Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles may have the worst record in baseball, but the team we have seen over the last month or so is one that is very different.

It has been very mercurial (sweeping two teams, but getting swept in two others in the past six), but Orioles baseball has been much more entertaining recently.

Here are some reasons not to give up just yet on the team that just loves to test its fan's patience.

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Part of being the team with the worst record in all of baseball is that you become a huge seller right before baseball's trade deadline.

As the team who fits that role, it is no surprise that the Orioles have been talked about these past weeks as being potential sellers for teams that are in the playoff race.

In return for these veterans that the Orioles currently own, team management will look for prospects who can possibly help the team in the future.

Andy MacPhail has always said that he won't make trades just to make them, but with several older veterans on a team that has already looke

When Chris Tillman was demoted for the second time in his career on June 22, he had the feeling that he just didn't belong with the ball club.

Whether his teammates felt the same way or not, Tillman's numbers certainly showed that his thoughts weren't unwarranted.

At 0-3 with a 8.40 ERA, Tillman seemed to be having trouble translating his success with AAA Norfolk to Baltimore and he was struggling to figure out exactly why the gap in performance existed.

However, Saturday's start against the Texas Rangers was a sign that all of that might be a thing of the past.

I don't know if you've heard...but Joey Votto is apparently the hottest thing to hit Cincinnati since the Big Red Machine. He's 26, coming into his prime, a recently-named All-Star, and he is the leader of the Red's playoff-bound (hopefully) 2010 squad.

So, now the question becomes...what does Cincinnati do with Yonder Alonso?

So, you are struggling and cannot seem to get out of your own way. The fantasy offense you put together is slumping and your pitching staff continues to be lackluster at best.

What can you do?

The best players are gone off of waivers and the only players left are scraps. Nothing that can fix your team, right? Wrong. Take a look at these comparisons of players over the last 30 days. Even when there is nothing seemingly available, something can help you out if you know where and how to look.

All stats are over the last 30 days.

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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