Big Al McMordie Free Thursday Play
BigAl.com
Thursday April 3rd, 2008

At 7:05pm our complimentary selection is on the Baltimore Orioles over the Tampa Bay Rays. There are at least two ways in which Tampa is not as 'bad' as they've been in years past. First, they've cleansed themselves by removing the word 'Devil' from their name. Secondly they've actually got a stacked lineup with the likes of veterans Carl Crawford and (new Ray) Cliff Floyd, slugger Carlos Pena, and talented youngsters BJ Upton and Evan Longoria, although the latter is starting the season in the minors. Add to those offensive sparkplugs a top 3 starting rotation of Shields, Garza, and (when soon healthy) Kazmir, and you have the makings of a very good core upon which to build. Their problem this year will likely be the same problem they had in '07 - the bullpen. Tampa's relievers weren't just the worst in baseball in 2007, they became one of the worst in MLB history with an official relief ERA of more than six runs over the course of the entire season! They haven't done much if anything to improve on that this season, adding just one significant name to bullpen, that of former All-Star closer Troy Percival and it's very unclear at this point whether he will help or hurt this struggling group of pitchers. These teams are almost exact opposites of one-another with one of Baltimore's only strong suits seeming to be their bullpen, although it's too early to tell, but the initial signs seem very promising. Baltimore may very well finish behind Tampa at the end of the season, but look for their bats to come alive against a starter (Sonnanstine) whose ERA was almost as bad last year as the aforementioned worst bullpen in baseball. Let's not annoint the Rays a playoff team just yet.

Take Baltimore.

As always, good luck...Al McMordie.