After the final game of MLB’s regular season on Sunday, the Orioles’ wacky 2020 campaign came to an end. It was certainly a shortened span full of highs and lows, but in the end, we all should just be happy that the season was completed, despite COVID’s presence. Actually, having said that just now, I think there’s a lot more to be happy about. For a great deal of the year, the Orioles were quite successful. A number of players surprised and the team outperformed expectations. Keeping that in mind, […]

It would be foolish to consider the Orioles “contenders” after their hot start—they’re simply not. At the same time, it would also be foolish to overlook the clean, new-look style of baseball they’re playing thus far this season, as it has propelled them to one of the more surprising starts in the league. Sitting at .500 with a 7-7 record as I write this, Baltimore has outperformed expectations through the first few series due to timely hitting, solid power, and shockingly strong pitching. In fact, had they avoided a clunker […]

With the Orioles’ season opener under a week away, it’s time to unveil my 2020 predictions, which of course I was hoping to release around mid-March. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in my – and everyone’s – plans, and here we are. The MLB will have a 60-game season now, which should make for an extremely intriguing year, even for a Baltimore squad that appears unlikely to make any waves. However, given the shortened campaign, if the Birds get off to a hot start, you never know! I’ll […]

While the fact that the 2020 MLB Draft was a shortened version of normal certainly isn’t ideal for a rebuilding team such as the Orioles, it does afford them a unique opportunity in the undrafted free agent signing portion of the offseason. With a larger pool of players to snag, GM Mike Elias may be able to bring in prospects that might otherwise have been drafted by other clubs. Of course, these prospects will have to want to come to Baltimore and the Orioles will have to be able to […]

While MLB seems to be the league having the most trouble getting off its feet amidst the pandemic, they do at least have a draft coming up that will kick off on June 10th. For a rebuilding team like the Orioles, this is a massive opportunity to inject young talent into the system, with the hopes that some of those players will become critical members of the eventual turnaround. Last year, GM Mike Elias secured the incredible catching prospect Adley Rutschman with the first overall selection. This year, he’ll look […]

Disclaimer: Just as I did when writing about this topic on Russell Street Report, I need to state that sports are absolutely secondary/tertiary/etc. in the grand scheme of things, and that’s especially true at the moment. Please don’t berate me with cries of “THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE WORRIED ABOUT?!” I get it. This is a tough time for all of us. But these are sports blogs, so sports blogging I shall do. As the world waits for announcements on the plans that all sporting leagues have in place, the one that […]

It’s early in Spring Training thus far, but it’s an important camp for many players and for the Baltimore Orioles organization. With a presence of fringe veterans and up-and-coming prospects, it is also an intriguing camp for fans like us. As I’ve followed the first week or so of camp and gameplay, here’s who’s impressed in the initial stages.   Chris Davis Craig Landefeld/GulfBird Sports I won’t waste any time getting to this name. Chris Davis has been outstanding thus far at the plate. Through his first few appearances he […]

Before the first game of the Spring Training season gets underway on Saturday, I think a fun experiment would be a sort of projection for the Orioles’ biggest question mark this year: the rotation. In this article, I will outline the players I feel will crack the Opening Day roster as the prototypical ‘starting five’ (yes, for the purpose of the piece I will assume that Brandon Hyde won’t use openers at the onset of the season). There are a lot of holes in the rotation this year, and that’s […]

Spring has sprung in the baseball world, and for what it’s worth, I couldn’t be more excited for the O’s season to get underway. After such a heartbreaking playoff loss for the Ravens, it’ll be refreshing to watch a team I expect to lose. Even though the Birds might not be garnering much attention because of their status as a rebuilding team, I think that’s reason to find Spring Training even more intriguing. The emergence of players like John Means, Pedro Severino and Anthony Santander have set the precedent for […]

Griesser’s Suggested Changes of the Offseason Finally, after a long hiatus, I’m back with a brand new installment of my Suggested Change of the Week, and considering the 54-108 record that the Orioles are carrying into the offseason, there are a good number of adjustments and additions to make. As I’ve written before, this first year of the rebuild hasn’t really been all that bad, despite the team’s win/loss record. The Orioles uncovered a few players who could be hidden gems, like Anthony Santander, Hanser Alberto, John Means, and Pedro […]

With the 2019 season wrapping up, the Orioles are in a battle for the #1 overall pick, something I wrote about (along with many other O’s fans) this past week. At this point, it’s really a matter of Baltimore and Detroit being in a two-horse race. However, unlike last season, I don’t think it’s all that important for Mike Elias to snag the top selection. Adley Rutschman was one of the best prospects in recent memory; this year’s class doesn’t seem to have the same disparity in talent at the […]

In this week’s installment of Hot Take Tuesday, I’m going to have to go back on something I wrote a while back, something I really would rather not do. Normally, when you make a fiery take you stick by it, so please don’t question my credibility – I love the game of the hot take and fully respect it. At the same time, I think this take is just as hot as my prior one was, and with that one being so far out of question at this point, I […]

Griesser’s Suggested Change of the Week With so many players having been called up for September roster expansion and the upcoming end of all minor league play, there’s going to be far fewer moves to be made for the remainder of the year. As a result, this will be the last regular installment of the Suggested Change of the Week, at least until the offseason. Still, I do think there’s one managerial change for the Orioles to make, and that revolves around making a consistent dedication to youth. This year, […]

(Ed note: An earlier version of this post attributed it to Derek Arnold. Aidan Griesser is the correct author. We apologize for the error.) Sitting at 45-92 late on Monday night, there’s no question that the Orioles…well, suck. They’re not easy to watch at all, and quite frankly, I’m about ready for the season to end. It’s only natural that all of our minds are solely focused on the Baltimore Ravens at this point. However, perhaps because of how awful the summer has been, what’s been going through my mind […]

Griesser’s Suggested Change of the Week Given the focus on developing youth this season, this week’s Suggested Change is one of my favorites. It’s finally time for September Call-Ups. The 2019 season has been a tough one to watch and I’m sure even tougher to play through as a member of the team. But, finally, reinforcements are coming. On September 1, the Orioles will be able to expand their roster from 25 to 40 players, giving GM Mike Elias the opportunity to bring up anyone who can contribute and provide […]

In a season in which the Orioles have mightily struggled, I’ve reasonably found it difficult to pick out bright spots to write about, whether in a Hot Take Tuesday or a Suggested Change of the Week. At the same time, one of the brightest spots that I repeatedly missed has become abundantly clear to me – it just took a milestone for me to realize it. This weekend, Jonathan Villar became the first Oriole since Manny Machado in 2015 to join the 20/20 club, and all of a sudden it […]

Griesser’s Suggested Change of the Week With September call ups on the horizon, it’s safe to say the extra brutal dog days of the baseball season for a rebuilding team may be coming to an end. That’s not to say the last bit of the season won’t be painful – because it will – but to point out that watching younger players get a crack in the majors will become more and more possible moving forward. Still, we’re not quite there yet. Thus, this week’s suggested change is still rather […]

Griesser’s Suggested Change of the Week The trend over the last few installments of this column has been opportunity. I’m sure this will come as little surprise, but this week will be no different. For the Orioles, giving unproven players the chance to step up at the MLB level is something worth doing, especially at this time of the year. The team is firmly in the cellar, scrapping to get through the season, and focusing organizationally on rebuilding a farm system that has been dry for the better part of […]

Anyone who follows me on Twitter (@Kool_A1D_Jammer) knows that I’m a proud Stanser, or Hanser Alberto stan. Trust me, he’s one of my favorite Orioles since the rebuild began, I hope he sticks around for a while, at least in the MLB if not on the O’s. That being said, you might be surprised to know that my favorite player in the organization actually isn’t Alberto, and isn’t even on the big league squad. Instead, it’s a minor league arm that Dan Duquette acquired at last year’s deadline: Dean Kremer. […]