ESPN: The O's will finish in last place

[NCBirdfan]

Agreed. As I said earlier, any team finishing in any spot 1 thru 5 in the AL East wouldn't surprise me, nor would all five finishing over .500. Anyone making any "analytical" prediction of the 2013 AL East is full of ****. They're just guessing.

And the timing is also an issue. Spring Training just started and teams haven't made decisions on their players - who will make it on the opening day roster, who will be sent to AAA, who will be sent packing, who will start the season healthy, who will start on the DL, etc. To make a declaration of where teams will finish is a fool's game that ESPN is all too eager to participate in. The people at ESPN need to feel relevant and important.

[Struds]

Reimold has speed and power,he needs to play daily to be effective. That platoon crap dosen't work for everyone and he's one of those who it dosen't work well for.

I'm not sure we've seen enough of him to make that judgement. Unless he has a remarkable spring and early regular season, I think platooning him with Mclouth in LF for much of the season is highly likely.

Of course, on days when he's not in LF, DH is also a possibility.

[durango46]

I'm not sure we've seen enough of him to make that judgement. Unless he has a remarkable spring and early regular season, I think platooning him with Mclouth in LF for much of the season is highly likely.

Of course, on days when he's not in LF, DH is also a possibility.

agreed

Reimold at DH....
McLouth in LF...

lots of question marks here....Can Reimold stay healthy ? I think DHing him would help with the injury problem.

Can McLouth hit lefties on a regular basis ? He is clearly the better outfielder.
Speed and a great glove.

I think Buck will do some mix and matching them at times but McLouth will be the regular left fielder.

Just my take

[Far from home]

Take away the 16-2 extra inning record and replace it with something much closer to .500. How are they better again?

I'm not really sure how this indicates the O's are better or worse.
The O's upgraded at 2b.
They will have a full season of several players who should make a strong impact, such as Machado, Reimold, and McLouth, Markakis, Tillman, and Gonzalez.
They have also cut back potential strike outs on the team, while adding potential OBP.
Most of their stars are young and/or coming into their prime.

What is your point?

[weenie]

Take away the 16-2 extra inning record and replace it with something much closer to .500. How are they better again?

1) Markakis is healthy and on track to start 155+ games
2) Reimold and Roberts are both healthy
3) Wada, Bundy and Gausman are all projected to push for rotation spots by late summer.
4) The core of the team is reaching it's peak statistical year (age 27, Wieters, Jones, Davis,etc.)
5) The rotation has double digit starter candidates and lots of depth!!!!
6) Machado has stabilized the hot corner and is poised to play 155+ games there this year.
7) The defense with McLouth, Machado and possibly Roberts back is as good as any in the league....just like the bullpen is.

I could go on and on about the positives but I know many of the woe is me folks will dismiss each without much thought.

In recent years spring training has started more than once with a completely overhauled rotation or infield. For the first time in many years, the team is filling in rather than starting from scratch.

Bottomline is we all wish a big hitter was obtained to anchor the RBI role but there are still plenty more good things to look forward to in '13 beyond my initial six but why bother with that when the caustic crowd would rather self flagellate

[hector]

As I've been saying for years, most sports pundits are unimaginative lemmings utterly incapable or unwilling to offer an original thought. They are essentially trained monkeys like most sports pundits and front office types. Their conventional ignorance is always good for a laugh.

Fellow and Lady posters - don't waste your time listening to them. The O's go 84-78 and miss the playoffs in 2013, but there's no way they finish last.

[Far from home]

And the timing is also an issue. Spring Training just started and teams haven't made decisions on their players - who will make it on the opening day roster, who will be sent to AAA, who will be sent packing, who will start the season healthy, who will start on the DL, etc. To make a declaration of where teams will finish is a fool's game that ESPN is all too eager to participate in. The people at ESPN need to feel relevant and important.

It's alright.
They will change their minds 5 times before he start of the season and act like the other predictions never happened.
If they do admit, they will poo poo reality and claim everything to be a fluke.

All the while, they will never admit that Buck is just smarter than them.

[weird-O]

I never understood how these predictions could be made so early in the year. For example, Granderson goes down for 10 weeks. that seems like it would affect NY's offensive production. if he was lost for the whole year, that woul have even more of an impact.

what if Price has an injury and doesn't pitch this year. that would seriously change TB's season.

[bmore_ken]

2) Reimold and Roberts are both healthy

I'll believe it when they've both appeared in 50+ games

[Pickle20]

Stark wrote a good, optimistic article about the Orioles. It was either him or someone else at ESPN who picked the O's to finish second behind the BJ's.

So it's not all doom and gloom from ESPN, but overall I expect them to think it will still be the Red Sox and Yankees. At least that's what they hope happened.

[johnpolitics]

Not last, but not first. Doubt they will go 16-2 in extra inning games in 2013.

[soulflower]

A lot rides on BRob. If he's healthy, he's definitely an upgrade over Andino.

Reimold could make an impact too IF he stays healthy

[kudzu]

I'll believe it when they've both appeared in 50+ games

You're a cynical bastard.

That's not an insult, btw.

[NCBirdfan]

I'll believe it when they've both appeared in 50+ games

Is that individually or combined?

[Omaha Beach]

Stark wrote a good, optimistic article about the Orioles. It was either him or someone else at ESPN who picked the O's to finish second behind the BJ's.

So it's not all doom and gloom from ESPN, but overall I expect them to think it will still be the Red Sox and Yankees. At least that's what they hope happened.

Half of the Yankees are old enough to be in a retirement home.