Know Thy Enemy 2012: Baltimore Orioles

Who else were you expecting for us to pick to finish last in the American League East?

9/27: This is litrally killing me

Boston Red Sox (89-71) @ Baltimore Orioles (68-92) Erik Bedard (5-9, 3.50) @ Zach Britton (11-11, 4.44) 7:05 PM EDT…

AL East Sleepers: Baltimore Orioles

Starting this season, the Orioles will be one of the more interesting teams in the division for what should be the better part of the decade. The top of the minors are awash with upper echelon pitching prospects (Brian Matusz, Chris Tillman, Jake Arrieta) to go along with plenty of reinforcements in the low minors. The lineup card is stocked with building blocks that are either locked up long-term (Nick Markakis) or have just started their arbitration clock (Matt Wieters, Adam Jones, Nolan Reimold). While the 2010 season may not be the year of the Oriole, it will be a significant landmark in the progress of the club. The team is not expected to “compete” in the classical sense, in that they will still likely finish either fourth or fifth behind the Sox, Rays, and Yanks. Yet, the team could, with a couple of breaks in the right direction, finish with a .500 record – the first time Baltimore has done so since 1997. Now, on to the sleepers: C Matt Wieters: This one should come as no surprise. Coming into 2009, Wieters was at the top of nearly every meaningful prospect list known to man. Switch-hitting catchers with the plate discipline, power, AND defensive capabilities of a Matt Wieters come around once in a generation. Accordingly, he was expected to perform much better than he ultimately did, .288/.340/.412. Even the perennially underwhelming and modest PECOTA projections pegged Wieters to hit 30 home runs...

Know Thine Enemy 2009: Baltimore Orioles

It's time for Fire Brand's annual Know Thy Enemy series, one where we reveal our division standing predictions over the course of the week by taking you into each division rival and examining what we will have to deal with.

Today, we talk fifth place; the consensus by Fire Brand to host that spot are the Baltimore Orioles.

Their offense, like it was last year, will be among the best in the league. The pitching? Terrible.

Lucchino and Henry want civilized spending

See, in a perfect world, every team would have a General Manager/Front Office that could make good moves, while spending as little money as possible. In this world, the top-tier payrolls would have a distinct advantage. If every GM was skilled at their job, and there wasn't much difference between the minds that are within each organization, then the extra money that a club would have, would play an even more significant role.

Know Thy Enemy: 2008 Baltimore Orioles

Welcome to the 2008 Know Thy Enemy series. A staple of Fire Brand that covers all AL East foes plus…

Beckett K’s nine, Sox pound Mariners

Josh Beckett struck out nine Seattle Mariners (60-49) and Manny Ramirez hit his 19th homerun of the season in the…

Matsuzaka fans 10, Sox snap Safeco losing streak

Facing the hardest team in either league to strikeout entering the game Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka (13-8) struckout 10…

Manny Being Traded Today?

We’re going to keep an updated Winter Meetings column going today because there’s way too many news going on. 8:22…

Manny, It's all about Manny

There’s way too much stuff going on at the winter meetings for me to post any comprehensive article today. It’s…