Baseball Articles | 1999
Post-Season Reviews
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Baseball Articles | 1999
Post-Season Reviews
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1999 Post-Season Review -- Baltimore Orioles Written by Tom Ruane This article takes a look at how the Baltimore Orioles did in the 1999 season relative to pre-season expectations. For an overview of the approach used in this review, and a definition of some of the key terms and statistics, please see the overview page called 1999 Team-by-Team Performance Reviews. Capsule SummaryProjected Actual Runs for 803 851 Runs allowed 815 815 Run Margin -12 36 Wins 81 78 Pythagorean wins 80 84 Placement 3rd 4th After their team suffered through a disappointing 1998 campaign, winning only 79 games, Peter Angelos and company did the free agent shuffle prior to last year. Rafael Palmeiro, Eric Davis, Alan Mills and Roberto Alomar left and were replaced by a host of veterans coming in search of greener pastures. Albert Belle, Will Clark and Delino DeShields arrived to replace the position players. Several others, including Mike Timlin, Heathcliff Slocumb, Ricky Bones and Mike Fetters, arrived to shore up the bullpen after the departure of Mills and Armando Benitez, who was sent to the Mets for catcher Charles Johnson in the only actual trade of the off-season. The spending spree was about as successful as the previous one as the O's finished with another losing record. To be fair to the people putting this team together, they were actually a better group than their record would indicate. They outscored their opponents by 36 runs, a mark that will usually produce around 84 wins. That's probably small consolation to fans of the team, however, and one can only wonder what's in store for them next year. Key Position PlayersThe Orioles' hitters scored more runs than anticipated in 1999. Cal Ripken, Will Clark (despite their injuries), Harold Baines, Mike Bordick, Jeff Conine, Brady Anderson and B. J. Surhoff all did better and no one did significantly worse than projected. They might have seemed like a group of under-achievers to their fans and to the writers following the team, but they actually did about as well as anyone had a right to expect. Charles Johnson, c, age 27 (as of July 1, 1999)Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection Bal 490 117 23 0 24 53 69 2 55 4 129 0 1 .239 .317 .433 .750 65 Prorated Bal 437 104 20 0 21 47 61 1 49 3 115 0 0 .238 .316 .428 .743 57 Actual Bal 426 107 19 1 16 58 54 4 55 2 107 0 0 .251 .340 .413 .753 60 Johnson came over in the Armando Benitez deal and was seen as a welcome change of pace from Chris Hoiles and Lenny Webster, two better hitting catchers with poor defensive reputations and weak throwing arms. He did have a chilling effect on enemy base runners, as the opponents stolen bases fell from 182 in 1998 to 93 last year. His batting averages in his five full major league seasons have been .251, .218, .250, .218 and .251. If you have an office pool on what his average will be next year (and who doesn't?), you might want to take .218. Will Clark, 1b, age 35Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection Bal 561 153 35 0 18 81 81 4 71 8 94 0 0 .273 .355 .431 .786 88 Prorated Bal 256 69 16 0 8 37 37 1 32 3 42 0 0 .270 .349 .426 .775 39 Actual Bal 251 76 15 0 10 40 29 2 38 2 42 2 2 .303 .395 .482 .877 49 Baltimore and Texas swapped free agent first basemen prior to last season. After trips to the DL in both 1996 and 1997, Clark was coming off an injury-free year in Texas. Palmeiro, on the other hand, had never been on the disabled list and has now missed only 44 games since becoming a regular with the Cubs in 1988 -- fewer games than both Clark and Ripken missed in 1999 alone. Clark's problems started in April when he missed five weeks with a fractured thumb, and ended when bone chips in his elbow brought his campaign to a halt in mid-August. Despite knocking in only 29 runs last year (which compared unfavorably to Palmeiro's 148 RBIs down in Texas), he actually hit pretty well while he was healthy. Jeff Conine, 1b/dh, age 33Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection Bal 219 55 12 0 8 25 32 1 22 1 47 1 0 .251 .318 .416 .734 29 Prorated Bal 433 108 23 0 15 49 63 1 43 1 93 1 0 .249 .315 .406 .722 55 Actual Bal 444 129 31 1 13 54 75 3 30 0 40 0 3 .291 .335 .453 .787 65 Injuries to Clark gave Conine an opportunity to play and he responded with his best season since he was an All-Star with the Marlins in the mid-1990s. A slow start and finish (he hit .140 in April and .224 in September with no home runs in either month) cost him an even more impressive season. Delino DeShields, 2b, age 30Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection Bal 482 130 19 9 7 76 46 1 51 3 73 35 11 .270 .338 .390 .728 68 Prorated Bal 332 89 13 6 4 52 31 0 35 2 50 24 7 .268 .336 .380 .716 45 Actual Bal 330 87 11 2 6 46 34 1 37 0 52 11 8 .264 .339 .364 .702 42 When Roberto Alomar signed with Cleveland, it looked for a moment as if the Orioles might fill the vacancy with a young player from their farm system. Cooler heads eventually prevailed, however, and a "name" player (DeShields) was signed to fill the void. Delino suffered through a variety of ailments in 1999, including a fractured thumb, strained hamstring, and lower abdominal pain. His injuries cut down on his speed and by the end of the season the front office was auditioning his successor for the job, Jerry Hairston. Jerry Hairston, 2b, age 23Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection Bal 69 19 3 1 1 11 9 1 4 0 7 1 1 .275 .324 .391 .716 9 Prorated Bal 177 48 7 2 2 28 23 2 10 0 18 2 2 .271 .317 .367 .685 20 Actual Bal 175 47 12 1 4 26 17 3 11 0 24 9 4 .269 .323 .417 .740 24 The top prospect in the Orioles system, Hairston was judged too inexperienced (only half a season at double AA) to succeed Alomar in 1999. It would be an understatement to say that the Angelos family prefers veterans to rookies. In 1998, the Orioles position players were the oldest in major league history with an average age (weighted by plate appearances) of 33.9. The second oldest? Last year's Orioles, with an age of 33.2. A fine season in AAA and injuries to DeSheilds got Hairston an extended trial in the bigs and he is considered to be the front-runner for the job in 2000. Mike Bordick, ss, age 33Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection Bal 508 120 24 1 8 55 48 6 42 0 68 3 4 .236 .299 .335 .634 50 Prorated Bal 626 148 29 1 9 67 59 7 51 0 83 3 4 .236 .299 .329 .628 61 Actual Bal 631 175 35 7 10 93 77 5 54 1 102 14 4 .277 .334 .403 .737 83 Set career highs in just about every category in 1999. He's played more than 150 games each year since coming to Baltimore, but then again Oriole fans are accustomed to having durable shortstops. Cal Ripken, 3b, age 38Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection Bal 516 135 25 0 13 60 60 4 47 1 60 0 1 .262 .326 .386 .711 64 Prorated Bal 319 83 15 0 8 37 37 2 29 0 37 0 0 .260 .324 .382 .706 39 Actual Bal 332 113 27 0 18 51 57 3 13 3 31 0 1 .340 .368 .584 .952 65 I guess it's safe to say that Cal never quite had a season like the one last year. He entered unfamiliar territory when he went on the DL with back problems in April, missed time in July with a deep bone bruise, lost all of August with more back problems, before finally having his season end ten days (and nine hits) too soon with even more back miseries. While he was healthy, however, Ripken put up some of his best numbers, finishing with both his highest batting average and slugging percentage of his long career. As a matter of fact, he collected more extra base hits in the 86 games he played in 1999 than he did while playing almost every game the year before. Ryan Minor, 3b, age 25Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection Bal 72 14 2 0 1 8 8 1 2 0 19 0 0 .194 .227 .264 .491 4 Prorated Bal 127 24 3 0 1 14 14 1 3 0 33 0 0 .189 .214 .236 .450 6 Actual Bal 124 24 7 0 3 13 10 0 8 0 43 1 0 .194 .241 .323 .563 10 Minor saw more action in the major leagues than expected and was not quite ready for the experience. While he has not made a lot of contact in the minor or major leagues (striking out a combined 308 times in two seasons and walking only 79 times), he did show some power at AAA in 1999 with 21 home runs in 383 at-bats. Even with that kind of power, he'll have to improve both his plate discipline and batting average to remain in the majors. Jeff Reboulet, 3b/2b/ss, age 35Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection Bal 164 37 7 0 1 19 14 2 20 0 34 1 1 .226 .316 .287 .602 16 Prorated Bal 162 36 6 0 0 18 13 1 19 0 33 0 0 .222 .308 .259 .567 14 Actual Bal 154 25 4 0 0 25 4 2 33 0 29 1 0 .162 .317 .188 .506 12 Our projections for Reboulet were pretty pessimistic, but even we figured he'd do better than a .188 slugging percentage. About all you can say nice about his season was that he sure walked a lot. You have to wonder what pitchers were thinking about when they got three balls on him. After all, he batted .162 with absolutely no power--you'd think they would've thrown the ball down the middle of the plate rather than risk walking the guy. Albert Belle, rf, age 32Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection Bal 550 162 36 1 40 91 119 3 64 8 82 5 3 .295 .365 .582 .947 114 Prorated Bal 633 186 41 1 46 104 137 3 73 9 94 5 3 .294 .364 .580 .944 131 Actual Bal 610 181 36 1 37 108 117 7 101 15 82 17 3 .297 .400 .541 .941 135 Albert Belle did just about what everyone should have expected -- both good and bad -- in his first season in Baltimore. He's an extremely durable and controversial player (suspended five times in his career, he's yet to visit the disabled list) who is one of the top power hitters of his generation. By the time it was over, he had made lewd gestures to the home fans, tried to get his team-mates to boycott an exhibition game against the O's top farm club, posted a sign near his locker asking the writers following the team to show him some love, and all in all had a typical Albert Belle season. If he can play productively for another three or four years, he should finish his career with Hall of Fame numbers. Assuming he isn't kept out of the Hall by a scandal or his unpopularity with fans and writers, it should be a very interesting induction ceremony. Despite some wild post-signing estimates about what he might do in Baltimore, it wasn't reasonable to expect Belle to top his 1998 mark of 49 home runs. Camden Yard is not a great home run park (last year it was actually below average for the long-ball) and he balanced out a slight decline in his power numbers by setting a career high in walks. One statistical oddity about Belle's season: long one of the game's most prolific doubles hitter (averaging over 45 a year from 1995 to 1998), he had only 11 in his first 109 games. Starting on August 8th, however, Belle would hit 25 doubles in his last 52 games, including two games in which he hit four apiece. Rich Amaral, rf/dh/cf/lf, age 37Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection Bal 124 34 4 0 0 23 8 2 11 0 21 9 3 .274 .341 .306 .647 14 Prorated Bal 138 37 4 0 0 25 8 2 12 0 23 10 3 .268 .333 .297 .630 15 Actual Bal 137 38 8 1 0 21 11 1 15 0 20 9 6 .277 .348 .350 .699 18 1999 was Rich Amaral's ninth major league season -- not bad for a guy who had played only 14 major league games before his 30th birthday. Originally a second baseman and shortstop, he has been primarily an outfielder for the last five years, but his versatility is the main reason he's still in the majors. Brady Anderson, cf, age 35Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection Bal 607 156 37 5 25 103 74 20 89 4 104 21 9 .257 .370 .458 .828 111 Prorated Bal 581 149 35 4 23 98 70 19 85 3 99 20 8 .256 .369 .449 .819 104 Actual Bal 564 159 28 5 24 109 81 24 96 7 105 36 7 .282 .404 .477 .881 123 Anderson bounced back nicely from a disappointing season in 1998, when he finished with a .236 batting average. He posted both his second highest home run and stolen base totals of his career. His career highs in both categories are 50 or higher, the only player in major league history who can make that claim. He has now led the league in getting hit by a pitch three of the last four seasons. He's lost quite a bit defensively in centerfield and will probably move to a less demanding position in the next year or two. B.J. Surhoff, lf, age 34Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection Bal 553 151 31 3 20 76 85 3 48 10 73 4 5 .273 .330 .448 .779 81 Prorated Bal 654 178 36 3 23 89 100 3 56 11 86 4 5 .272 .328 .442 .770 94 Actual Bal 673 207 38 1 28 104 107 2 43 1 78 5 1 .308 .347 .492 .839 114 Surhoff had his finest season in 1999, topping 200 hits, 100 runs and 100 RBIs for the first time. He was over 35 by the time he reached the 200 hit mark, making him the fourth oldest player to reach that plateau for the first time. Here are the five oldest, along with their ages as of July 1st in the year the topped the 200 hit mark: Name Age Year H Team(s)
Jake Daubert 38.2 1922 205 BRO N
Randy Velarde 36.6 1999 200 ANA A and OAK A
Eddie Brown 35.0 1926 201 BOS N
B.J. Surhoff 34.9 1999 207 BAL A
Dante Bichette 34.6 1998 219 COL N
I'm not sure what to make of the fact that three of the five players on this list did it in the last two years. Harold Baines, dh, age 40Tm AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection Bal 404 120 21 0 15 54 69 1 47 7 55 0 0 .297 .369 .460 .830 66 Prorated Bal 346 102 18 0 12 46 59 0 40 6 47 0 0 .295 .366 .451 .817 55 Actual Bal 345 111 16 1 24 57 81 0 43 3 38 1 2 .322 .395 .583 .977 75 Prorated Cle 85 25 4 0 3 11 14 0 9 1 11 0 0 .294 .362 .447 .809 13 Actual Cle 85 23 2 0 1 5 22 0 11 0 10 0 0 .271 .354 .329 .684 10 Prorated Tot 431 128 22 0 16 57 73 1 50 7 58 0 0 .297 .369 .459 .828 70 Actual Tot 430 134 18 1 25 62 103 0 54 3 48 1 2 .312 .387 .533 .919 85 Another pleasant surprise for the Orioles, at least until they sent him to the Indians at the end of August for prospects. He now is only 217 hits away from 3000. That mark still looks far away, but he's actually improved his hitting since turning 35. The last player that managed to do something like that was, well, Paul Molitor, perhaps not coincidentally another DH. If Baines does manage to hang on for another two years and get to 3000 hits, he may very well become the first player in that club NOT to be admitted to the Hall of Fame. Key PitchersAs a whole, the Baltimore staff performed exactly as expected in 1999. A handful of starting pitchers (Mike Mussina, Sidney Ponson and Jason Johnson) did somewhat better than our projections, compensating for some disappointments in the bullpen. The staff was terrible in the early going, as a 6.49 ERA in April was largely responsible for the team's 6-16 start. Mike Mussina, starter, age 30Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS Projection Bal 3.72 32 32 13 10 0 218 209 27 52 192 .253 .709 Prorated Bal 3.72 30 30 12 9 0 205 196 25 49 180 .253 .709 Actual Bal 3.50 31 31 18 7 0 203 207 16 52 172 .268 .724 The ace of the Oriole staff, Mussina put together another outstanding year in 1999. A liner off the bat of Brook Fordyce on August 22nd hit Mussina in the shoulder, knocking him out of the game. The injury would cause him to miss his next four starts, costing him a shot at his first 20-win season. An inning later in the same game, another liner -- this time from Chris Singleton -- would knock out Arthur Rhodes, Mussina's replacement. The shoulder injury didn't seem to bother Mike down the stretch, as he finished with back-to-back scoreless outings. Scott Erickson, starter, age 31Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS Projection Bal 4.33 32 32 13 13 0 226 249 21 63 143 .284 .747 Prorated Bal 4.33 33 33 13 13 0 235 258 22 65 148 .284 .747 Actual Bal 4.81 34 34 15 12 0 230 244 27 99 106 .280 .791 His higher than anticipated ERA was due to the worst control of his career. A strong finish enabled Erickson to avoid what was shaping up to be a disastrous year. After his loss to the Phillies on June 4th, he had a 1-8 record to go with a 7.11 ERA. From then on, however, he went 14-4 with a 3.81 ERA. Juan Guzman, starter, age 32Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS Projection Bal 4.07 32 32 13 10 0 210 189 28 92 170 .241 .733 Prorated Bal 4.07 19 19 8 6 0 128 115 17 56 103 .241 .733 Actual Bal 4.18 21 21 5 9 0 123 124 18 65 95 .265 .796 Prorated Cin 4.07 11 11 5 4 0 75 68 10 33 61 .241 .733 Actual Cin 3.03 12 12 6 3 0 77 70 10 21 60 .238 .675 Prorated Tot 4.07 31 31 13 10 0 203 182 27 89 164 .241 .733 Actual Tot 3.74 33 33 11 12 0 200 194 28 86 155 .255 .750 He did slightly better than expected in 1999. Unfortunately for the Orioles, most of his best pitching took place after he was traded to the Reds at the end of July. Like Erickson, he started slowly (0-3 with a 8.10 ERA in April) and got better as the year progressed. B.J. Ryan, who came to Baltimore in the trade, pitched extremely well at the end of the season and should be a prominent member of the O's bullpen in 2000. Sidney Ponson, starter, age 22Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS Projection Bal 5.25 27 27 8 10 0 159 186 23 55 103 .294 .807 Prorated Bal 5.25 35 35 10 13 0 204 238 29 70 132 .294 .807 Actual Bal 4.71 32 32 12 12 0 210 227 35 80 112 .282 .813 He was somewhat of a pleasant surprise despite tying the club mark for homers allowed with 35, joining Robin Roberts (1963) and Scott McGregor (1986). He did noticeably better with more than four days rest between starts (3.43 ERA compared to a 5.48). Jason Johnson, starter, age 25Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS Projection Bal 6.05 4 4 1 1 0 19 22 3 8 14 .286 .824 Prorated Bal 6.05 23 23 6 6 0 113 129 18 47 82 .286 .824 Actual Bal 5.46 22 21 8 7 0 115 120 16 55 71 .267 .783 Johnson got his chance to move into the rotation when Kamieniecki failed to pitch effectively as a starter. He was another of the Oriole starters who finished strongly, going 5-0 with a 3.38 ERA after the middle of August. Mike Timlin, closer, age 33Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS Projection Bal 3.43 70 0 4 6 30 76 79 8 17 56 .271 .707 Prorated Bal 3.43 58 0 3 5 25 63 65 7 14 46 .271 .707 Actual Bal 3.57 62 0 3 9 27 63 51 9 23 50 .221 .685 Timlin came over from Seattle to replace the departing Benitez and was given the closer's job in spring training. His work in the first half of the season had Ray Miller trying Rhodes, Orosco and Gabe Molina in the role as well. On July 6th, he had a 3-8 record, a 5.35 ERA, and nearly as many blown saves (8) as saves (9). A strong second half got him his job back, as he finished by converting 18 of his remaining 19 save opportunities while posting a 1.30 ERA in his last 30 games. Doug Johns, swing man, age 31Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS Projection Bal 6.24 34 4 3 5 0 71 91 10 28 33 .318 .882 Prorated Bal 6.24 39 5 3 6 0 81 104 11 32 38 .318 .882 Actual Bal 4.47 32 5 6 4 0 87 81 9 25 50 .248 .702 He entered the season with a 5.32 lifetime ERA and as recently as 1997 was pitching poorly (4-6 with a 5.38 ERA) in AAA. He moved between Baltimore and Rochester in the early going, before coming up to stay in May. He ended up pitching exactly as many innings as he had the year before, while allowing 27 fewer hits and 7 fewer walks. He also pitched effectively as a starter when given a shot late in the year. Scott Kamieniecki, middle reliever, age 35Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS Projection Bal 5.44 27 27 7 9 0 132 152 18 59 74 .292 .834 Prorated Bal 5.44 11 11 3 4 0 55 63 8 25 31 .292 .834 Actual Bal 4.95 43 3 2 4 2 56 52 4 29 39 .250 .704 Originally slated for a starting role, Kamieniecki began the season on the DL with hamstring problems. He got hammered in two starts (13 earned runs in 5 innings) after his return and was sent to the minors for three weeks. He pitched pretty well in relief the rest of the way before getting an opportunity to start the last game of the season. Kamieniecki took a no-hitter into the fourth inning of that game before being ejected for throwing a brush-back pitch. Jesse Orosco, Middle Relief, age 42Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS Projection Bal 2.92 70 0 5 2 1 74 56 8 43 67 .211 .658 Prorated Bal 2.92 32 0 2 1 0 34 26 4 20 31 .211 .658 Actual Bal 5.34 65 0 0 2 1 32 28 5 20 35 .239 .788 If you only looked at the right hand side of the "Prorated" and "Actual" lines above, you might get the idea that Orosco's season ended up being close to his projected performance. The ERA line, however, tells a very different story. When you're dealing with such a small number of innings (despite a lot of appearances) the timing of a few hits can cause large swings. For example, of the five home runs he gave up in 1999, two were with the bases loaded and two more were three-run shots. He's been one of the most effective and under-appreciated lefty relievers of his era but his difficulty getting left-handed hitters out last year might signal the end of the line for Orosco. Mike Fetters, Middle Relief, age 34Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS Projection Bal 3.75 70 0 6 4 3 98 95 8 43 78 .257 .717 Prorated Bal 3.75 25 0 2 1 1 35 34 3 15 28 .257 .717 Actual Bal 5.81 27 0 1 0 0 31 35 5 22 22 .278 .877 Fetters was expected to be an important part of the Orioles bullpen in 1999, but he injured his elbow in early June and was out for nearly three months. Even before his injury, he was having the poorest season of his career and it only got worse after his return. Arthur Lee Rhodes, Middle Relief, age 29Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS Projection Bal 3.16 53 0 4 2 2 57 50 6 22 63 .237 .691 Prorated Bal 3.16 54 0 4 2 2 58 51 6 22 64 .237 .691 Actual Bal 5.43 43 0 3 4 3 53 43 9 45 59 .221 .753 His control abandoned him in 1999. Actually, it has been leaving him for a while now; over the last three years his rate of walks per nine innings has gone from 2.45 to 3.97 to 7.64. Pitched only once after getting hit by a line-drive on August 22nd. Heathcliff Slocumb, Middle Relief, age 33Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG OPS Projection Bal 4.15 53 0 4 3 0 69 73 5 43 57 .273 .759 Prorated Bal 4.15 8 0 1 0 0 11 11 1 7 9 .273 .759 Actual Bal 12.46 10 0 0 0 0 9 15 2 9 12 .395 1.215 Prorated StL 4.15 40 0 3 2 0 52 55 4 32 43 .273 .759 Actual StL 2.36 40 0 3 2 2 53 49 3 30 48 .243 .679 Prorated Tot 4.15 48 0 4 2 0 63 66 5 39 52 .273 .759 Actual Tot 3.77 50 0 3 2 2 62 64 5 39 60 .267 .766 He couldn't get anyone out in Baltimore and the Orioles gave up on him at the end of April. He made a surprising recovery once he turned up in St. Louis and his final numbers were very close to our original projections. OutlookPeter Angelos fired GM Frank Wren (who had served less than a year) and manager Ray Miller shortly after the end of the season, letting the world know who he thought was responsible for the team's second consecutive losing season. Before the shake-up, the Orioles spent September showing off some of their younger players. For much of the month, Jerry Hairston was at second, Gene Kingsale in center, Calvin Pickering at first, Matt Riley in the starting rotation and B.J. Ryan and Gabe Molina in the bullpen. This might signal a change in direction for this expensively mediocre team, but it's too soon to tell. The Orioles were the first team to sign a free-agent this off-season when they inked Mike Trombley of the Twins to a three-year deal. He'll be 33 by the time 2000 rolls around and could be the first of another large crop of veteran imports. Angelos has decided not to hire a new general manager for the time being, letting a five-man committee (including two of his sons) run the circus instead. Despite problems at the top, the Orioles finished the year on a strong note and their pitching staff was one of the best in the AL down the stretch. They still need to round out their starting rotation -- Matt Riley doesn't look as if he will be quite ready next year and Mike Mussina is entering the final year of his contract in 2000 and may spend much of the summer on the trading block. A bigger problem for the O's, however, will be the age of their lineup. Ripken and Clark are both old and coming off of injuries. With the exception of Hairston and Belle, all of their regulars are likely to get worse rather than better next year. Baltimore may be entering a rebuilding phase and that can't be good news for new manager Mike Hargrove or those members of the GM committee unrelated to the owner. Projections and text: Copyright © 1999. Diamond
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