Baltimore Orioles

These past two seasons have seen the Orioles graduate more top prospects than nearly any other franchise. 

According to Baseball America's 2009 top prospects list, four members of the Orioles top 10 graduated to the Majors, and eight of the top 29.

This season, the team has seen five of the top 10 players move on to the greener pasture that is Camden Yards, including prospects number one (Brian Matusz), two (Josh Bell), and four (Jake Arrieta).

With the great run the Orioles have had this year, they could be an above-.500 team next year. 

However, it will take a few things to make sure that happens—the biggest of which is a power hitter.

When the calendar finally reaches April of 2011, the Orioles will be back to being the team that is expected to make at least a little noise in the AL East.

During last night's Jays-O's radio broadcast, I heard a "record" that hasn't been getting any press and also one that drew me to an even more startling conclusion.

Baltimore Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis became the third (yes, the THIRD) major leaguer in history to have four straight seasons of 43 or more doubles. Wow, really? Ever? That's quite impressive, well done Nick!

It's no secret that under Buck Showalter's reign, the Baltimore Orioles might as well be a different team. They are 26-15 since he came on board and the biggest reasoning has been the team's pitching.

Coming into the season, the rotation was supposed to be this young group of guys that were the future.

However, that image went out the window in the heat of summer when not a single one of them had an even mediocre ERA.

For the first time in years, the Baltimore Orioles are playing a new role in the American League East: the spoiler. 

Now, as a team that was hoping to win 80 games this year, being the spoiler for other teams’ playoff hopes is still a disappointment no matter how you want to word it.

However, the fact that the O’s have been competitive against the likes of the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays is a very positive thing for a team that was beyond terrible for most of this season.

Via the NY Post:

Maybe it is not a mirror image, but Buck Showalter admits becoming manager of the Orioles feels a bit like when he once became manager of the Yankees.

The Yankees have owned the Orioles this season, beating them in 10 of the 12 times the two teams have faced each other, but Baltimore has been a different team since hiring former Yankees manager Buck Showalter. So this week’s three game series will not be as easy as the head-to-head record would make it seem.

Here are some notes:

On Sept. 1, the roster for every baseball team in the MLB expand for the last month of the season. For some, it doesn't change much; those are the teams that are in pennant races. 

However for teams that are already looking towards 2011, like the Baltimore Orioles, the occasion allows the team to look at the prospects who could possibly be the future of the organization.

The 2010 season has been kind to the Baltimore Orioles minor-league system.

This is great news, because the 2010 season has been a plague for the big league club, who aside from snagging manager Buck Showalter, has failed to incite any real excitement.

As such, the race for Orioles Minor League Player of the Year honors is heating up, and for the first time in a good long while, there are actually more than a few promising nominees.

Today is a good day for Orioles fans everywhere. An amazing win last night would normally be the explanation for this good feeling, but the reason I woke up with a smile on my face this morning was what happened at 11:57 PM—the signing of Manny Machado.

To say that the Machado deal wasn’t nerve-racking would be a lie. From 11:50 to when the deal was announced at 12:03, I was on BaltimoreSun.com and refreshing the page every 10 seconds hoping that there was different news.