Call to the pen
Fansided

A Christmas list for each AL East team

By Manny Gómez

ATLANTA, GA - JULY 28: Atlanta Braves mascot Blooper, wearing a Santa Claus costume, holds up a "Naughty or Nice?" sign in front of third baseman Manny Machado #8 of the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a "Christmas in July" promotion during the game between the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers at SunTrust Park on July 28, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - JULY 28: Atlanta Braves mascot Blooper, wearing a Santa Claus costume, holds up a "Naughty or Nice?" sign in front of third baseman Manny Machado #8 of the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a "Christmas in July" promotion during the game between the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers at SunTrust Park on July 28, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /
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AL East
KANSAS CITY, MO – SEPTEMBER 1: Mychal Givens #60 of the Baltimore Orioles looks down in dejection after giving up a walk-off home run to Whit Merrifield #15 of the Kansas City Royals during the ninth inning at Kauffman Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Brian Davidson/Getty Images) /

This year, the Christmas List for AL East teams is hefty. Will Santa be able to fulfill your favorite team’s every wish?

In the interest of fairness, let’s begin with the worst team in the AL East in 2018, the Baltimore Orioles. The 2018 team lost more games than any other Orioles team in the history of the franchise, so they’re in desperate need of every item on their Christmas list.

Let’s just hope they’re on the “nice” list.

Baltimore Orioles

The O’s have been busy this offseason bringing the organization to the 21st century. After picking off a couple of pieces off of the Astros tree, pieces like Mike Elias and Sig Mejdal, the O’s are looking to mimic what the Astros managed to accomplish after losing 100 or more games for three straight seasons form 2011-2013.

The Astros success came from their ability to scout young talent. Despite being the best team in baseball over the last two seasons, they still manage to maintain a great farm system. So, we can surmise that first on the list for the O’s is a Scouting Director. Someone adept at finding young talent.

Secondly, with the Orioles finishing last in ERA and FIP in 2018, the second thing on their list is a pitching coach that can help develop young pitching into reliable arms in the staff. O’s pitching was so bad last season that they ranked last in HR allowed, WHIP, and BA against among many other stats.

Finally, the O’s need to completely revamp their offensive stats. Because of this, third on their Christmas list is a hitting coach. According to Tom Verducci, half of big league teams have replaced hitting coaches since the end of 2018. No team needs a revamp more than the Birds from Baltimore.

Last season, the Orioles ranked 2nd to last in OBP, had the 6th worst SLG, and ranked 5th worst in wRC+. If you can’t score runs, you can’t win games.

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