Yahoo Sports Daily hosts Caroline Fenton and Jason Fitz are joined by ESPN senior MLB insider Jeff Passan to discuss the Baltimore Orioles’ season outlook. Watch the full episode of Yahoo Sports Daily on YouTube or YahooSports.TV.
View more
Advertisement
Video Transcript
I’m fascinated by the Baltimore Orioles because they go out this off-season and they sign Pete Alonso for $155 million, and they trade for Tyler O’Neill, and they get Chris Bassitt, and they trade for Shane Baz.
And they’re overhauling this roster that, remember, like, three years ago, out of nowhere came up and won 100 games.
Two years ago were back in the playoffs, and they got bounced both times early on.
But last year just collapsed to 75 and 87.
They were in last place in the American League East.
And you looked at that roster and with, you know, Gunnar Henderson and San Vicente and Jordan Westburg and Jackson Holliday, and I could go Adley Rutschman, Dylan Beavers, Colton Houser, just the amount of young talent that they have there is really impressive, but they didn’t have pitching.
Advertisement
And so Trevor Rogers emerges in the second half last year.
Better ERA than anyone in the American League after May 24th, including Tarik Skubal.
Kyle Bradish comes back from Tommy John surgery, looks great.
They just signed Baz to a five-year, $68 million extension, and Bassitt’s in that rotation as well.
And all of a sudden you look at this team and it’s like, boy, they could contend, but for the American League East.
And that’s why that division is, is so intriguing to me.
I think they are going to beat the crap out of each other this year, and the real question’s gonna be outside of the division, who is going to emerge as the, the team that wins the most games and thus, I think, finds itself with everybody else in the AL East having beaten up on each other, the Yankees, the Blue Jays, the Red Sox, even to some extent the Rays.
You know they’re competitive year in, year out.
Where do the Orioles fit in among that?
And how, at the end of the day close are they gonna be, if not in the playoffs to it?