Baltimore Orioles: Appreciating the unappreciated

Are the Baltimore Orioles the most intriguing team in the American League East? It’s a nonchalant question with what feels like an obvious answer, but before rejecting the concept altogether, consider the actual definition of the word.

Do the Baltimore Orioles inspire the most curiosity of any team in the American League East? Absolutely.

Whether or not the Vladimir Guerrero investment pays off for the wayward Orioles, the chances of the city of Baltimore seeing their team win the division this year are bleak. It’s virtually impossible to imagine a world in which the franchise not only uncharacteristically thrives in 2011, but thrives more so than the rest of the four teams in their wildly competitive division.

If they found themselves in a division other than the AL East, perhaps they could take solace in an outside shot of sneaking into a wild card or divisional berth, but they don’t. It’s that simple. It’s the unforgiving truth of a Major League Baseball’s unforgiving playoff format.

Instead, Orioles fans will have to hone in on and appreciate the wealth of roster changes that president Andy MacPhail has made over the course of the past nine months.

For the first time in years the Orioles are vastly improved.

And somehow, despite Baltimore’s still-next-to-nil chance of flirting with October baseball, the notoriously woeful club has generated a certain sense of interest from their potentially-explosive infield right down to their retooled rotation.

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Will it be enough to draw fans back to Camden Yards after years of neglect? Far too often in 2010 attendance figures for O’s games resembled more closely NBA games than anything else.

With the addition of 35-year-old slugger Derrek Lee just one year removed from a 35-home run/111-RBI campaign, and now 36-year-old Guerrero (who drove home 115 runs of his own in a reinvigorated 2010), the Orioles have the firepower – however dwindling – to turn heads and shame pitchers in 2011.

If nothing else, the aging duo should at least provide temporary escape from the offensive struggles that plagued the team in 2010. Baltimore finished 27th in runs scored last season (although their ability to keep runs off the board wasn’t much better at 26th).

But, not only has the club sought former franchise leaders to make 2011 special, they’ve added a handful of contributing role players determined to help turn the prognosis in Birdland from nope to hope. Though neither J.J Hardy nor Mark Reynolds will contend for AL MVP, their presence adds depth, and depth inspires confidence.

Confidence of course, is the root of the very success that the franchise has so visibly lacked.

Flash back to July, 2010 when the 32-73 Orioles were, well, exactly that.

With a fresh outlook and commitment to better managing the franchise’s arms, replacement manager Buck Showalter turned Baltimore into a plus-.500 club. Even if weren’t a sign of things to come in his first full year at the helm, it was enough to get a stagnant ball rolling.

Now he’ll have one more year of familiarity with the club and a considerable opportunity to become the first Orioles manager with a winning record since Davey Johnson won 98 games the year Manny Machado* turned five.

Combine the seasoning of Showalter with that of supercatcher Matt Wieters (who struggled in his first full season in the Majors but alleges to have improved his offensive game over the offseason) and the groundwork for a promising future is set.

Too many things have gone right for the historically wrong franchise for them to slide under the radar unappreciated.

Although the Orioles may not be the only team in the AL East to shake up their depth chart this season, they’re the only team to roll the dice on something that could potentially change their fate.

The Boston Red Sox stand to improve from good to great, the New York Yankees won’t regress. The Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays, in contrast, are in the process of slightly less glamorous, but necessary, transitions that won’t yield significant improvements in the standings if any at all.

What makes the situation in Baltimore unique is that MacPhail didn’t have to go out and sign closer Kevin Gregg to a $10 million contract, he didn’t have to upgrade the most forgettable infield in Major League Baseball at all. But he did it anyway, as a desperate shot in the dark to improve a team that hasn’t won 70 games since 2006.

Just once since back-to-back ALCS berths in ’96 an ’97 have the Orioles finished higher than second-last in the American League East Division. Now, with the closest thing to a star-studded roster they’ve had ever since, they’ve made a commitment to pushing themselves farther than they have in a decade.

If that doesn’t pique the interest, you could always stay tuned as the Yankees set out to claim their 15th playoff berth in 16 years with the same roster they’ve had since Bill Clinton was president. Minus Andy Pettitte of course.

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