Who is the Worst Team in the AL East?
As we are heading around the final curve and approaching the home-stretch of the worst time of the year – that without baseball – I thought it would be fun to take a bit of a dive into the worst teams in baseball starting with the AL East. What a lonely and disappointing feeling to be on this list… left for dead before the season even begins. *Moment of silence* With that being said, this week’s cellar dweller will focus on, drum roll please, the Baltimore Orioles!
Before crushing all the hopes and dream of Orioles fans, I would like to declare that the Red Sox were originally going to be today’s lucky winner, but with their recent acquisitions of reliever Adam Ottavino, utility man Kike Hernandez and starter Garrett Richards, I just couldn’t do it. Adding the late surge of Boston on top of the Blake Snell-less and reigning AL Champions Tampa Bay Rays, up and coming Toronto Blue Jays, and the stacked New York Yankees, that just leaves one team. Here are my official AL East predictions for the 2021 season.
- New York Yankees
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Tampa Bay Rays
- Boston Red Sox
- Baltimore Orioles
2020 Rewind
Looking back at the shortened 2020 season, the Orioles impressed many with their relevancy. Hitters like Renato Nunez, Hanser Alberto, youngster Ryan Mountcastle, Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander, Jose Iglesias, Pat Valaika, and a vastly improved bullpen impressed and made the O’s a surprise team. There were even whispers in Baltimore of a fringe postseason team during the start of the season. It was their pitching that seemed to let them down time and time again, which led to their downfall and eventual 25-35 record and fourth place finish in the AL East.
Looking Ahead at 2021
While I don’t think the rebuilding Orioles are necessarily the worst team in the league, 2021 will be another disappointing one for the orange and white (black?). With little to no free agent activity, aside from a few minor league contracts, not extending 2020 breakout second baseman Hanser Alberto (who is still a free agent), and being in an extremely stout and competitive division, the 2021 Orioles do not seem to have the recipe of success.
There are also recent reports that the Orioles offered salary deferrals to 26 year old Anthony Santander and star OF/1B Trey Mancini. These deferrals came as a bit of a surprise to many as penny pinching on a one-year arbitration contract was unheard of among “multiple agents and baseball arbitration experts,” according to The Athletic’s Dan Connelly. As it stands for the Orioles, this news isn’t good. It tells us just how financially underwater the O’s think themselves right now, providing a clue that any 11th hour roster improvements will likely be on league minimum deals. It also doesn’t help that they are stuck with contracts such as Chris Davis’s $21 million for each of the next two seasons and Alex Cobb’s $15 million this year. Baltimore eventually came to agreements with both Santander and Mancini, but don’t rule out a surprise trade of one or both of these guys before things get up and running.
Looking at the roster as a whole, 2021 will be a transition year. They simply don’t have the talent needed to be considered a playoff team, or even competitive, in the AL East. The Orioles projected opening day roster will look something like this,
Catcher: Chance Sisco, Austin Wynns
First Base: Chris Davis, Trey Mancini
Second Base: Yolmer Sanchez
Third Base: Hanser Alberto (assuming he is resigned)
Shortstop: Jose Iglesias
Designated Hitter: Rio Ruiz
Outfield: Ryan Mountcastle, Cedrick Mullins, Anthony Santander, Austin Hays, DJ Stewart
Utility: Richie Martin
Starting Pitchers: John Means, Alex Cobb, Dean Kremer, Keegan Akin (assuming he is resigned)
Relief Pitchers: Cesar Valdez, Hunter Harvey, Tanner Scott, Paul Fry, Dillon Tate, Shawn Armstrong, Travis Lakins Sr., Jorge Lopez
The Future Starts Now
According to MLB Pipeline’s 2020 Midseason Farm System Rankings, the O’s have a bright future to look forward to, boasting the 8th best system in the Majors. Throughout 2020 some of their prospects began to make appearances, like 90th ranked overall prospect LF/1B Ryan Mountcastle. More prospects figure to come up in 2021, providing clues on the future of the franchise.
Baltimore has a total of 5 prospects in the top 100 including the number 2 overall prospect in switch hitting catcher Adley Rutschman who hopes to make his Major League debut sometime in 2021. Aside from the future superstar Rutschman, RHP Grayson Rodriguez (#31), OF Heston Kjerstad (#55), and LHP DL Hall (#64) are still waiting in the wings of the farm system and will be making an impact in the near future. There is hope Baltimore!
So, the 121st season in Baltimore Orioles history won’t be a good one. A young and inexperienced roster is complimented with payroll problems making 2021 another year to likely forget for the O’s. Hold out hope for the future and don’t give up, the Orioles time is coming!
-Alex Wolfe
