and while he had the injuries, the slice in his power is a little confusing. He still has time, but the last time he didn’t hit 20 homers was way back in 1998.
Nick Markakis looks like a keeper as he should cross the 100 RBI mark in just his second season. He also leads the team with nineteen homers and he’s right behind Tejada with a .294 batting average. He’s definitely someone who you can build around.
So we have two more weeks of Orioles baseball and once again, the playoffs will start without them. The offseason will be interesting to watch to see how the Orioles complement what they have so I’ll hold judgement for 2008 until then.
