As I have mused throughout the winter, I have not been all that impressed with the moves that the Orioles have made in preparation for 2012.
For the most part, I feel the Orioles have gone with ‘value’ in terms of the players they have signed; however, they have started to make inroads with Asian market, signing two arms – Chen and Wada.
During a break in the afternoon, I got a chat to ask Orioles.com beat writer, Brittany Ghiroli about the state of the Orioles in the media area.
Being that Ghiroli has covered the team for a couple of seasons now, and is from Connecticut, I wanted to get her perspective.
More or less, she said that the team is doing the right thing now in terms of rebuilding. In addition, we had a long conversation about the acquisitions that the Orioles have made.
I told her that there were a lot of fans, including myself – to an extent – who have not been impressed with Dan Duquette so far.
While Ghiroli understood the fact many of us lament that fact that no marquee names, or ‘name’ veterans were signed, she mentioned an important point that I perhaps overlooked: the acquisitions didn’t cost the team anything in terms of draft picks or compensation.
Thinking about what Ghiroli said, it’s an important thing to think about. With the state of the Orioles as-is, they need to collect as much talent as possible and hope some of the players pan out.
They are in no real position right now to give away any of their prospects, and if they did – it would be a detriment to the organization, plus their general plans.
Moving on…
I’m amazed yesterday that Orioles fans during the various Q&A forums were not real angry about the lackluster result of the 2011 season and the offseason. I would not describe the fans as being apathetic, but not angry or overly hostile either considering the team has lost for 14 consecutive seasons
Then again, most of the fans who sat through everything on Saturday were the die-hards, knew the reality of the situation, and gave the organization a break – especially since Duquette is really on his second month on the job.
Overall, despite the losing ways of the Orioles, everyone at FanFest – including the players – is eager for the 2012 season to begin.
In the media area, players spoke about how much better shape they are in, and how optimistic they are for the season.
Everyone is ready to put 2011 behind them and move on.
From what I gathered, the young pitchers – specifically, the starters – are very much aware that this may be a make-or-break year for many of them.
They know the Orioles are in transition, and the status quo will not be acceptable, especially with the number of arms in camp. Most – if not all of the young pitchers – know that a spot on the roster isn’t guaranteed when Spring Training opens up down in Florida.
The organization made it a point to replay the final at-bats during the final game of the 2011 season on the large screens where the fan forums were being held. The fans ate it all up and really seemed to enjoy having that moment replayed.
Of course, as we all know, Baltimore’s 162nd game of the season perhaps changed the landscape of baseball that night, as they knocked out the Red Sox from playoff contention and set off a chain of unfortunate events with that organization.
It’s still amazing to think about.
I’ll have the first of many FanFest interviews up later on today, starting with Jason Berken.
Finally, the Ravens are in playing in the AFC Championship this afternoon against the New England Patriots. Out of disclosure, I am not a Ravens fan – I root for the Redskins (poor me); however, I do think they can defeat the Patriots, if they can stop Tom Brady and put pressure on him.
Baltimore’s defense will keep them in the game, but Joe Flacco has to be near perfect to get his team to the Super Bowl.
Prediction: New England 23, Baltimore 17
