The Baltimore Orioles front office has some work to do. They signed J. J. Hardy during the playoffs, and that was a great start, but since then O’s fans have become very nervous.
Nelson Cruz signed a 4-year, $58 million contract with the Seattle Mariners Monday. The Orioles will get a compensatory pick (between the first and second rounds) in next summer’s draft, but that doesn’t fill the hole left for this season. They have to find someone to replace Cruz’s .271 batting average and especially his 40 home runs.
Torii Hunter is available, and the Orioles are said to be interested. He hit .286 last year with 17 home runs. The O’s have reportedly talked to the Dodgers about trading for Matt Kemp, who hit .287 with 25 home runs last season.
Manny Machado and Matt Wieters should be healthy and ready to contribute in 2015. Hopefully, Chris Davis can return to 2013 form, and leave 2014 behind him. If Machado, Wieters, and Davis can all hit over 20 home runs and the O’s sign an OF/DH (like Hunter or Kemp), that should more than cover the 40 home runs and 108 RBIs that they won’t get from Cruz.
Nick Markakis is still a free agent. The Birds are still the leaders to re-sign him, but the longer he goes without a deal in Baltimore, the more likely it is that Markakis goes elsewhere. If Markakis leaves Charm City, the more likely it is we see the Orioles try to sign Alejandro De Aza to a long-term deal and he takes over in right field for Markakis.
Yes, the O’s roster is in flux, but did Buck Showalter not win the American League Manager of the Year and Dan Duquette not win the Executive of the Year? Let’s give them time to do their jobs. They have done them very well over the last couple of years in Baltimore, so let’s trust them.
Wieters, Davis, Schoop/Flaherty, Hardy, Machado, Lough, Jones, De Aza and a new OF/DH is still a very good line-up.
Their starting rotation should be pretty similar to last year’s, and it was good enough. Supposedly, the Orioles are willing to trade away Bud Norris in order to fill one of their holes, but I hope they keep him.
The bullpen will be strong again next season. Left-handed relief pitcher, Andrew Miller, looks to be ready to sign with a team within the next week. The front runners for his services are the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees. But our bullpen did fine for most of the season without him.
Orioles’ fans need to back off the O’s front office a bit. They have pushed all the right buttons (well, all except for Ubaldo Jimenez) and there is no reason why that would stop now. It’s still very early in the offseason. Give them time to make the right moves and watch the Orioles successfully defend their AL East divisional crown next year.
