Roster set

[Scoot McGroot]

Sorry WizStorm, I wanted to be the first to post here

Jason Dubois and Todd Williams sent down to Triple A, and Jay Payton put on 15 day DL to start the year, leaving the rosters starting the year with 13 pitchers, and only 3 bench positional players, Paul Bako, Chris Gomez, and Freddie Bynum. I hear good things about Bynum as a utility guy, but you guys have any input on the roster this year?

Roster Link

[miller31time]

Scoot, what are your thoughts on Nick Markakis this season? I'm hoping he's going to take yet another step and get into that "star player" territory.

Personally, I wanted one more "power bat" this season. I hear good things about the growth of Gibbons (and am expecting big things from him), and you know Tejada is going to bolt out 20-30+ hr's, but for some reason, and I can't quite say why, I feel that one more power bat would be ideal for this squad.

[Scoot McGroot]

Well, Markakis seems to be hitting in the 3 hole ahead of Tejada, so he's going to get some good chances to make some contact. The way he played after the All Star Break last year (something like 15 of his 16 homers came then), I think he could ultimately work his way up to a 30 hr, 90 RBI type year if he stays patient at the plate.

As to a dedicated power bat, I'm not sure what we can do about that. It definitely wouldn't hurt to add one, but I think the trio of Millar, Gibbons, and Payton can provide some pop at 1st base at times.

[WizStorm]

Sorry WizStorm, I wanted to be the first to post here

Jason Dubois and Todd Williams sent down to Triple A, and Jay Payton put on 15 day DL to start the year, leaving the rosters starting the year with 13 pitchers, and only 3 bench positional players, Paul Bako, Chris Gomez, and Freddie Bynum. I hear good things about Bynum as a utility guy, but you guys have any input on the roster this year?

Roster Link

No problem Scoot. I'm glad to see there are people in the RealGM community that share a similar passion for the O's. Hopefully, we'll find a lot more once RealGM diversifies itself into other sports.

[WizStorm]

As for opening daylineup this year, i'm not overly enthused. Huff will need to show he can hit against other teams since he won't be able to take advantage of the the one team he could count on to give him a boost in numbers. Plus that downward trend in his career numbers is going to have reverse itself. Maybe the new setting and friendly confines of Camden Yards will do the trick, but i'm not holding my breath.

I do like the Jay Payton move, if anything just to give us some nice speed and defense in the outfield and to also give less chances for Gibbons to impale himself or something in the field by forcing him to DH more often.

And uggg, Payton's injury means more plate appearances for Kevin Millar. In my Wizards' parlance, he's the "Michael Ruffin" of the O's.

As for pitching, I do have my hopes high that we;ll be much better. Just knowing that I can keep the TV on when the the call to the bullpen is made is a huge step in itself. I look for big things from our top 3 starters and hopefully Leo can work his magic with in his 2nd year.

[Scoot McGroot]

Unfortunately, I'm relegated to only info on the Orioles from the Web and the Baltimore Sun, as I'm living in Indy, and have DISH Network, meaning not even the possibility for MLB League Pass. Pretty sad for me.

[WizStorm]

Unfortunately, I'm relegated to only info on the Orioles from the Web and the Baltimore Sun, as I'm living in Indy, and have DISH Network, meaning not even the possibility for MLB League Pass. Pretty sad for me.

I have DirecTV and got MLB League Pass about 5 years ago. Unfortunately, didn't realize that the Charlotte area is considered hometown to the O's as well as the Braves and Reds (?) and therefore all the games were blacked out on League Pass. I was highly irritated to say the least.

The good news is that since i'm considered to be in the O's home market, I got to watch the games on the normal Comcast SportsNet channel (629). Even then, I still missed half of the games on TV that weren't broadcast on CSN.

Now that the O's have move to from CSN to MASN/MASN2, i'm hoping that I can still watch the O's and not be blacked out. The real test will be tonight's opener and I tune into MASN (626) and then tomorrow night when the game is on MASN2 (no clue if even on DirecTV). If both are blacked out, i'll be right there with you on Yahoo instant updates and the Baltimore Sun.