Oriol-OH-s

Winston-Salem, NC – The Orioles have been the “hometown” team growing up until the Montreal Expos moved to Washington prior to the 2005 season to become the Nationals. I now had an excuse to jump ship from the Baltimore franchise whose wheels are turning, but they’re upside down. With the launch of MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network) this year, many fans expected the Orioles’ front office to pour some of the new revenue into payroll. The marquee free agent “bopper” turned out to be the mediocre Aubrey Huff. But he killed Orioles' pitching as a Devil Ray in Camden Yards for the past couple of years! In addition, the O’s also added and re-signed several spare parts in Jay Payton, Kevin Millar and Jay Gibbons. Herein lies the problem – rather than doling out $9.5M for Payton, $2.75M for Millar, and $21M for Gibbons, why don’t you save that cash and overpay for an impact bat? These three guys are all interchangeable, both with the bat and the glove. Althought, Payton is definitely the best defensive player out of the three. There is a smorgasbord of center fielders in free agency this offseason: Andruw Jones, Torii Hunter, Mike Cameron, Ichiro Suzuki, etc. I don't want to hear from the front office, "We don't have the cash to pay these guys."

With MASN boosting the revenue stream, the O’s front office reacted by spending $42M to revamp a defunct bullpen. Danys Baez, the most expensive of those bullpen pieces at 3 years and $19M, has a 6.94 ERA through today. Jamie Walker, 3 years and $12M, continues to give up key runs in the ballgame like last night. Scott Williamson has been non-existent, hiding on the DL. By throwing money at a glaring need, the O’s figured that the new bullpen would yield an extra 7-10 wins -- putting them near their team goal of reaching .500. When I say “Orioles’ front office,” it’s a synonym for the beleaguered owner, Peter Angelos. Until Angelos hires a capable GM AND ceases to meddle, the Orioles will be nothing but 4th place stalwarts in the loaded AL East. It's time to quit leaving ashes in October all over one of baseball's crown jewel of a ballpark. The fans have seen the same losing product on the field for 10 years. Continue to develop the pitching and sign a superstar to cover centerfield. The Orioles' fans deserve better than this, even if they're "Baltimorans."