The retooling starts next Monday. After the Orioles finish the season Sunday in Boston, the team?s front office will be tasked with putting a contender on the field for 2007.
The Orioles (68-88) will close 2006 with their ninth straight losing season, raising the familiar question: What are the Orioles going to do in the offseason to improve?
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Compared to last year, the Orioles are clearly further along in developing their younger talent. Brandon Fahey, Adam Loewen, Nick Markakis, Hayden Penn and Chris Ray have all seen significant time in Baltimore this season.
In the clubhouse before the Orioles? final home game, a 6-3 loss to Minnesota Sunday, Markakis reflected on the season. The rookie right fielder started 2006 slowly, then exploded over the second half of the season to raise his average more than 100 points to its current level of .298.
“There are a couple pieces missing,” he said.
Markakis? season is the kind of youthful payoff that has the Orioles optimistic heading into the future. But at 20 games under .500, there?s a painfully familiar refrain to the current state of the franchise.
“It is a broken record: We are a couple pieces away,” veteran outfielder Jay Gibbons said. “We?ve got a starting rotation that is starting to form. We?ve got a potential ace next year in [Erik] Bedard.”
The Orioles have plenty of needs to fill this winter. According to manager Sam Perlozzo, the club has some good, young talent in the minors that can help the big-league club?s bullpen, but it still needs a top-tier starter, one that would bring 13-14 wins a year.
“It is important to go in and get another starter we can count on, because no matter how much we love Daniel Cabrera and how much we love Adam Loewen and Hayden Penn, they still have not gone out there and pitched a full major league season,” Perlozzo said. “I don?t knowthere are that many people available out there, but you need to get a No. 3 guy to help solidify the rotation.”
Also high on Perlozzo?s list is another middle-of-the-order hitter to complement leadoff batter Brian Roberts, Melvin Mora and Miguel Tejada.
“One more big bat makes Miggy better, it makes Melvin better, it makes Roberts better, it makes Gibby better, it makes Ramon [Hernandez] better ? everybody in the lineup gets better,” Perlozzo said.
On the bright side, Perlozzo said this season gave the Orioles a chance to see what their young talent could do. Loewen, Markakis and closer Chris Ray have shown the most promise. Despite a pedestrian 6-6 record and 5.08 ERA, Loewen has dazzled at times, and Markakis looks like he could hit at the top of the order for a long time. Ray, meanwhile, has recorded 33 of 38 possible saves.
“They have given us a chance to find out some about our people,” Perlozzo said. “In another sense, we have found out pretty clear where our holes are. Your job [as a manager] is to decrease the number of people you need each year to compete. This winter is going to be a big winter for us.”
