Orioles Retrospective: 1 Year Ago (Dec 20, 2009)

I always think it's interesting to turn back the clock a year or so, and see how our perspective on the Orioles has changed... or in this case, how this off-season and last are almost carbons copies of one another. This is a link to a Peter Schmuck article from the Baltimore Sun, from December 20th, 2009.

Read this, and tell me that if you changed around some of the names, it couldn't be used almost verbatim to sum up the off-season so far:

"...all progress is relative in professional sports. The Orioles have advanced over the past few weeks, but if real progress is measured by how much they have narrowed the gap in the American League East, it's hard to make a strong case that they have made any progress at all."

"The Boston Red Sox have signed the top starting pitcher in this year's free-agent market (John Lackey) to a long-term contract, and the New York Yankees acquired marquee center fielder Curtis Granderson in that three-team swap that also involved the Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks."

"The Orioles, meanwhile, have made a handful of modest moves that make sense in the context of MacPhail's long-term strategy. There's just a huge difference between what makes sense and what is going to get fans excited. Lackey wasn't interested in coming here, and Granderson wasn't a fit, so it's not a matter of MacPhail getting one-upped by the club's two top division rivals."

"It's just that those big moves serve as the latest reminders that the Orioles still aren't ready to run with the big dogs of the AL East. Everybody around here already knows that, but the clamor for the Orioles to make a big trade for Adrian Gonzalez or a big play for free agent Matt Holliday is not just a knee-jerk display of fan frustration. That kind of spectacular move would be proof that MacPhail's long-term plan is actually getting close to fruition."

Wierd. He even alludes to the Gonzalez trade that just happened last week, except that it was the Sox who made it.

On another note, here are a couple other interesting tidbits, taken completely out of context to maximize their shock value. No offense at all to Peter - his article, regardless of how I make it sound here, was pointedly (and as it turns out, accurately) pessimistic:

"Kevin Millwood is a decent starting pitcher with a solid track record."

• Yeah, he was... but as an Oriole, he was a 4-16 bust with an ERA of 5.10, who allowed 30 HRs and was inconsistent all year. We were hoping for more. A LOT more.

"Garrett Atkins is an intriguing one-year gamble who could play either corner infield position."

• OR, he could completely suck, hitting like a middle-infielder and getting himself released a quarter of the way through the season.

"Mike Gonzalez is a talented left-handed reliever who should fill the void left when MacPhail traded George Sherrill for third base prospect Josh Bell."

• Kind of a double whammy on this one. We got excited about both Gonzalez and Bell, but the expectations didn't quite live up to all the advanced billing.
• Gonzo was bad, then he was hurt, then his velocity was down but he was ok... only ended up pitching in 29 games. Bell got promoted from AAA, but struck out a ton and his power didn't translate right away; that's a nice way of saying he got out-slugged by Cesar Izturis (.525 OPS, 2 walks in 161 PAs).