Dave Trembley to Return as Orioles' Manager in '09: What More Do They Need?

The Baltimore Orioles decided to exercise their option for manager Dave Trembley, bringing him back to Baltimore for 2009.

Despite being 103-129 with the Orioles, Trembley is known to respect the game of baseball, gaining the favor of Baltimore's front office and players.

With Trembley back in town, what more do the Orioles need to do in the offseason to make 2009 their first winning season since 1997?

The Orioles have the offense of a winning team. This season, they rank in the top 10 in all major offensive categories except for triples (11th) and on-base percentage (12th).

Aubrey Huff and Nick Markakis are each batting over .300 and Brian Roberts is not far behind at .297. Melvin Mora is batting .282 on the season, but is hitting .393 since the all-star break.

Four Orioles in Huff, Mora, Kevin Millar, and Luke Scott, have 20 or more home runs at this point of the season. Markakis has 18 long balls and is very likely to be added to the list by the end of the season.

Huff and Roberts are the top two American Leaguers with 47 and 44 doubles.

As a team, Baltimore posts a .271 batting average, which ranks eighth in the entire MLB. Hitting does not seem to be Baltimore's problem.

The Orioles will return all position players except 37-year-old Kevin Millar whose contract is expiring.

The Orioles are mediocre in the field, ranking 17th in the majors with a .984 fielding percentage. This leads me to believe that pitching is the real problem behind Baltimore's struggles.

With an ERA of 5.06, Baltimore ranks 28th in the majors. The Orioles certainly have some young pitching talent in Daniel Cabrera, Brian Burres, Garrett Olson, and Jeremy Guthrie. However, all four of these pitchers tend to be very inconsistent.

Some nights Cabrera will strike out nine batters, other nights he will walk nine.

Burres will give the Orioles a few excellent starts in a row, and then he will get blown out in his next five outings.

Olson, who just made his MLB debut last year, is the weakest of the four, but he has shown signs of decency despite his 6.53 ERA.

Guthrie leads the Orioles staff with 10 wins to accompany his 11 losses. He is also the leader in ERA (3.57) and strikeouts with 119.

The Orioles should aim to use Guthrie as their two or three starter next season, depending on who they get in the offseason.

There are numerous pitchers who will be testing free agency this offseason, including, but not limited to, Jon Garland, A.J. Burnett, Mark Prior, Freddy Garcia, and even a veteran like Derek Lowe.

Garland, Prior, and CC Sabathia are the only starters with expiring contracts who are under 30 years of age.

The Orioles should pursue Garland or Burnett and somewhat more of a veteran presence to add to their young and inexperienced rotation.

Baltimore should also consider going after one more reliever to add to their mediocre bullpen. The addition of a solid late reliever could turn the mediocre pen into a dangerous one.

With an improved pitching rotation, the Orioles will have the potential to be a competitor in the AL East.

Despite managing in the minors for 20 years and only having two years of major league managing under his belt, I think it is fair to say that if Trembley is given the proper talent, he can bring Baltimore back above .500.