The Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles finished the 2011 season with a record of 69-93. If they were in a different division their record would have been better, but they are still in the AL East.

The Orioles have plenty of young pitching. Zach Britton, Chris Tillman, and Brad Bergeson are some notable young starters for The Orioles.  Bergeson quite ins't at the major league level but he has potential to be, he is only 26 years old. Britton is 24 years old and pitched to a 4.61 ERA over 154 innings in 2011. Tillman is only 23 and he pitched to a 5.52 ERA over 62 innings for The Orioles in 2011. All three of these pitchers have the potential to be great. Jeremy Guthrie would have been discussed, but he was traded to The Rockies.

The Orioles have plenty of offensive players, but none of MVP or All-Star caliber. Nick Markakis has consistently played the entire season while having an on base percentage of .350 or greater and 15-20 home runs. Markakis is The Orioles best player. Brian Roberts has been injured and only played 98 games over the past 2 seasons. He is great at getting on base and a sneaky base stealer. If Roberts can come back from injury and play most of the season, the Orioles might be able to compete. Mark Reynolds has a certain motto associated with himself. It is "Swing hard in case you hit it." He has led the league in strikeouts the past 4 seasons, but has hit 141 home runs over his past 4 seasons.

As for the Orioles young offensive players; they have Matt Wieters and Adam Jones. Matt Wieters is 25 years old and played 132 games as the catcher for The Orioles. Over 139 total games, he had a .328 on base percentage, 22 home runs, and .450 slugging percentage. Those numbers are pretty good for a catcher. As for Adam Jones; The Orioles have been waiting for him to emerge as a super star. In 2011 he hit 25 home runs, but his on base percentage has been hovering around .330 over the past 3 seasons. Adam Jones is 26 and if this could be his break out year The Orioles may finish over .500.

Everything has to go right for The Orioles to finish over .500 on the season and a miracle will have to happen for them to make it to the playoffs. They will be competing with The Blue Jays for 4th place in The AL East.