Earl's Thoughts On O's and Other Random Things

I’ve got a lot of things to say today as we have the truly official Opening Day for baseball, though not the O’s. Last night’s Yankees vs. Sox was MLB’s way of kicking off the start of the season, and if MLB can figure out a way to start the season with the Sox and Yanks, can’t it figure out a way to get closer to bringing back a balanced schedule? I digress, b/c that’s just never going to happen. So here we go:

- Sounders lost 1-0 on Saturday night and though I missed the game b/c of the Final Four, as predicted in my post after opening night, the Sounders struggled to put the ball in the net, despite many chances. Montero needs to step up as the primary target and goal scorer, and Ljundberg needs to keep his trap shut and just play. Home losses though aren’t going to help the Sounders get back to the playoffs this year.

- What a disappointing performance by The Mountaineers on Saturday night. While I wouldn’t have bet against Duke, and maybe truck Bryant’s injury was just another reason why Duke pounded WVU, but I really expected it to at least be a game. Poor DaSean Butler too, as that was a horrible way to bed your WVU career. Good luck in the NBA and to the Mountaineers next year. There will be one more little Mountaineer fan in Catonsville, MD, so perhaps that will help!

- Congratulations to Greivis Vasquez who continues to make the University of MD proud with the Cousy award and 2nd Teal All-American. I am going to really miss you GV, and thanks for all the memories! Good luck!

- Why can’t Liverpool hold late leads in the EPL? In the last two seasons they have lost or drawn so many games in the final minutes and extra time. Is it lack of concentration, fitness, desire? Whatever it is, sitting 6th in the table leaves little margin for error, and the teams ahead of them are far better than they’ve been in the past, so it’s an uphill battle. At least Torres’ goal from last Sunday will be seen many times over for the rest of the season. Truly brilliant!

- I can’t say I am feeling real good about the O’s so far but I try not to put too much stock (or any) into spring training. I’ll confess that I haven’t seen them play yet, but the early part of the schedule is simply brutal for them and I fear a slow start will bury them. The season goals for this team, in my humble opinion, should be to continue to develop all of the youngsters, like Reimold, Jones, Pie and Wieters, and Hernandez, Bergesen, Matusz, Berken, and in a few months, Tillman. Matusz is going to be a star, I have no doubt. Tillman’s attitude after being sent to Norfolk was outstanding, and if he can continue to refine his secondary pitches, in particular his change-up and two-seamer/cutter, I feel he will be some much better suited for success in the majors, even in the gotdamn AL EAST! Bergy needs to keep the ball down and he will be fine. He knows what he is doing, and showed great success against the AL East before his untimely injury. Hopefully the O’s have re-learned how to run the bases this year, b/c I can’t and simply won’t watch another season in which I saw little league base running in a dozen games or more. It was so embarrassing and Trembley better stick to his word of no tolerance.

- Other areas of improvement must include a better record against the Sox and Yankees (7-29 combined last year), road record (25-56) and record in 1 and 2 run games (29-43). Of course the AL East is the most brutal division, by far, but it’s the division we play in and I can’t even think of a situation in which realignment would do anything other than keep is the same division. So, as I think we’ve done, we’ve really started to place a premium on the draft and scouting, and taking chances on later round guys who are coming off of injury (see what the Angels did with Nick Adenhart, RIP) or fell due to signability issues, b/c we simply don’t have an owner who is willing to go out and break the bank in the free agent market. The Belle deal, which Angelos insisted be made b/c he feared the Yankees would scoop him up is still gun-shy on big deals b/c of the potential fallout. Maybe had he let the baseball people make the decisions that baseball people make, but again, I digress. Overall though, there is a ton of great talent on this team, but whether our young pitchers actually start making an impact is obviously yet to be seen. And, are they number 1 starters, #5’s, or middle relievers. That’s what I think is most difficult to gauge at this point, and only time will tell.

- Finally, my biggest concern is Brian Roberts. As I’ve said for years now, as the O’s go so goes BR, and his back issue is a huge concern. It’s also not one that will ever likely go away. A back issue for a guy who plays second base, uses his leagues as a weapon, and leads off games is a very scary issue. There is simply no replacing him for this team, and few teams in MLB would have a replacement for such a player, so it’s critical that he plays well for 130+ games. We shall see.

- For this season to be a success, it’s good and bad that it doesn’t necessarily have to show up in the wins columns. There are a ton of variables, but I want to see improvement for many different players, and while of course it would be great if those improvements translated into wins, but I just can’t get my arms around that at this point. Trembley will be evaluated on it, and I’m hopeful we will win more games than last year, 10 more at least, but that too will take time to resolve. If Roberts stays healthy, we play solid defense and the BP shows up, I think we can.

- I’m hoping the Mariners can score enough runs and find three more starts to hang in there in the AL West. Lee obviously must get healthy too, but the M’s would do very well to sign Washburn and get him into camp ASAP. He wants to play here so stop low-balling him and ring him in. Some other team could come calling any second, so get it down Jack Z. I’m really looking forward to seeing Chone Figgins and Ichiro at the top of the order, but the pop in the middle of the order right now looks minimal. Even if Milton Bradley keeps his mouth shut, stays healthy and plays well, he’s only played more than 125 games once in his career, so someone is going to have to develop some pop in the middle of the order. Gutierrez can probably hit 25 HR’s, though perhaps not in Safeco, but overall I see his production increasing, but losing Branyan may be a bigger loss than Jack thinks. I still believe the M’s will compete, but the Angels overall rotation seems considerably stronger than the M’s. The rangers will have the same pitching issues as they always do, but that’s just a hunch.

- Kudos to the Butler Bulldogs for making it to the NCAA Hoops Championship game! What a season and what an accomplishment. How they are going to beat Duke I don't know (perhaps get a few calls?!?!?!), but there are going to be 100 million Butler fans cheering them on tonight. Go Bulldogs and Good luck!!!!

I’m glad the baseball season is finally here, and I’m looking forward to seeing my Orioles in Seattle on 4/21 – 4/23, bundled up with Shelby and drinking Red Hook’s. Here's to the start of what I hope to see a view into the O's future successes! Go O’s!