Same old O's

Five weeks into the season and I'm quickly realizing that nothing has changed with the O's. They're still mediocre with little hope for improvement.

Right now the O's are 14-17. What is more telling is the breakdown of their record. Against the best teams they've played (Minnesota, Detroit, Oakland, Boston, and Cleveland) they're 4-15, with 3 of those wins coming against Cleveland. (If Cleveland ends up falling just short of the playoffs, they're going to kick themselves for screwing around playing the O's). Against the weakest (or most injured) teams they've played (Yankees, Tampa Bay, Kansas City, and Toronto) they're 10-2.

On top of that, an organization with little depth due to years of poor drafts and lousy development has now lost 2/5 of its starting rotation. Jaret Wright was no surprise (and no big loss) but losing Adam Loewen for most of the year hurts. Not so much because he was expected to win 15 games, but because he needs experience to harness his great potential.

At this point it looks like the O's are going to have to play over their heads to win even 78 games. I could handle that if I understood that it was part of a plan. But as long as Angelos is owner, there will never be a plan. Nor hope.