A.L. East Preview: Orioles Face Long Road Ahead In 2012

The Baltimore Orioles are far away from their glory days in the 1970s. Barring a whole bunch of miracles they don’t figure to return to respectability anytime soon, especially because they ply their trade in what has been the most competitive division in Major League Baseball.

The Action: General manager Dan Duquette traded the closest thing they had to a No. 1 starter, Jeremy Guthrie, to the Colorado Rockies in the off-season for Matt Lindstrom and Jason Hammel. Now they have a boatload of arms (30) to compete for 10 or 11 staff spots, but really it’s a coracle of underachievers and no-names.

Along with Hammel, the pool of starting pitchers includes Jake Arrieta, Zach Britton (who may be injured), Wey-Yin Chen, Armando Galarraga (the former Tigers starter who had a perfect game taken away from him in 2010 with a bad call by umpire Jim Joyce with two outs in the bottom of the ninth), onetime Braves prospect Tommy Hunter, Brian Matusz, Chris Tillman and lefthander Tsuyoshi Wada, who knows how he wants to contribute.

The bullpen is similarly muddled. Lindstrom, Brad Bergesen and Alfredo Simon are currently ticketed for late-inning duties, but Bergesen and Simon could become starters if needed. When he’s healthy, Jim Johson would likely get the first chance to save the few games the O’s could win; Kevin Gregg also remains in the mix.

It’s A Lock: Most of the batting order and position players are more stable. Manager Buck Showalter can count on writing out the lineup card with the likes of All-Star catcher Matt Wieters; outfielders Nolan Reimold, Adam Jones and Nick Markakis; slugging third baseman Mark Reynolds; shortstop J.J. Hardy; first baseman Chris Davis; and new DH Wilson Betemit.

Hedge Your Bets: Second baseman Brian Roberts was not able to attend the the team’s recent Fan Fest because of ongoing issues regarding sensitivity to light and sound arising from a severe concussion. He lives in Sarasota and is in camp, which began on Sunday, but it’s far from certain if he’ll be able to return to his position. Betemit, Robert Andino and Ryan Adams could step in if Roberts can’t answer the bell.

The Payoff: In 2011 the O’s had the worst ERA in the American League, and they’re on a run of 14 straight losing seasons. Right now, the MLB futures betting has Baltimore at the same odds as Seattle to capture the American League pennant, and in a handful at the bottom with the Mariners, San Diego and Houston to win the World Series. If you’re looking for long shots in 2012, you don’t have to look much farther than Camden Yards.