The Orioles' magical 2012 ride -- for which we all needed to buckle up -- came to an end Friday night in New York as the Orioles lost the ALDS to the Yankees, three games to two. Let us eulogize the season that was.
What went right
The Orioles defied odds throughout the season, continuing to win games despite mass concerns about the rotation, lineup and run differential. Adam Jones and Matt Wieters proved themselves a capable offensive and defensive nucleus to a winning ballclub. Former also-rans or has-beens like Nate McLouth, Joe Saunders and Lew Ford found a home in Baltimore. Mark Reynolds found a defensive home at first base. Chris Tillman and Miguel Gonzalez have developed into good major-league starters and Brian Matusz has found his home in the bullpen. Speaking of which, the Orioles boasted arguably the best bullpen in the majors throughout the season. Manny Machado showed flashes of his star power, too.
And who can forget the 29-9 regular-season record in one-run games or the 16-2 regular-season record in extra-inning games?
And much, much more. In so many ways, it was a season to remember for the underdog Orioles.
What went wrong
There was actually uncertainty at several positions throughout the first half before settling down a bit. The starting rotation was seemingly always up in the air, and don't forget about Nick Markakis missing 58 games with two different major injuries and knee surgery limiting Jason Hammel to just two second-half starts. Still, what went wrong overall this year for the Orioles was mostly few and far between.
MVP: Manager Buck Showalter. What he did in plugging so many different pieces into so many different places and making it work was masterful. That's in addition to making a group that almost everyone believed would finish last believe the dissenters were wrong.
LVP: I could go with an ancillary part here (like Kevin Gregg), but I'm copping out. In a season this special and unexpected, there's no least valuable player.
Free agents to be: SP Randy Wolf, SP Joe Saunders, OF Nate McLouth, OF Endy Chavez, DH Jim Thome
| More playoff coverage |
Game plan heading into the offseason
So much of this season happened on the fly, like the Orioles were just winging it in several areas and things just kept working. Still, the organization would surely like to stabilize as many different spots as possible. Position player-wise, that shouldn't be difficult. They have Machado for third, J.J. Hardy at shortstop, the Mark Reynolds/Chris Davis combo for first base and DH, Markakis in right field, Adam Jones in center and a McLouth/Ford platoon in left if they want it. The bullpen is set, too.
The Orioles could use an upgrade at second base, unless they want to hand the keys to Ryan Flaherty and see what he can do, which wouldn't be an awful decision.
Which brings us to the starting rotation. Chris Tillman, Jason Hammel, Wei-Yin Chen and Miguel Gonzalez seem sure bets to open the season in the rotation. Will they bring back Saunders on a one-year deal to bridge the gap to whenever uber-prospect Dylan Bundy is deemed ready? Will they use Steve Johnson and/or Zach Britton until Bundy is ready? Will they throw Bundy in the fire?
It's hard to tell, but one thing is for sure: The Orioles are getting close to having an overabundence of quality major-league starters. So many teams are searching for extra arms that the Orioles have some pretty good trading chips should they wish to upgrade someone else (again, second base -- and maybe left field).
Ridiculously premature prediction for 2013
Dylan Bundy comes up in late May and dominates. He goes on to win AL Rookie of the Year.