Experts Be Damned: The Baltimore Orioles Will Be Fun to Watch

As the last people staggered away from the St. Patrick's Day Festival on O'Donnell Street, Baltimoreans were already anticipating Opening Day, less than a week away.

However, with so many experts picking the Baltimore Orioles to finish in the cellar, is there anything to look forward to besides grabbing a few Natty Bohs at Pickles Pub before a game? If you can look beyond the Win/Loss column, there will be more than enough great baseball to watch throughout the season. 

Guiding the Orioles, General Manager Andy MacPhail, with a dearth of subtlety, showed that the franchise is rebuilding and playing for the World Series at the start of the next decade. They will go back to formula and forego the pipe dream of overtaking the Red Sox and Yankees by making costly and unwise free agent signings.

The noisier moves of trading Miguel Tejada to the Astros and Erik Bedard to the Mariners, have given the Orioles top notch young players who will contribute to the Orioles this year. 

Outfielder and SoCal native Adam Jones, acquired in the Bedard trade, is the prize acquisition of the offseason. Scouts so often talk about his tools that you might think Bob Villa will be patrolling centerfield. 

Speaking of Jones, one AL talent evaluator simply said, “[He’s] going to be a monster.” It is safe to assume that the evaluator meant that in his prime he will be an excellent player. However, the metamorphosis to monster may be happening sooner than expected. Before a recent slide, the 22 year-old Jones had been torching Grapefruit League pitching to the tune of a .324 batting average and a .907 OPS.

While Spring Training statistics can be misleading, budding superstar right fielder, Nick Markakis, must be thrilling Orioles management as well as die-hard fans. Coming off a season where he hit over .300 and provided some power in an otherwise anemic lineup, Markakis has looked superb this Spring. Even though he will have little protection in the lineup, Markakis may go from a franchise’s symbol of change to a household name.

Luke Scott acquired in the Tejada trade does not have the upside of Jones or Markakis, but still has enough pop in his bat to provide souvenirs to fans sitting beyond the outfield wall.

Watching two future superstars roaming the outfield, should certainly be worth the price of admission, especially on $6 student night.

While Oriole players are more likely to stumble than appear on SportsCenter this year, perhaps it is a symbol of Baltimoreans in general. A stumble on the field or from the local festival may occur, but there is always an eye looking for the next big thing. Something good always seems to be right around the corner.