Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles finished 78-84 last season which was good enough for third place in the division. They are hoping the addition of Sammy Sosa to the lineup will generate more runs and wins.

The pitching staff isn't much changed from last season when they finished seventh in the league with a 4.70 ERA. Sidney Ponson (11-15, 5.30) will again anchor the rotation, followed by Erik Bedard (6-10, 4.59), Daniel Cabrera (12-8, 5.00), Matt Riley (3-4, 5.62), and Rodrigo Lopez (14-9, 3.59). Kurt Ainsworth and Eric DuBose will also battle for positions in the starting rotation.

The bullpen added veterans Steve Kline and Steve Reed. B.J. Ryan is expected to be the closer even though Jorge Julio is still on the roster. Julio has a strained arm and Ryan struckout 122 batters in 76 appearances.

Baltimore was sixth in hitting in 2004 with 5.2 runs per game. They brought in Sammy Sosa to hopefully improve this stat. Sosa is joining a lineup which already has Rafael Palmeiro at first base, Miguel Tejada at short stop, and Javy Lopez behind the plate. These hitters are run producers, but only Lopez and Tejada hit for average. Brian Roberts will be playing second base and Melvin Mora rounds out the infield at third. The outfield will have Larry Bigsbie, Sammy Sosa, Luis Matos, and Jay Gibbons as backup. Gibbons can also backup at first base along with BJ Surhoff. The DH position will be the one with the most questions. Anyone from Palmeiro, Gibbons, or Surhoff can play the position when not in the everyday lineup.

Baltimore made some interesting moves in the offseason, but I don't think they did enough to improve pitching or gain any ground on the Red Sox or Yankees. Adding Sosa does add power, but it also adds strike-outs and not hitting for average or simply to move runners up on the bases. I don't see this team being very much different from last year's squad.