Baltimore Orioles

Who knew that when the Orioles took Matt Wieters and Caleb Joseph in the first seven rounds of the 2008 MLB draft, they would be getting two of the better catchers available in that pool of players?

Clearly, Wieters, now starring for the big league club is a sure-fire star, but had Joseph been the only backstop taken, no doubt the club would be touting the 23-year old as the organization's catcher of the future.

What place will the Baltimore Orioles fall in 2010?  More than 80 wins could be a start. 

Of course there is room for optimism.  Every fan has that in the offseason.  Hoping there club can make the right moves to drive his or her home team to the playoffs.

The reality of the situation is that the Orioles haven’t had a winning record since the late '90s.  This discourages top tier free agents from coming to Baltimore. 

WOYK 1350-AM, and the York Revolution of the Atlantic League have come together on a three-year partnership.  The agreement was announced by Revolution general manager Matt O’Brien and WOYK general manager Vince Grande.

“We’re excited to be broadcasting on the area’s most powerful AM signal,” O’Brien stated in a news release. “Being a sports station, WOYK 1350 broadcasts York College basketball, the NFL playoffs, the Super Bowl and now the York Revolution. It’s a great fit.”

The Baltimore Orioles are very close to re-emerging as a force in the American League East. They have the core of a solid lineup in place. The offense is led my right fielder Nick Markakis (.293/.347/.453) and features several emerging young hitters.

The Baltimore Orioles may not have been to the postseason since 1997, but the Maryland franchise has a rich history which includes three World Series victories and a string of first place finishes in the AL East under Earl Weaver in the 1970s.

One question, hundreds of answers. Which Oriole had the greatest offensive season at his position?

Major League baseball has been asking fans this same question in an effort to choose each team's best ever collection of stars. They are calling it MLB 9s.

The run on infielders continues with 2009 draftee and newly appointed "shortstop of the future" Mychal Givens coming in as the 12th best prospect in the Orioles system.

You may remember Givens from his tenuous, down to the last minute draft-deal days. Many, including Dave Stockstill, Joe Jordan and Andy MacPhail had given up on getting a deal done with Givens before the draft deadline.

• Year: 1998
• Record: 65-97
• Win %: .401
• Win % Change: -87
• Run Differential: -141
• Pythagorean Record: 68-94
• AL Finish: 13th of 14
• Manager: Buddy Bell and Larry Parrish
• Best Transaction: In December, the Tigers signed Luis Gonzalez as a free agent to fill a hole in the corner outfield spots. This worked out just fine … for one season. Gonzalez slugged more than 20 homers but was out of town within a year. We all know how that worked out.
  

Matt Wieters was one of the most anticipated players heading into 2009, with fantasy owners waiting with bated breath for him to make his presence felt. Of course, the results fell short of the lofty expectations, as Wieters was kept in the minors until May 29 before being recalled and posting the following line:

In a way, it’s like watching the dude you went to high school with that always had something smart to say walk across the stage at graduation.

You spent most of your time convincing yourself not to punch him in the mouth, but you remember the times where he actually said something funny.

You have to go back a good long ways to find a guy who made as big a jump from nobody to somebody like Pedro Florimon Jr. did in 2009. For starters, the scrawny shortstop didn't even make the mentionables in Baseball America's 2009 Prospect Handbook.

He also came into the season coming off a year in which he hit .223 with zero home runs, only 27 walks and nearly 100 strikeouts.