1st Place Baltimore Orioles!

The opportunity to say that has been so rare over the past 25 years that I couldn't resist the headline, even if it's only 7 games into the season. Since the O's won the 1983 World Series, there have only been 3 seasons - 1989, 1997, & 2005 - in which the O's spent a significant portion of the season in first place. And in two of those seasons - '89 & '05 - they fell short of the post-season.

Despite this week's fun, I fully expect the O's to finish in last place. But that's OK. For the first time since the early 90's, they actually have a logical philosophy in place. While it's still early in his reign, Andy McPhail has a sound strategy and appears to be executing it well. Already, five of the players acquired in the Erik Bedard and Miguel Tejada trades are on the roster and contributing. Adam Jones is off to a slow start but has already gotten some timely hits. Luke Scott is batting .500 and hit his first HR today. George Sherrill, Dennis Sarfate, and Matt Albers have combined for a 0.00 ERA and 4 saves out of the bullpen.

As we go through the season, here is what I'll be watching:

• Adam Jones: He may struggle early on. How will he handle it? What adjustments will he make? In 2006, his rookie season, Nick Markakis was hitting .200 in early June. He ended up near .300.
• Adam Loewen & Jeremy Guthrie: This is essentially their first full seasons as starters. How will they hold up? How will they adjust once the league has season them a few times? Can they develop into long-term members of the starting rotation?
• Dennis Sarfate, Randor Bierd, Greg Aquino, and Matt Albers: All 4 were acquired in the off-season and are in the bullpen. For years the O's bullpen has been a disaster. Are any of these guys long-term solutions? Will Albers be moved into the rotation?
• The Norfolk rotation: Triple-A Norfolk has 3 young pitchers with major-league potential - Garrett Olson, Radhammes Liz, & Hayden Penn. How will they perform at AAA? When will they get called up? If they are called up, will the O's start them out in the bullpen?
• Chris Tillman, Chorye Spoone, Jake Arrieta, Tim Bascom, Brandon Erbe: More young pitchers at the Single-A and Double-A levels. All have high ceilings. How will they develop?
• The Frederick Keys: This team has a ton of talent, including the O's past three #1 picks - 1B Brandon Snyder, 3B Billy Rowell, and C Matt Wieters. Their rotation includes Arrieta and Erbe.
  
• O's 2009 road uniforms: It's past time to put "Baltimore" back on the road jerseys! The deadline for changes is sometime in May.

While the O's are no threat to win the pennant, this should be a fun and interesting year, as long as Peter Angelos lets Andy McPhail do his job. And since I haven't said this in a while - SELL THE TEAM PETE!