When I was a kid, there was a time (1988 through 1990) when the American League East just wasn't very good. The division champ averaged a little more than 88 victories a year, while over in the AL West, the winner was averaging a much-more-robust 102 wins (+16%) over that same period. My father, who hated the DH with a passion and carried that over into a matching disgust of American League teams in general, used to call it the "American League Least". He was pretty biased; as a Mets fan since 1962, he had some serious Yankee envy, and had no love for the Sox, either.
The team alignment was a little different then, as baseball didn't move to the current six division configuration until 1994. But the Red Sox, Yankees, Orioles, and Blue Jays were all still together in the AL East, so most of today's core was there. The general economic conditions were the same, and unlike today, there was no cap of any kind, soft or hard, and revenue sharing didn't come into play until the collective bargaining negotiations of 1996, in the form of a "competitive balance tax".
I remember the time pretty vividly, as I was in my teens, and that's pretty much when young men are at their baseball-watching peak... It wasn't like either team was doing obviously dumb things, or had some sort of huge fundamental philosophical flaw that doomed them to a few years of mediocrity; they just weren't that good. All the normal reasons played a part: they got older, made some bad signings, they had key injuries, and didn't have quite enough minor league talent to supplement a diminished roster. Nothing magic there... just depressingly mediocre teams.
So, given that I remember the AL East being down for a while, and remember it very well... my opinion might be a little different than most. I think that what I've been hearing over the last few years, about the AL being an "undefeatable juggernaut", is a bit of an over-reaction; one that's leveraged and promoted to great extent by ESPN, the MLB Network, etc.. because the Red Sox/Yankee rivalry is incredible for ratings.
The over-used cop-out of: "It doesn't matter what the team does, because they're not going to be able to compete with the Red Sox or Yankees, anways..." is a ricketty old crutch, honestly. Those two teams have a financial advantage, granted. They have great fan support which drives a tremendous amout of revenue: their fans show up to the games in droves, buy jerseys and hats and hamburgers and $40 parking spots, and pay extra every month for the NESN and YES networks. But they do that because at the end of the day, they believe that those teams are going to win. Their teams have consistently demonstrated that they're going to put the best possible product on the field, year-in and year-out. Neither one has stopped to "rebuild" in almost 20 years. So their fans believe they're going to come out on top, or at least be exciting in the attempt, and they're willing to pay for a winner.
I read the other day that the Orioles payroll is right around $94 million right now, give or take. Thats definitely less than the Red Sox at $161 million, or the Yankees at around $196 million, but not by as much as you might think.... And O's managment has committed to that salary level after 13 consecutive losing seasons. If the team manages to get it's head above water over the next few years, bringing in more fans, boosting attendance and TV ratings, etc... how much further can they go?
To build a winner, you don't just have to build a base of major league talent, or a foundation of minor league prospects, or have the right management team in place.. you also have to build trust. The fan base has to trust that you're going to protect their interests, trust that you're going to put the best possible product on the field, and not embarrass them when they wear their hats and jerseys or talk to their co-workers. They have to trust that you're not going to make them feel like second-class citizens in sports, like a lot of them already do in life.
That's why the Vladimir Guerrero, Derrek Lee, and Kevin Gregg signings are not only important to the team's future, they're tremendously important, regardless of whether the contracts were for one year, or five... it doesn't even really matter if each player produces on the field, as the end of the day. Each signing built hope, which is the first step in building trust. With each, the team saw an opportunity to make the team better, regardless of whether or not they could have gotten by with a lower-priced alternative. And in each situation, they got the job done... suprising the hell out of most of us. Instead of thinking "Same old Orioles", we're thinking "Maybe somethings changing... maybe."
Now it's time for them to take it to the next level. The Red Sox and Yankees aren't unbeatable, the Rays proved that the next couple of years. And there's a heck of a lot more support here for the Orioles than there is in St Pete for the Rays.
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