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Oriole Magic
Prediction Time!
Well there’s not much going on in the baseball world this time of year, but that means it’s as far from being able to be proven wrong as possible. So let’s have some fun with this time of the year and make some predictions!
First off this isn’t just for me to spout of some crazy opinions about what I think will happen in the 2007 baseball season.
This is also a forum for you to spout off all your crazy opinions about what you think will happen in the 2007 baseball season! So please add your predictions in the comments section. Feel free to add either realistic thoughts or fantasy thoughts. After all it’s January. It’s still 6 weeks before pitchers and catchers report to Florida, xo have fun with your imagination!
Ideally I see this year’s Oriole team as a 100 game winner who finally put the Yankees in their place. That’s on the heals of Daniel Cabrera winning the Cy Young with 22 wins, Eric Bedard with 20 of his own, and a revamped bullpen that managed to win 25 games with the help of an Aubrey Huff powered offense providing late inning run support.
What do you think? Would that work for everyone? I wouldn’t complain about that season. Not one little bit!
Unfortunately it would take everything possible going right plus a little divine intervention thrown in to boot to make the 2007 Orioles a 100 win team. I think that with what we’ve got now the Orioles should still have that elusive 82nd win as a more realistic goal. I do think this could be the team that finally breaks the seemingly impenetrable .500 barrier.
This just isn’t going to be the Cinderella season that propels the Birds back into the thick of the playoffs. I wish it was, but it won’t be.
82 wins would leave the Orioles above the .500 mark for the first time in a decade. At this point, I’ll take that.
Be advised now though that once Opening Day gets here my dispassionate look at this team will cease and I won’t be happy with anything less than a World Series trophy being presented to the Orioles in October. Hey, I’m irrational. But at least I know I’m irrational. Just be prepared for when I recant everything I’m saying I’ll accept now and say that all I want is to win in the playoffs. And also keep in mind that you want that too!
In all seriousness though this could be an 82 win team if everyone performs up to their potential. Bedard and Cabrera could both approach the 20 game range. Huff could add enough pop to secure 2 or 3 more wins that we didn’t get last year. The bullpen should be worth not losing 5 or 6 games that we did lose in 2006.
Of course there’s the flip side to all this. Bedard and Cabrera both end up feeling a little high on themselves and regress. The relief pitchers, known for being unpredictable, falter and lose more games this year than last. And Huff could suddenly forget how to lift the ball, hitting 100 line drives into the out of town scoreboard that are played off the carom and turned into outs as Huff gets thrown out heading to second.
That could result in another low 70’s win total.
In other words, who knows what this team will bring?
In all honestly the hope is to be just a little better than last year, thus making the Birds a tiny bit more attractive to slightly superior free agents than the ones we got this year, then repeating that in 2008 with the boost of a few rookies that pan out better than expected.
So have at it, loyal readers! Post your real predictions, your wacky predictions, whatever! Have fun with it!
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13 Responses to “Prediction Time!”
January 3rd, 2007 at 8:51 am
Here are my predictions for for 2007:
1) Cabrera finally gets his act together (as shown towards the end of last year) and becomes freaking INSANE on the mound. Other teams will have nightmares about him.
Miggy breaks his hand when trying to introduce a new move into the Miggy/Melvin/B-Rob celebration routine and has to go on the disabled list. Chris Gomez plays full time SS while he’s gone; Brandan Fahey pouts.
2) Loewen makes progress but doesn’t quite put it all together yet. He’s frustrating at times but continues to be a Yankee killer so Baltimore fans embrace him.
3) Bedard continues to be Bedard and grows sullen when the media insists on talking to him. He misses a handful of starts due to his bad knee, but is still the most reliable on the team.
4) Wright has a solid (but not great) year and manages to stay healthy.
5) Penn is ready for the rotation by the mid-season, so the Orioles trade Benson down the stretch to a desperate team for another bat. Once Benson is traded his sore elbow starts acting up and the O’s look like geniuses (hey, this is fantasy, right?)
6) Rodrigo starts the year in the bullpen, pitches lights out but whines so much that the other guys in the bullpen beat the crap out of him during an Orioles-Devil Rays game where the attendance is 651.
7) Mora bounces back a bit from his decline and blames his 2006 numbers on being depressed when away from his ginormous family, so the entire Mora clan follows him on every road trip and cheers him on from the stands.
9) Nick Markakis meets and falls in love with me.
10) The O’s start off hot but cool down around the All Star break when their offense becomes pretty much non-existant. They make a push towards the end of the season but it’s too little, too late. Final season record: 86-76, 3rd place, 9 games behind the 1st place Yankees.
11) The AL Central continues in being the most dominant division. The Twins win 100 games and the White Sox win the wild card with 97.
I could go on and on….I can’t wait for baseball season! Of course, once it’s here I’ll probably be miserable because the O’s will suck once again.
January 3rd, 2007 at 10:35 am
6) Rodrigo starts the year in the bullpen, pitches lights out but whines so much that the other guys in the bullpen beat the crap out of him during an Orioles-Devil Rays game where the attendance is 651.
That’s good times!
January 3rd, 2007 at 9:34 pm
I don’t mean to be offensive here but this is what I most honestly see happening. The Orioles are again out of contention by the trade deadline and get some prospects out of all the relievers they stockpiled. What team isn’t desperate for bullpen help at the trade deadline?
January 4th, 2007 at 6:45 am
Mike, you can’t really be called offensive when you’re predicting what’s most likely to happen. That’s like someone getting offended at me saying I think the sun is going to come up tommorow.
On the other hand, I like this idea of trading away the bullpen for rookies!
January 4th, 2007 at 7:12 am
My $.02
Bullpen - stinks
Huff - Does ok…
Markaakis - Great year
Bedard/Cabrera - Great Year
Benson - Decent 4.21 year….maybe 15 wins…
Loewen - Makes progress but not quite there…
Rodrigo - designated for assignment 1/3 of the way through the year
January 4th, 2007 at 7:44 am
Orioles 80 WINS
Cabrera 18 game winner
Bedard 15 game winner
Loewen- BUST
Penn- BUST
Lopez- God help us if he is on the roster
Huff- Gibbons type numbers GREAT?!!!
Roberts- We will listen to the Orioles talk extention and do NOTHING until after season
Bullpen- Much improved
Miggy- Traded by deadline
Markakis- NOT a .300 hitter and should not bat 3rd. .285 hitter
January 5th, 2007 at 3:45 am
I’m glad no one was offended. I didn’t want people to think I was coming in here as a Red Sox fan to bash the Orioles. I don’t think the Orioles will win all that much but I do think they’ll have valuable relief pitchers at the trade deadline.
January 5th, 2007 at 10:36 am
I see the Orioles at 80-85 wins. If they were not in the AL East where they would have to play the Yankees & Red Sox 18/19 times, we’d have a show for even more improvement.
That being said, we are at least big bat and an established pitcher away from being a contender. Much of this year will lie on the pitching and that will determine whether we sink or swim.
We’ve gotten better, but not good enough. Although we didn’t get the sexy name we wanted, things have improved and could be interesting in ‘07.
January 5th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
I think the outfield defense will be improved.I also
think that we will see a return to Earl Weaver
style platooning & it will be a successful try.
Also if the young pitching staff steps up we will
break the .500 barrier.The bullpen will make a
difference to the starters & they should do well.
I see a much better offense that will improve our
scoring.Our depth will be recognized as our
record improved.
The only negative I see is the backup catcher &
wouldnot be surprised to see him released as
the season goes on.
January 7th, 2007 at 9:21 am
Orioles-84-78
Huff does well hits .295 withe 25-30 homers… Bedard - 15-18 wins. Yankees - MISS PLAYOFFS!! MWAHAHAHA I wish… Orioles have an upcoming guy with Lowen… he goes 10-12 .
January 8th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Loewen - Great year for this guy, I’m telling you.
Bedard - Career season - less than 2.90 ERA
Cabrera - Make or break season, not sure about him
Wright - Decent, reliable pitcher
Benson - Probably is finished, will be traded by All-Star break and Penn will be promoted
Penn - Not convinced about this guy
Chris Ray - Will be lights out again
Bullpen - Big improvement over last year
Roberts - best season yet…will bat .340
Mora - numbers will dwindle, will bat 6th by end of season
Payton - Should be number two hitter, will bat .298
Markakis - great season. .302
Tejada - typically great season ie .330- WILL NOT BE TRADED
Huff - will bat .280 - 20-30 HRs
Hernandez, Gibbons, Millar - Typical, will hit similar to last year, maybe some hot streaks if O’s are pitching well.
Patterson - 40+ stolen bases, hit .290
I think the O’s will creep over .500 this season if the pitching staff holds it together in the second half. We will all celebrate and then realize how sad it is that we are ecstatic to win 82 games
January 14th, 2007 at 9:40 am
Record: 79-82 (1 unmade rainout), 4th place, 9.5 GB
All-Star: Roberts
Best starter: Erik Bedard, 15-9, 3.22 ERA, 158 K’s
January 17th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Well, looks like Lopez won’t be doing anything this year in a O’s uniform, so scratch that.
Aubrey Huff was the key signing this season and I think we’ll get by with our pitching. I just hope that Benson doesn’t let up as many homers as he did last year. As for the playoffs(PLAYOFFS? Don’t talk about…PLAYOFFS?) I’m not seeing it. 82 wins is my dream for this team and I’ll be happy with nothing less.
Our window of opportunity is running out and we have to get over the hump of being a perennial loser.
Like I said though, Aubrey Huff was the key to our offseason and I think that will pay off. I also have this sneaking suspicion that Jared Wright was also a good gamble. Hopefully he can stay healthy and make that 4th or 5th spot on the rotation stable.
I just sometimes feel like the grounds crew from Major League - “Yeah, but they’re still sh*tty!”
My dream prediction - 85-77 still in the wild card hunt until the final 2 weeks.
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