Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles need a first baseman.

As former Orioles first baseman Kevin Millar might say: "It's time for the O's to pony up and get it done."

That's the feeling every Oriole fan is experiencing at this moment in time in regards to the first base situation, which has been dragging on for most of the offseason.

As my previous article about the Oakland A’s described the recent activity of these traditionally small-market and to some extent '80s-competitive “super” power teams, because I discussed the A’s in that article I will omit them from this one, their moves notwithstanding.

When I saw that Cliff Lee had signed with the Philadelphia Phillies around midnight last night, it got me thinking about a few things:

The top four of their starting rotation is so stacked, they can afford to leave their offense the way it is—balanced but not loaded like the 2010 season (due to the departure of Jayson Werth)—and still win many, many games.

Nick Markakis was supposed to be the one middle of the order option that fantasy owners could depend on from the Baltimore Orioles.  Unfortunately, all that we got was a major disappointment. 

Is it something that we should have seen coming?  That’s debatable.

Now, the $64,000 question is if we can expect a rebound in 2011.  Before we can answer that question, we first need to look at what he did in 2010:

With two swift moves, the Baltimore Orioles went from having one of the weakest infields in baseball to one of the best.

Earlier in the week, the Orioles acquired Mark Reynolds from the Arizona Diamondbacks to play third base. I didn’t get a chance to post on that trade, but I really liked it from the Orioles perspective.

It really seems like the Orioles are running in quicksand, doesn't it?

On the day of the biggest trade to hit Baltimore since the Erik Bedard deal, the team is still overshadowed by Boston's trade for Adrian Gonzalez and Toronto shipping Shaun Marcum off to Milwaukee.

Such is life in the American League East.

The Baltimore Orioles have sent relievers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio to the Arizona Diamondbacks for their slugging, strikeout-prone third baseman Mark Reynolds.

Even though it happened only a couple hours ago, every Orioles fan knows that by now.

Reynolds is a legitimate, right-handed power bat, having hit 32 homers last season, and 44 in 2009.

Have you ever hear the expression “swing hard in case you hit it”? Well, that is the epitome of Orioles newly acquired third baseman Mark Reynolds.

Reynolds was traded for on Monday morning, just after the first day of Major League Baseball’s winter meetings in Florida began. In return, the Orioles gave away relievers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio (from Triple-A Norfolk).

Rumor has it that the Orioles have emerged as the front-runners for third-baseman Mark Reynolds.

Buster Olney reported the whispers this morning, confirming what Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman suspected last night.

So far, the only real pieces being discussed in a possible trade are Chris Tillman and David Hernandez, who has been linked to more teams this off-season than Adam Dunn.

Like most sports, a head coaching change means a complete overhaul of the entire coaching staff. While Buck Showalter used Dave Trembley's crew for his time in August and September to finish the season, Showalter has spent the last few months figuring out who he wants to help him in the rebuilding effort.

The adventure took a bit longer than expected—probably because there were so many managerial spots available—but Showalter finally has the guys he wants. 

This is quite an impressive group.