The Jays and Orioles may be two very different teams, but they still have one thing in common: they can’t swoop up the A.L. East.
But just because they are annual third and fourth place finishers, doesn't exactly mean they come close on baseball's evolutionary scale. The Jays, as we all know, will be on the outside looking in on the playoff teams due, in most part, to injuries, their excuse for their shortcomings in 2007.
The Orioles, on the other hand, have endured one of the most roller-coaster campaigns in recent memory. Within this season, they have fired their manager, lost their top two left-handed starters -- Canadians Erik Bedard and Adam Loewen -- to season-ending injuries and lost a game in which they gave up 30 unanswered runs, propelling the club into their current funk that has seen them lose 18 of their last 22 games.
At closer glance, the Blue Jays and Orioles are farther apart than the 10.5 games that separate them in the standings. Toronto's current rotation, after trying and failing to catch lightning in a bottle, has settled in quite nicely. When general manager J.P. Ricciardi said that's the he's quite content with the team that is together right now, he has to be talking about the fivesome of Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett, Dustin McGowan, Shaun Marcum and Jesse Litsch. Now together for over half a season, this rotation -- with the average age clocks in at 26.4 years -- looks like they'll be together for the next few seasons. Their overall numbers would be even more impressive if not for some blown saves of late by the overworked core of the bullpen.
Across the field, the loss of ace left-hander Bedard, who was leading the A.L. in strikeouts and wins when he was shelved for the season with a pulled oblique muscle, had a domino effect on the entire staff. Heading into this weekend's series at the Rogers Centre, the only member of the Orioles' opening day rotation left is the enigmatic Daniel Cabrera; great one start, wild as a Borneo native the next. Bedard, Loewen and oft-injured Jaret Wright have only combined to make 37 starts this season, with the other member, Steve Trachsel, now trying to help the Cubs return to the post-season.
Their replacements represent a who's who of nobodies. Brian Burres has a career ERA of 5.58, Jon Leicester 5.16, Kurt Birkins 6.00 and Victor Santos 5.20. Heck, the Orioles are even taking a flyer on Victor Zambrano, who earlier this season gave up 20 hits and 13 earned runs over just 10.2 innings for the Blue Jays. And when you factor in that the Orioles bullpen have a major league-worst 7.31 ERA after the All-Star break, not a lot of optimism is permeating from their clubhouse these days.
Offensively, the Orioles hold an advantage over the Jays, out-hitting them .271 to .257, outscoring them 670-657 with Toronto holding a 147-128 home run advantage. This is where the Jays’ injury excuse comes to the fore. With Lyle Overbay, Troy Glaus and Gregg Zaun all missing significant time to injuries, and Vernon Wells rendered insignificant by a shoulder malady since the middle of April, it's hard to tell which team has the better hitters. All I know is that of the everyday Orioles hitters, the only two I'd take over any of the Blue Jays are Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis. Other than that, even as badly as the Jays have hit, I'd still take the Canadian crew.
But when the dust settles on the 2007 regular season, all the ducks will be in their usual row. That means that the Blue Jays will once again be the dominant bird in the A.L. East. Whether that changes in the near future remains to be seen, although I suspect the money-conscious Blue Jays will stay the course this off-season, while the spend-whatever-it-takes Orioles will foolishly over-spend, yet again, to fix the massive holes on the roster.
It says here that, despite my personal feelings about the Blue Jays as they are currently constituted, I'd rather spend my hard earned money at the Rogers Centre than at Camden Yards.
