Article: Beating Vegas: The Baltimore Orioles

[John Bonnes]

Show us you can beat Vegas and you can win a Harry’s Razor starter kit! The Orioles entered the last two months of 2016 as a Wild Card favorite - and completely folded. The slide started with a four-game sweep at the hands of the Twins, led to a 11-18 August, and it took a hot (and meaningless) last week for the Orioles to finish with a .500 record. Their offseason consisted mostly of bringing back their players for another run.Vegas’ Line: 79.5 wins (last in the AL East)

 

 

What The Line Is Saying

"We didn't believe in you last year - and we were right. Why would we believe in you this year?"

 

Coming off a 96-win season in 2014, Vegas set an 82.5 total for the Orioles last year - and that was still too high.

 

They’ll Beat Vegas If…

....their strategic free agent signings do well. That starts with Yovani Gallardo, who they got for just $22M over two years after renegotiating when the Orioles found something they didn't like in Gallardo's physical. But the market's concerns about Gallardo are very real: his strikeout rate has consistently and significantly dropped each of the last three years.

 

 If you beat Vegas, you can win a free Harry’s Razor starter set. Just leave a comment with your choice of the “Over” or” Under” and your reasoning. At the end of the season, for each team, we’ll randomly pick one of the winning predictions for a free Truman Razor set.

 

 

They’ll Lose To Vegas If…

…they continue to get old. Or the Buck Showalter magic wears off. Showalter has shown to be a stellar manager, but his demanding nature has also lost a few clubhouses in his tenures. If things go south early, or if the rest of the AL East just proves to be too competitive, it'll be interesting to see what happens when the mood gets ugly.

 

I’ll Bet The….

UNDER

I think the Orioles under Showalter have been a consistently underappreciated and underrated team - but even I am pessimistic. It feels like their competitive window is closing, and they're running on borrowed time.

 

 Now it’s your turn. Give us your prediction in the comment section (you’ll need to register first) and you’re automatically entered. We’ll be giving out a free Harry’s Razor Truman Set to one of the winning correct predictions for each team, so we’ll be give away 15 sets of razors! You can also click over to Harry’s Razors and get $5 off on your first order using the promo code ‘gleeman’.

 

This is our first of 15 stories, so stop by tomorrow for our next preview and to give us your pick.  

 

Click here to view the article

[Old Twins Cap]

Sorry, I was trying to navigate to a Twins blog site.  My mistake.

 

All the best to the Birds!

 

Where is that Twins site again?

[Camdog5555]

Under - AL East is better this year, which means that someone has to lose.  That team is Baltimore.

[Mike Sixel]

Under, but don't pick me, I already use their competitors' product......

 

15 articles, 15 teams in the AL, hmmmmmm......

[Brock Beauchamp]

Obviously, my vote doesn't count for the contest but I'll take the under. I think the Orioles age a bit and end up in fourth or fifth place with 74-78 wins. The ALE is always a tough division and I think New York, Boston, and Toronto will beat down their win total.

[biggentleben]

Under, but not by a lot. I think that the East will be closely grouped between 75-90 wins in the AL, as will most divisions in the AL.

[Vanimal46]

Under. Their pitching staff is pretty underwhelming. Their defense also has the potential to be very bad, making their pitching seem worse than they really are.

[TheLeviathan]

I'll go with the over...a full season of Wieters plus better depth helps them squeak by the over.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Under, but not by a lot. I think that the East will be closely grouped between 75-90 wins in the AL, as will most divisions in the AL.

Yeah, same here. It's hard to predict the AL because one team going on a mini-streak could be the difference between fourth and second in a division, even if it only bumps them from 78 to 81 wins.

[pbrezeasap]

I'll take the over.

[dave_dw]

Under. It's not a good sign when your pitching staff is anchored by Yovani Gallardo and Ubaldo Jimenez...unless it's 2010, which it's not (although I am still hearing "Hey, Soul Sister" on the radio for some reason). I don't think their hitting is going to be good enough to overcome their poor pitching staff, especially in a tough division.

[biggentleben]

I'll go with the over...a full season of Wieters plus better depth helps them squeak by the over.

Already having issues with the elbow barking for Wieters, though, so a full season is in pretty high question.

[David Zeller]

Under - Ubaldo is historically incompetent and Showalter is gone before the ASG

[biggentleben]

Yeah, same here. It's hard to predict the AL because one team going on a mini-streak could be the difference between fourth and second in a division, even if it only bumps them from 78 to 81 wins.

That's the only nervousness I have with the under. Their lineup has a lot of guys that if they're all hot at the same time could carry them to a tremendous couple of weeks. Davis, Alvarez, Trumbo, Jones, and Hardy all could pile up wins if three of them are hot together.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

That's the only nervousness I have with the under. Their lineup has a lot of guys that if they're all hot at the same time could carry them to a tremendous couple of weeks. Davis, Alvarez, Trumbo, Jones, and Hardy all could pile up wins if three of them are hot together.

I feel the same about 12-13 of the teams in the AL but somebody has to get the under, it may as well be the Orioles (though IMO, the Yankees are on just as shaky of ground as Baltimore).

[Tom Roller]

Under.

 

I don't trust that pitching, especially their "prized" FA Gallardo.

 

It's also an aging club and I don't think they have enough firepower in their lineup to make up for an inconsistent rotation.

[John Bonnes]

 

 It's also an aging club and I don't think they have enough firepower in their lineup to make up for an inconsistent rotation.

 

That's kind of where I am. But as I wrote these up, I realized I could say the same about a LOT of the AL this year.

[davidc3915]

I'll say under.  I don't like that pitching staff at all.

[Kavan]

I'll take the under, someone has to lose games this year right? O's seem as likely as any other team to shoulder that burden.

[alanwil2]

Under.  How can a team win if they don't have good pitching?

 

[djohnson24]

Over.  That lineup has the potential to be so productive and I think they'll get just enough pitching to crack 80 wins.

[Wookiee of the Year]

Under.

 

As others have said, it's an aging roster, and those seem prone to injuries and sudden declines.

[Scooter262]

Over. Showwalter is magical.

Scooter262@yahoo.com

[spinowner]

Under.