Line 'em up

The Orioles lineup has been debated on countless sites, so I figure I'd offer my attempt at maximizing production to start the season.

Roberts and Izturis at #1 and #9 are pretty much a given, as is Markakis at the #3 spot as that is where DT wants to put him, though he's said Nick could hit in the #2 spot as well.

Nolan Reimold is my #2 hitter because of the power and patience he can provide at the top of the order and the fact that he's not a baseclogger either showing decent speed on the basepaths. He's a nice fit at #2 as he and Roberts can set the table for Markakis.

The cleanup spot however is crucial, and unfortunately Andy didn't give Trembley much to work with here. He doesn't have a true cleanup hitter on the team, yet. Now one of Jones, Wieters and Reimold could be that guy, but you do not want any of them swinging for the fences to start the season. There's no need to screw up any of those guys because if they fail, the Orioles are DONE.
There's no backup in the minors and Andy hasn't acquired any help for them in the majors. It's all on them.

Now with that taken into consideration, Luke Scott is my choice for cleanup hitter. He's more expendable that those other guys, and as he's usually better in the first half of the season, the Orioles can take advantage of his power. As he fades, one of the younger guys will most likely have taken off and can take his place. But they don't need that pressure to start.

Jonesy is my #5 hitter because I think that's his best spot with his power and lack of getting on base compared to Reimold and Wieters.

Wieters bats #6, but eventually I think he'll take the #3 spot from Markakis as our most consistent hitter.

Tejada is learning a new position so why bat him high in the order? Players who are learning a new position typically also struggle in that season so Tejada probably won't be as productive to start IMO. But I think he can still provide some nice consistency average wise at the bottom of the order.

Atkins is a reclamation project, so #8 is where he goes until he plays his way off the team, or heats up to justify a move up in the lineup.

So there you have it. To recap:

2B Roberts
LF Reimold
RF Markakis
DH Scott
CF Jones
C Wieters
3B Tejada
1B Atkins
SS Izturis

Eventually I expect the lineup to shake out like this:

2B Roberts
RF Markakis
C Wieters
LF Reimold
CF Jones
DH Scott
3B Tejada
1B Atkins
SS Izturis

We'll have to see how Spring Training goes, but that's my best lineup possibility for now.

Angelos doesn't believe in Andy's plan?

That's sure what it seems like in his latest quote with MLB.com, but we'll get to that.

First of all the article is entitled "Orioles ready to compete in 2010"

Yeah, right...

But moving on, you've got some positive Orioles quotes in here from Andy MacPhail, who has been selling his plan of hope and competing with homegrown players and taking down the Yankee and Red Sox juggernauts:

Tampa Bay, with much lower revenues, a small payroll and quality young players, proved it can beat the Yankees and Red Sox, and play in the World Series.

"Our feeling is if they can do it, we can do it as well," he said. "Last year we showed progress of an individual nature, but moving forward as a team is what we have to do."

Sounds good right?

I asked Angelos on Monday what he thinks happened.

Why?

Ruh roh, get ready for it...

He believes franchises such as the Orioles -- unable to generate huge revenues -- cannot remain competitive, or at least stay even with teams such as the Yankees and Red Sox.

"It's a question of how much money you can generate," he said. "Once in a while there is an exception to that rule, but it cannot be sustained year-to year."

SPLOOOOOOOOSH!!!!


Yes that is the sound of Peter Angelos throwing a bucket of cold water on the hopes and dreams of all Orioles fans that thought we were going to have a perennial contender under Andy MacPhail.

Not on his watch. Peter would apparently rather use the Orioles as a sacrificial lamb for the greater good of baseball, to prove that teams like the Orioles simply can't compete year in and year out with those damn Yankees and Red Sox. And to do that, he simply can't give MacPhail those resources to compete. It would damage his case...

And we all know how Peter hates to lose a case...

So it seems we as Orioles fans have been sold a bill of goods that isn't worth its price tag.

Once again MacPhail tries to give us hope though:

MacPhail puts it this way: "Despite whatever inequities might exist our job is to make our team better. And we certainly had a lot of room to make our team better. We're going to make it as good as we can. That's all we can do."

He can only make it as good as Peter Angelos lets him, and right now it seems Peter is more interested in proving a point, than providing a consistent winner.