Baltimore Orioles: 5 Offseason Predictions for the O's

Though there are no baseball games being played at the time, the offseason remains a very interesting part of every baseball fan's year.

It's probably more enjoyable for the fans of losing teams, but hey, that's nothing we can help.

No matter what team you are, you're going to enter the offseason with needs. There are always ways to improve a seemingly perfect team. Or maybe that World Series dream team lost a couple key cogs due to free agency and needs to figure out who it can afford to keep and who needs replacing.

Improvement of the franchise doesn't always have to come from the players either. No, a club can improve by a front office personnel swap, a coaching change or just a small adjustment to its home ballpark.

Whatever the issue is, every single teams hits November with dire needs for the next marathon of a season. With that in mind, let us examine what I believe is likely to happen this offseason with the Baltimore Orioles.

Andy MacPhail Will Not Return to Orioles Front Office

It has been widely speculated that current Orioles President of Baseball Operations Andy MacPhail won't be returning after his contract expires at the end of the season.

If you ask me, I'd have to agree. Considering the state the franchise is in, there's almost no way MacPhail is offered a new contract, unless majority owner Peter Angelos would like to screw with us O's fans some more.

Even if MacPhail were offered a new contract, it wouldn't be a given he'd scribble his John Hancock across it. He may be able to garner some more appealing attention his way.

Though he's made an admirable attempt, MacPhail just hasn't been able to rescue the sinking ship that is the Orioles franchise, like many before him. He's made his share of good deals and bad ones, but at the end of the day, the blame can't entirely land on him.

Personally, I'm pretty fed up with the team's player development people...

Second Base

Unfortunately for the O's, their leadoff spark plug and second baseman, Brian Roberts, has been out most of the year for a second consecutive season.

His continual concussion symptoms are starting to raise a scary question: Will he ever return to the big leagues, and if he eventually does, will he be the same?

The answer to the latter part of that question can pretty much be assumed to be no, since he's now starting to reach an older age in terms of ballplayers.

The Orioles can't rely on Roberts being ready and/or healthy during the entire 2012 campaign, so I think they will make sure they have a serviceable replacement.

Robert Andino has done a solid job as Roberts' replacement all season, but the O's would prefer to have someone a bit more well-rounded as a full-time player. Rookie Ryan Adams has been auditioning for the starting spot over the past week or so and is expected to get plenty of playing time over the remainder of the season. If his showing goes well, Adams could be Baltimore's second baseman next year, assuming Roberts isn't.

However, if the O's front office doesn't like what they see in Adams, they'll probably bring in a cheap veteran player of sorts. Look for someone like Kelly Johnson, Omar Infante or Mark Ellis.

Starting Pitching Depth

Entering the 2011 season, the Orioles didn't have much major-league starting pitching depth. They were relying on Jeremy Guthrie to hold down the fort and their five young hotshot starting prospects to take major leaps.

Boy, was that the wrong approach, as has been proven over the course of this season.

Everyone knew it was. So why didn't the front office do anything to change that outcome?

I'm sorry, but the oft-injured Justin Duchscherer doesn't count as pitching depth. He's a great pitcher when healthy but was never able to throw a pitch during the season for the Birds before his release a couple weeks ago.

The O's have been working on improving their starting pitching depth during the season, adding lefty Jo-Jo Reyes on a waiver claim (I know, he isn't that good, but at least he's something, and he's been half decent since joining the O's).

Tommy Hunter was brought over from the Rangers at the trade deadline, and he's almost guaranteed to be in next year's rotation.

Alfredo Simon has been stretched out and slotted into the rotation, and overall, he's done a great job. He's had his bumps, but that's to be expected. The big right-hander has stated he's treating the rest of the 2011 season as an audition for next year's rotation.

The O's would also like to move setup man Jim Johnson (pictured, right) into the rotation, a role he held all throughout his minor league career. Manager Buck Showalter has said he'd like to get Johnson a handful of starts during September, but even if that doesn't happen, Johnson will still be considered a contender for the 2012 rotation.

With just those additions, the O's already look to have a lot better starting pitching depth than they did going into this year. I also think the team will add a couple more starters to the mix before spring training starts, hopefully including someone who can help Guthrie lead the rotation.

The Orioles and Their Prince

I'm not really going to go out on a limb with this prediction, but I don't think the Orioles will sign slugging first baseman Prince Fielder this offseason.

The O's desperately need a legitimate No. 4 hitter, a big lefty hitter and a star. They'll definitely go after Prince this winter, just like they went after Mark Teixeira nearly three years ago. But just like Teixeira, they'll low-ball Prince a bit, and he'll end up taking a larger deal in a more appealing market.

I'd love to be wrong, as long as I was wrong for five or six years and not eight to 10, but I just can't see Prince in an O's uniform. He's too big a name and can command virtually as much as he wants, and the Orioles aren't known to play that game.

If you're an Orioles fan wanting to see Prince hitting balls onto Eutaw Street for your home team next season, cross your fingers, but don't hold your breath. You'd be holding for quite a while.

Mark Reynolds

I honestly don't think Mark Reynolds will be the O's third baseman next season. Or at least, I'm really hoping he's not.

But don't read into that wrong. I don't want the O's to unload Reynolds. I just hope that his position will be switched, which I believe will happen.

After leading the majors in errors at third base, he's been fantastic picking balls and making incredible stops at first while filling in for the injured Chris Davis. That could mean a switch to the first bag is in his future. NBC Sports' Matthew Pouliot notes that Davis is an even better defender at third than he is at first. Hence, the two could swap positions for 2012.

Davis could also move to left field if the O's don't feel they can trust Nolan Reimold with the job next season, and first base would be open for Reynolds to take.

Then there's the possibility of either Reynolds or Davis DH'ing, with whichever player isn't in the DH spot playing first base.

There are many possibilities for the O's in terms of their defensive alignment, but whatever they do, they need to find a new position for Reynolds and his amazingly powerful bat, and I think they will.