Dan Duquette has a tough job – but there are pieces to work with

Newly hired GM Dan Duquette has his work cut out for him if he wants to turn things around in Baltimore, but a trip down memory lane says it’s possible.  Not too long ago the Detroit Tigers lost 119 games.  They also happen to play in a city, like Baltimore, that’s not exactly a hot spot for multi-millionaires to re-locate to.  What did they do?  They overpaid for Pudge Rodriguez and acquired Rondell White.  Two years later they were in the World Series.

Ok, so Justin Verlander did just fall into their laps in the 2004 draft which probably helped as well, but you see my point.  While Dan Duquette isn’t inheriting the AL Central as his home division, he does have way more talent on this current Orioles’ roster than the Tigers had back in 2003.  A franchise can be turned around quickly with one or two offseason moves, and that’s precisely the train of thought Duquette should have.

Matt Wieters, Nick Markakis and J.J. Hardy are all under team control for a while, and they are likely to see improvement in their young pitching staff with a healthy Brian Matusz and the rising star Zach Britton.  With this core group, the Orioles were actually a decent team post-July.

Well, that about sums up the extreme positive angle I’m taking here – now it is time for reality.  The Orioles have some holes to fill.  The pitching staff as a whole was dead-last in the majors in 2011 with an ERA just a tick under 5.00.  While injuries to Brian Matusz and Justin Duchsc…Duch…not gonna pitch here anymore most certainly didn’t help, they could use a boost in talent to help deal with the extreme hitting prowess of the AL East.

Rumblings in Baltimore are hinting bullpen stud Jim Johnson may transition into a starting role.  He was brilliant in the pen last year – 91 IP, 2.67 ERA, 1.110 WHIP.  Then if the O’s stay pat you are looking at Jeremy Guthrie and former Ranger Tommy Hunter rounding out the rotation.  There are plenty of tier-two type free-agent pitchers this year on the market that could help boost some competition here for spots on the staff.  Names such as Edwin Jackson, Jon Garland, Jeff Francis and Paul Maholm come to mind.

Kevin Gregg was also the equivalent of a dumpster fire in the closer role this past season.  But due to the fact he will make $5.8 million next year, you almost have to let that ride out of Spring and re-evaluate after a month or so.  I feel like Gregg can perform much better though.

You will also likely see former starter Chris Tillman move to a bullpen role which could help, and possibly a guy like Hunter join the pen if they find another starter in free-agency.

Offensively, the O’s may have enough to survive with.  Sure there is room to improve, but they were statistically a middle of the road team in many categories, and excelled in others such as home runs and slugging.  If Aramis Ramirez dangles around the free-agent market for long enough, the O’s could be able to make a big splash signing him.  That would make a big impact on the lineup.  At that point you could have Mark Reynolds DH and Chris Davis play first base.

The Orioles are a younger team that should get better.  Dan Duquette should try and work on developing these guys, but assuming he’ll want to win some sooner than later, I think he needs to sign an impact free-agent starting pitcher to grab a spot in his rotation.  In mid-July if things are still ugly like they have been the last few years, he can deal Jeremy Guthrie and/or Adam Jones and blow things up a bit.

The more I think about it, the O’s should be players for these three guys:  A-Ram, Edwin Jackson, and maybe Jon Garland.  Starting pitching needs a boost.  Edwin Jackson can be had if they commit a slight over pay, and even though he will get hit around, he still has the stuff to be very good.

The Orioles have some pieces to work with, and some wiggle room in the payroll for that matter.  They just desperately need to hit on the right free-agent, then who knows, things could turn around quickly like they did for the Detroit Tigers.