Kuzul

If defense wins championships, then having a good pitching staff is the key to World Series titles.

With that idea in mind, Andy MacPhail has spent his time as the general manager of the Orioles by stockpiling talented pitchers in the Baltimore farm system and slowly cultivating a rotation (as well as a bullpen) that can win pennants, much like the Tampa Bay Rays have.

That being said, let us take a look at some of those arms that Baltimore thinks will eventually turn the organization around and review their progress so far.

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While the MLB Draft might not be as watched as its other professional counterparts, that doesn’t mean that being successful in it doesn’t translate into success.

That being said, here are the first 10 guys that the Orioles selected in hopes that they will revive this dying franchise.

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When Jake Arrieta takes the field tonight against the New York Yankees, it will not be the ideal scenario for a youngster making his debut. 

He will be making his MLB debut on one of the biggest stages in sports 

Even though it is at Camden Yards, calling it a home game is somewhat of a stretch. The crowd will be two-thirds Yankees fans, and he will also have to go up against the most powerful team in the history of baseball.

Simple put, this isn’t the scenario you would like to put one of your top prospects in as his first start.

Arrieta is the last of the recent swarm of pitching prospects that will be brought up by the O’s over the last year. The list includes Brad Bergesen, David Hernandez, Jason Berken, Chris Tillman, and Brian Matusz. While there is yet another wave available in class A and AA, they are a few years off—these are the players of now.

Tonight’s game should be a happy occasion for Baltimore—one that should have been the Orioles showing off the last piece of an already impressive stockpile. 

Instead, Arrieta joins a group of pitchers that are 31-52 with a combined 5.09 ERA and make up the majority of one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball. 

It is true that not all prospects turn into stars, but what the Orioles seem to have in the pros could turn out to be a prospect graveyard. There is still hope for Matusz, but Hernandez, Berken, Bergesen, and Tillman all seem to be struggling and in danger of turning into duds.

Considering how badly the Orioles need Arrieta to be a success, they don’t seem to be helping him out at all. 

Look at how the Nationals handled Stephen Strasburg. They not only waited patiently until he was ready, but they also waited until they could play a beatable opponent (the Pirates) and could fill the stands with Nationals fans. Every fan in that stadium was rooting for him. 

Instead of doing that, the Orioles are calling up Arrieta because it happens to be convenient for them and are risking his chance of being a successful pitcher in the process.

The Orioles have the worst record in baseball. The idea of calling up a player on the organization’s time instead of when it is best for the player is ludicrous and is quite possibly one of the reasons the Orioles can’t succeed in cultivating their talent.

Bringing up Arrieta is reminiscent of the Tillman and Matusz call-ups last year; it is nothing more than a publicity stunt. 

The O’s are terrible and can’t get fans to come to the ballpark any more. Andy MacPhail is just using Arrieta as a pawn to get Orioles fans to stay interested. He will probably do the same thing with Josh Bell and Brandon Snyder at the end of the year. 

These aren’t the actions of man building a dynasty; they are that of a man who is trying to buy himself some time.

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If there is one thing that the 2010 season has shown the city of Baltimore, it is that the rebuilding process is far from over.

The Orioles need help in just about every facet of the game and since they can’t dump money on veterans like the Red Sox or Yankees, the draft is where they can add talent.

While baseball prospects take a few years to grow (this is why the minors are called ‘farm systems’), the products can be just as effective.

Just look at the Tampa Bay Rays and all they accomplish. Despite a low budget and small fan base, they compete at the highest level because of what they do in the minors.

That being said, here are a few names of guys that might be joining the Orioles organization in this ear’s MLB draft.

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If anyone needed more proof to why Canada shouldn’t be a country, Baltimore Orioles’ Adam Jones can probably convince you.

This is because Jones was detained by Canadian immigration while on the trip to Toronto for last night’s game despite having no criminal record at all.

I honestly wish this was another one of my satire articles, but this is the God’s-honest-truth.

Jones had to stay at the airport for a few hours and did not get released until 5 a.m. This is all despite the fact that Jones has never been arrested for anything at all and takes pride in his clean record.

Speculation is that Jones was confused with fellow professional athlete Adam “Pacman” Jones, who has been notorious for his mischievous activities and giving Roger Goodell headaches.

However, this hasn’t been verified to Baltimore’s Jones, who is still in the dark as to why he was unable to continue on his trip to Toronto with the rest of his teammates.

While Canada might not want to tell everyone that this was the case, it is definitely what happened. Personally though, I don’t blame them. I’d be embarrassed too if I had just detained someone for hours because they were the same race as another person.

“Adam Jones” isn’t exactly a rare name. Would you yell at a white guy named “John Smith” and say that he was mean to Pochahantas? Yea, I didn’t think so.

The only possible explanation is that Canadians honestly think that all black people look alike. While racism shouldn’t be the center of any argument, it isn’t like Canadians have much experience with black people.

They are like aliens there. I’ve been to Quebec City, and the two black people I saw were looked at like mutants.

I know that I truly look for reasons to make fun of Canada, but this was too good of an opportunity to pass on.

Mistaken identity is one thing, but mistaking two people who look nothing alike just because they share an incredibly common name and happen to be black is hilarious.

Maybe when Canada has the technology to do this for them like the rest of the world, we won’t make fun of them for saying “about” like “a-boot”

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Anyone who has seen the Orioles bat this season knows how terrible they have been. Actually, one doesn’t even need to do that much; they just need to look at their record (14-30) and number of runs scored (26th in the MLB).

Amongst many things creating a shortage of runs is the lack of power in the O’s lineup. Now, manufacturing runs via baserunning and situational hitting can be improved throughout the season, but power can’t. Teams either have it, or they don’t. The Orioles don’t.

Baltimore is eleventh in the American League in extra base hits and seventh in home runs this season. While that seventh is technically in the middle of the pack, it is terrible when you consider how small the field is at Camden Yards. The Orioles should be amongst the leaders in home runs every year because of the dimensions of that park. 

Usually, there is very little a team can do at this point in the year to supplement its power besides making a costly trade; however, there is still a player sitting by the phone waiting for a call that could provide pop for a dying Orioles lineup—Jermaine Dye.

While Dye might not be the fielder that people want in the outfield, he would be valuable to the Orioles as a designated hitter and could be that guy in the middle of the lineup that can drive in runs and actually strike fear into pitchers.

In addition, his ability to hit home runs could give guys like Nick Markakis better pitches to hit and get him hitting with power as well. 

Miguel Tejada and Ty Wigginton might be good hitters with the ability to drive guys in, but there isn’t a pitcher in baseball that is actually scared of them. Dye would provide that player who pitchers don’t want to face…especially with the short porches in Camden Yards. 

The biggest reason this wouldn’t happen is owner Peter Angelos’s insistence to not spend a decent chunk of money on a team without hope. While I would normally see this as common sense, I think there is a need to protect the younger pitchers with run support. 

Developing pitchers isn’t just about growing talent; it is about nurturing their confidence. The easiest way to do this is win games they pitch, even when they might not be at their best. It says the team has their back and that is something that younger players need to know. 

Look at Brian Matusz decline over the season. He hasn’t looked like the same pitcher who started 2-0 over the past two weeks and that might be because he became discouraged when some of his best starts didn’t translate into wins.

By losing games that Matusz, Brad Bergesen, or David Hernandez pitch well in, it kills the youngsters inside whether they want to admit it or not. This is why the O’s need Dye. The run support he could provide could actually help the development of the Orioles pitching. 

It seems odd to say that an old vet providing short-term help to the offense could help in the long-term development of pitching prospects, but I think that would be the case here.

The Orioles need help at the plate desperately and Dye would be the easiest solution. I’m no general manager, but I think that Dye is the best way to improve this team without giving up a top prospect.

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In his nine seasons of professional baseball, Ty Wigginton has been somewhat of a journeyman.

Playing on his sixth team, Wigginton was signed two offseasons ago as a utility guy that could be an insurance policy if a starter went down with injury.

Now he is not just a starter for the Orioles, but he is the only lively bat in Baltimore.

When the season began, Wigginton was looked at as a disposable piece. With an infield of veterans like Miguel Tejada, Cesar Izturis, Brian Roberts, and Garrett Atkins/Luke Scott, Wigginton was the odd man out. That sentiment only got worst when the Orioles traded for Julio Lugo.

Because of the acquisition of Lugo, when Brian Roberts got injured, Wigginton wasn’t even the first option. However, he was given the chance when Lugo’s bat was nonexistent and manager Dave Trembley was desperate to try anything new to spark the offense.

Since then, Wigginton has been Baltimore’s sole bright spot at the plate. He leads the team in home runs, RBI, and average. In fact, if he didn’t emerge as a guy who could knock guys in, the Orioles might be looking at an average with RISP lower than the already microscopic .239 it is at now.

Going into this season, I listed about a dozen X-factors for the Orioles offense. This list included Roberts, Adam Jones, Matt Wieters, Felix Pie, Nick Markakis, and Atkins.

Wigginton was about as far away from that list as the Orioles are to the Rays in the standings. Now, he is the only thing keeping O’s fans from having a full-scale riot.

In a best-case scenario, Roberts could be back by mid-June, but even if he is able to stay healthy (odds are similar to Ken Griffey Jr. speaking to Larry LaRue of the Tacoma News Tribune) , it won’t be the end of Wiggy. There is no way Wigginton is kept out of the lineup, especially with the void of production at first base.

As of right now, the Orioles are the only team in baseball that hasn’t had a first baseman hit a home run. Atkins has been a total bust, Rhyne Hughes was just demoted, and prospect Brandon Snyder has struggled in AAA Norfolk. When Roberts returns, it is only fitting that the Orioles fill that void with the one power hitter they have.

If that is able to fix this one particular problem, the O’s can focus on another problem, such as the bullpen, baserunning, or clutch hitting. Notice that starting pitching isn’t on that list for the first time in a decade.

It gets harder and harder to write about the Orioles these days, and Wigginton has kept it bearable for me these last few weeks. Maybe things will get better for a team that seems to have holes bigger than that of the Titanic, but until then, I will hold on to what I can get.

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If there was one concern that every Orioles fan had going into the season, it was the fact that the O’s first 32 games were absolutely brutal.

Their start included a stretch of 16 straight games without a day off to stat the season, and all but three of the games were against teams with a winning record.

While going 9-23 during that stretch isn’t exactly what fans were expecting, they can take solace in the fact that things might get better in the upcoming games.

Last night’s win over Seattle was the second game of an eight game homestand that could very well signal the revival of the Orioles. 

The homestand includes one more game against Seattle, three against Cleveland, and a two-game series versus Kansas City—all teams of which have struggled almost as much as Baltimore.

Not only does the upcoming schedule seem conducive for an Orioles revival, but over the last two weeks, the O’s have started to show some life.

After appearing to be one of the worst teams in baseball over the first 20 games or so, Baltimore swept the Red Sox-for the first time since 1998-and then split a four-game series in Minnesota.

I’m not saying that the team has been great, but there has certainly been improvement.

Ty Wigginton has added some surprising pop to the Orioles lineup, and Miguel Tejada and Nick Markakis are starting to heat up as well. Add that to a starting rotation that has actually been pretty solid all season, and you can see why the Orioles have been improving.

If the Orioles can win five or six of these games in the homestand, it could keep this steady improvement going and get the confidence of the younger guys back.

Not only that, but it will show the fans something that will keep them from revolting.

Even the patient O’s supporters are starting to question general manager Andy MacPhail’s “grand master plan.” We need something to make us think that this isn’t just another failed attempt at resurrecting the organization.

I said it at the beginning of the season, and I still believe it: the Orioles are not a bad team-they are far from it. They have the tools to compete with anyone; they just haven’t been able to do it thus far.

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