During spring training, hope springs eternal for all 30 MLB teams, regardless of their chances of contending in the coming season. Such is life at the Baltimore Orioles camp in Sarasota, Fla., even though the O's finished the 2009 campaign with the worst record in the American League (64−98).
Considering that division−rival New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox both reloaded their rosters during the past offseason, and that the Tampa Bay Rays are likely to bounce back from a rough 2009, the Orioles' outlook for 2010 is bleak. But you wouldn't know it from the excitement of the team's brass.
That's because — after nearly a decade of pitiful pitching — the Orioles have finally developed a pipeline of young arms that portends a much brighter future.
It's hard to win in baseball without some semblance of continuity and effectiveness from the pitching staff, and Baltimore has had neither throughout the past decade. The Orioles have had roughly a dozen starting pitchers annually in recent seasons due to injury, poor performance and a lack of depth.
Considering that Baltimore's payroll is only a fraction of that of the Yankees and Red Sox, the Orioles have been confined to developing their own cheap prospects. And after countless failures, they've finally found success under President of Baseball Operations Andy MacPhail and Player Development Director David Stockstill.
MacPhail took over the Orioles' baseball operations department in June 2007. The next offseason, he promptly sent the oft−injured Erik Bedard to the Seattle Mariners for a package that included outfielder Adam Jones, as well as pitchers George Sherrill, Tony Butler, Chris Tillman and Kam Mickolio. Two years later, that deal has blossomed into the heist of the decade.
Although Butler's stock has declined sharply because of injuries, he has been the only disappointment in the Orioles' haul. Jones has developed into an excellent center−fielder in the Torii Hunter mold, while Mickolio will soon play a significant role in the team's bullpen. Sherrill was swapped to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Josh Bell, a switch−hitting prospect who figures to be Baltimore's third−baseman of the future. And Tillman is the best pitcher of the lot.
By pairing the right−handed Tillman with their 2008 first−round pick, southpaw Brian Matusz, the Orioles believe that they will soon boast an elite one−two punch at the top of their rotation. But there's plenty more where those two came from. Baltimore's farm system also includes 2007 fifth−rounder Jake Arrieta and 2005 third−rounder Brandon Erbe, both of whom excelled at the Double−A level last season. And don't sleep on 2004 fourth−rounder Brad Bergesen, who — despite having a lower ceiling than that quartet — posted a 3.43 ERA in 19 big league starts last season.
The Orioles acquired veteran starter Kevin Millwood from the Texas Rangers and signed closer Mike Gonzalez in free agency this winter to help groom those young guns into mature big league pitchers. Baltimore also welcomed corner−infielders Miguel Tejada and Garrett Atkins to a lineup that features a host of high−ceiling bats, including homegrown catcher Matt Wieters, left−fielder Nolan Reimold and right−fielder Nick Markakis.
Yet, the aforementioned pitching prospects are the ones drawing the most attention in spring training. That should come as no surprise, considering that the Orioles' staff has ranked either last or second−to−last in the majors with an aggregate ERA north of 5.00 in each of the past four seasons.
The Orioles won't contend with the Red Sox and Yankees in 2010, and are more likely to be this year's version of the 2009 Oakland Athletics, who introduced their own outstanding prospects — Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez and Josh Outman — to the show last season. But if all goes well, the O's could field an entirely homegrown starting rotation by 2012, and their once dreadful pitching would become the envy of the league.
