Baltimore Orioles

Ever since the Tampa Bay Rays became legitimate playoff contenders in 2008, there have been talks of division restructuring throughout the MLB (or at least in each league).

The A.L. Wild Card has gone to a team in the AL East in all but one season in the past seven.  

The problem, however, is that for most of those years the Rays were not a contender.

Now that the Rays have an elite team, there will be, at least for the next few seasons, three teams in the AL East, all deserving of the playoffs: the Rays, Yankees, and Red Sox.

Dave Trembley compiled a 64-98 record in 2009. He had a 68-93 record in 2008. 

This season, Trembley is leading the Orioles to a crisis with a 14-31 record.

How long can the Baltimore Orioles stick with this guy, who is maybe the worst manager in baseball at this time?

Trey Hillman tested the Royals' patience until he was fired. Ned Yost replaced Hillman and has done a decent job so far. 

With the performance he has put up, Trembley is basically begging the O's to fire him. Well, he should be given the door.

It's been nearly 12.5 years since the Baltimore Orioles have been in a playoff game. It's been 12.5 years since Baltimore has last finished a season with a final record above the .500 mark. It's been nearly 5.5 years since the Orioles have seen any place in the final standings better than fourth (and if you don't count the 2004 season, it's been nearly 12.5 years, as well).

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.

The struggling Kansas City Royals have dumped Trey Hillman and replaced him with former Brewers skipper Ned Yost. But don't expect Hillman to be the only MLB manager to be sent packing. There are plenty of other managers who also find themselves standing on thin ice. And so without adieu, here are the managers who I think will be gone before season's end.

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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.

DeSean Jackson has been finding himself in the headlines a lot this week.

One interview with The Sporting News has turned into a giant fiasco, pitting Jackson against his former quarterback and his offensive coordinator.

Last year when the Baltimore Orioles had a 64-98 finish, there was another disappointing fact behind the season: the team had only one All-Star—Adam Jones.

Jones ended up on the All-Star team last year as a reserve after a strong 1st half.

The question this year is: who is going to represent Baltimore for this year's 2010 All-Star game in Los Angeles?

The only former All-Stars on this year's roster are Kevin Millwood (who joined the club via trade), Miguel Tejada (who decided to return to Baltimore via free agency), and last year's outfielder Adam Jones.

The Baltimore Orioles have been struggling over the last couple of years.

The O's do have a reasonable excuse for some of their down years: they are in the toughest division in Major League Baseball which includes teams like the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and the sometimes surprising Toronto Blue Jays. No team would want to compete in the American League East.

But is it good for the Orioles to be competing in the AL East?

It is, if the organization wants to develop their players over the years and keep the stars.

The Baltimore Orioles.

You need another Tampa Bay Rays 2008 season for them to actually have a chance, especially in the AL East with the Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, and the improving Blue Jays.

Their offense is pretty solid with Miguel Tejada, Nick Markakis, Matt Wieters, and Adam Jones.

But it's their pitching staff that's screwing them up.

Kevin Millwood was acquired this past offseason to be the No. 1 guy in the rotation along with Jeremy Guthrie and Brian Matusz.

Though so far, Matusz is the only one with a win in the starting rotation.

Sigh.