2017 Baltimore Orioles

[DiamondDave]

Basically, much the same as last year.. with a few changes... Baltimore will most probably (barring a trade or strange aquisition) return to a 4 man rotation. This can only pan out if Jimmy Senn has a repeat performance of last year's miracle year. If not, some trade will have to happen for another starter.... The lineup received some much needed help against lefties with a nice FA aquisition....

New Faces:

3B Jojo Valdes - 7-6-4-9-9 (but 9 contact against lefties)... Not a power hitter, but a specialist against lefties and great skills for walks and avoiding K's. He is an instant insertion in the lineup against all lefty pitchers. He will be learning SS to add to his limited infield repertoire.

CF Ricky Tejada - 7-8-4-7-7 (7 in steals ability)... Can steal, but is not a speedster.. Pretty good defense... and 7 contact skills in the 9 hole is a nice fit... The 29 year old rookie is being given a chance as an every day player.

C Javier Santamaria - 5-6-6-6-6 ... Nothing special about him. The defensive and emergency backup catcher behind Huber and Ocasio (Ocasio is frequently a part of the every day lineup, so backup C was a necessity)...

Key Losses:

Actually none... Stumm and Marcum are gone, but they were at the end of their usefullness at the ML level anyway... any other subtractions were backups only and I believe the current crop of backups are a bit better in quality

LINEUP VS RHP+DH Pos
1) R E. Encarnacion LF - Career .320+ hitter
2) R J. Nix 2B - improving every year, steals and HR threat and coming off a year batting .299
3) L J. Loney 1B - What can you say... righty killer.. 9 CON 10 POW
4) R J. Huber C - 3 time MVP, possibly still best offensive player in the game
5) R E. Jude 3B - Wiffy Jude... all the power, none of the plate dicipline
6) S K. Wood DH - 1st full year in the league... impressive start for the 20 year old last season
7) R D. Diaz SS - Solid SS, career .300 hitter
8) L J. Martinez RF - specialist against righties, great defense
9) R R. Tejada CF - as described above

LINEUP VS LHP+DH Pos
1) R E. Encarnacion LF
2) R J. Nix 2B
3) R J. Huber C
4) R E. Jude 3B
5) L J. Loney DH
6) R A. Ocasio 1B - Up and coming leader of Baltimore in the future.. 9 CON against lefties, power is improving
7) S K. Wood RF
8) R J. Valdes SS - Learning SS. Cannot leave him out of the lineup against lefties with his 9 contact
9) R R. Tejada CF

Starting Rotation
1) R A. Carriere - 4 star 7-6-10... The guy who came out of nowhere after thought to be a career minor leaguer
2) L T. Richards - 3.5 star 7-8-8... One solid lefty with a good track record... 3.62 career ERA
3) R P. Padro - 2.5 star 4-8-9... control pitcher coming off an average 2016
4) R J. Senn - 2.0 star 9-8-3... Miracle player of 2016, with 15 wins and 3.24 ERA

Mopup Reliever
1) R R. Jones - 1.5 star 8-5-5... hoping for an emergence like Carriere
2) L R. Cabrera - 3.0 star 8-8-5... lefty long relief specialist

Middle Reliever
1) R M. Moses - 3.0 star 5-8-8... your typical middle reliever
2) L A. Munoz - 4.0 star 9-6-8... towards the end of a nice career in BAL as the jack-of-all-trades reliever...
3) R R. Jones
4) R F. Mejias - 3.5 P star 6-7-5... just in a filler role, needs to prove something

Setup Reliever
1) L A. Munoz
2) R S. Aquino - 3.0 star 6-10-5... coming off a great 2016 with an ERA below 3.6

Closer
1) R T. Gunter - 3.5 star 9-7-8.... coming off a rookie year where he was top 3 in saves... had a rough 2nd half after a great start to the season. Hopefully with continued improvement to talent skills, he'll be a great closer

[Hammer]

if my team struggles out of the gate, i think you can take the division. i think its a more realistic goal for the wild card... but youre definitely a competitor in both the division and the wild card. as i said in the offseason post there... the al is gonna come down to the same 5 teams... you, me, the champs, twins and chisox... unfortunately for you, me, twins and chisox... we're all battling for the same spots, where as the angels can pretty much cruise.