It's been nearly a month since the Orioles made a move of any importance. On December 17th, the Orioles signed 3B Garrett Atkins and RP Michael Gonzalez and then appeared to go home for the holidays.
Apparently, the Orioles are still home feasting on the leftovers because there are no rumblings of any kind connected to the team and the moves they could make. They don't appear to be chasing down any free agents or discussing any trades.
To be fair, Andy MacPhail works in secrecy. He likes to surprise fans by making a flurry of moves that seem to come out of nowhere.
But could the Orioles finished for the offseason?
God I hope not.
The Orioles could still upgrade the 1B position and add another starting pitcher to take pressure off Chris Tillman, who in a perfect world, would start the season in Norfolk. But the possibility of Garrett Atkins or Michael Aubrey starting the season at 1B is real (yuck). And I'd be surprised if MacPhail signed a starting pitcher who would enter the season in the rotation.
Erik Bedard has been discussed recently, but his arm injury is likely to keep him out until the All Star Break. So signing Bedard would be a good contingency plan if say Tillman flops, but it offers no immediate help to a rotation that is still filled with as much potential as it is filled with question marks.
I do believe the 2010 will be an improvement over the dismal 2009 season as the younger players improve. But I also think that MacPhail owes it to the players and the fans to add some more pieces to the current team to insure that said improvement does actually happen.
Otherwise, he's basically betting the farm, on the farm.
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