With more chips coming off the board in the past two days, one must think what else can the Orioles do to contend? As spring training is only about five-six weeks away, a lot of fans are not happy at all what Andy MacPhail is doing in the offseason.
Right now MacPhail is trying to build the team slowly, and build a bridge between the current team and what’s on the farm; however, he’s doing it looks on the cheap. It looks like MacPhail is looking to sign low-cost veterans to field a team while we wait for the kids.
As a fan and as a season ticket holder, I support the plan, but I do wish we could bring a name in with more pizazz than with no-name retreads. I know there are many different ways to build a team; alas, after eleven losing seasons, one would think a risk would have been taken to build up some excitement.
With the news of Brian Roberts and the team being miles apart in terms of a deal; no catcher right now, perhaps only 2/5 of starting rotation, a Markakis extension not yet done, and the possibly of a 12th losing season and a potential of consecutive last place finishes, it will be a long road to respectability if it does come to fruition.
Here’s the latest Hot Stove news when it comes to the Orioles:
Baltimore Sun: The Orioles are still looking for at least one more starter and will continue to monitor the market and pursue free agents Braden Looper, Tim Redding and another Japanese player, Kenshin Kawakami.
But the immediate priority is expected to switch to catcher – with the club looking at former Oriole Gregg Zaun and likely Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez – and a right-handed-hitting first baseman.
