After 68 Wins, What's Ahead for the Baltimore Orioles?

791-989...791-989!

That's the Orioles' record since 1997, the last winning season for the franchise. Only 11 losses (or one more per season) shy of four digits. An average finish of 26.7 games out of first place, and only once (2000) finishing within 20. The Orioles are a mess.

How does this franchise get back on track? This offseason is going to go a long way into showing what the direction of the franchise will be. Will the franchise finally embark on the true rebuilding process it began last year?

Or will it break out the big money and chase down some big-name free agents? Whatever the direction, the road ahead will not be smooth. The Orioles simply don't have the players to immediately return to the top, even if they add some blue chip free agents.

The trades of Erik Bedard and Miguel Tejada last year were the first big moves into rebuilding the Orioles. Unfortunately, they left some pretty massive holes in the lineup, holes that will be hard to ignore this offseason. So to start out, we'll look at what the Orioles need.

NEEDS

The starting rotation is horrendous. Aside of Jeremie Guthrie, none of the regular starters had an ERA under 5.25. The young pitching talent never really panned out, and it left Baltimore to play catch-up in far too many games.

While this strategy actually worked at the beginning of the season, while the Orioles bullpen was dominant and healthy, it's not a plan for long-term, or even season long, success.

Shortstop is the giant hole in the Orioles infield. They lacked a real starter in 2008, instead opting for Alex Cintron, Freddie Bynum, Brandon Fahey, Juan Castro, and Luis Hernandez to all see significant time over the season.

None of them performed very well, with Cintron performing the best at the plate (.276 BA), but struggling in the field (seven errors and only a .953 FLD%). After Ripken and Tejada anchored the lineup from shortstop for the past two decades, it feels awkward for the O's to be in such dire need.

With Kevin Millar a free-agent, Baltimore is in need of either a corner infielder, or a DH. Last year's DH, silver slugger Aubrey Huff, can play both first and third base as well and could find himself as a regular starter at either position.

The team's 2008 leader in errors, Melvin Mora, could potentially move to DH if the O's decide to add a new 3B or turn the reigns over to Oscar Salazar. Ultimately, another body, especially a stronger defensive player, would be very helpful.

SURPLUSES

Believe it or not, there is one area where the O's are overflowing with talent—veterans with only one year left on their contract. Huff, Mora, Roberts, and Ramon Hernandez are all on their final year of their contracts.

Huff and Mora may have both saved their careers with brilliant seasons at the plate in 2008, and their value probably isn't going to increase much higher than it is now, especially given how Tejada and Bedard were unloaded last year, it would not surprise me to any of these players traded before the season starts and/or during the season.

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