What needs to happen for this season to be considered a "success"

[dan72]

I need to see Matusz healthy and back on track. He has the potential to be a good starter. The entire staff needs to focus on decreasing walks and homeruns. Jim Johnson needs to be a reliable closer. I also need to see someone develop into a number 4 hitter, Wieters, Jones or Hardy. Defensively we need to improve in spots.
Lastly if we trade Jones which I do see happening, we need something of value in return. Since we didn't do anything in free agency I think my expectations are for 5-8 wins more than last year. Anything greater than that will be appreciated.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Jim Callis said it best in aninterview with BSL:

I wouldn’t judge their season a failure or success based on wins. I’d judge it based on how many building blocks they can put in place.

[birdwatcher55]

What does Wieters say????

[Section34]

Success would be 500 ball and that's a shame. We've been waiting too many years for Angelos to put together a contending baseball team. REAL success would be Cal Ripken, et al, form a syndicate to buy the O's from this miserable owner.

[ofahn]

Success would be 500 ball and that's a shame. We've been waiting too many years for Angelos to put together a contending baseball team. REAL success would be Cal Ripken, et al, form a syndicate to buy the O's from this miserable owner.

I agree, but Angelos has to be willing to sell first.

[A_K]

There are lots of things on the personnel side I'd like to see happen. But the basis of this question seems to be "on the field" results, so I'll limit my response to that.

Matusz, Arrieta and Britton need to instill confidence that they're viable starting pitchers in the American League East. That's the biggest thing.

Wei-Yin Chen needs to adjust to major league hitters and establish himself as a solid starting pitcher.

Wieters, Jones and Hardy need to establish themselves as certifiable all-star caliber players at their positions.

Markakis needs to reverse the steady decline of his career over the last three years and become the player we thought we were extending.

Reimold needs to establish himself as a viable everyday major leaguer.

If all that happens-- and the minor leaguers develop at a reasonable rate and we have a successful draft-- then we can go back to thinking that we aren't an eternity away from being competitive.

[CSPitt17130]

I'd like to see at least three of Matusz, Britton, Arrieta, Chen, and Tillman establish themselves as middle of the rotation starters or better, with at least one showing upside of a #2 starter and both Hunter and Hammel pitch like back of the rotation, innings-eaters you would see on winning clubs.

I'd like to see Wieters hit from the right side the way he did last year and hit from the left side like he did in 2009.

I'd like to see Jones and whatever bullpen arms have value traded for as close to elite prospects as we can get.

[Don]

I think Callis has a strong point. They need to really find out who can play at a high level in the AL East that can lead the team to winning by 2014. It is not "nuggets", but serious long term building blocks without fat bloated contracts.

There is an outside chance that next wave arrives late 2013, early 2014, and this is the point where you look over the roster. You keep those that remain at a high level and release, trade, etc... those that do not fit into the plans.

I think DD is going to take the entire season to evaluate for himself and big trade may not happen until next winter. This of course can be completely wrong if DD is blow away by an offer for a player.

[Old Sneakers]

Here is a different spin...

No Debacle like at SS like in 2008
No Debacle of a starting rotation like in 2009
No Debacle like at 3B like in 2010

The biggest thing, is get Brian Matusz and Chris Tillman corrected and turned into at least serviceable starting pitchers. Otherwise they will become reclamation projects next year.

The team needs to know what it has and does not have at 2B and LF.

Lastly- Find the chasm that has ruined so many careers that exists somewhere between Frederick and OPACY and fill, fix or remove it as soon as possible!!!!

[Beaker]

The maturation of these young Orioles Starters like Britton, Arrieta, Matusz, Tillman needs to move forward. Wieters needs to improve his power numbers and the bullpen must be better than the previous seasons.

[osforlife]

In a perfect world…
Davis and Reimold perform admirably in a full season at-bats.
Chen and Wada pitch decently despite all the new challenges facing them in America.
Johnson assumes the closer’s role as if it was his set-up role.
B-Rob’s replacements (Andino, Antonelli, Flaherty, and Adams) hold up to at least replacement level.
Adam Jones takes the next step and becomes a star.
Tillman, Bergesen, and Matusz pitch well in the minors and force their way onto the big league roster.
Machado and Schoop continue their development well.
Dylan and Bobby Bundy pitch well at Delmarva and Bowie, respectively.

The majority of my goals for the season came true. Davis has been just short of outstanding but Reimold got hurt after what looked like was gonna be a promising season.
Chen exceeded my expactation but Wada got hurt in ST. Expecting him to make an impact next year.
Johnson has been a Top 3 closer this year.
Our second basemen have been terrible. Andino regressed, Antonelli DFA'd, Adams had a injury plagued year and didn't perform in AAA, Flaherty has been bad too but probably wasn't quite ready for the majors and had to face the difficulty of sitting for long periods of time.
Adam Jones is probably gonna get some MVP votes.
Tillman did exactly what I wanted him to do, Bergy was DFA'd, Matusz bummed out before pitching well in the pen.
Machado has been a very pleasant suprise. I was against the move to call him up at first but its hard to argue with it now. Schoop was decent. probably begin the year at AA again but has a very bright future.
Dylan Bundy is already in the majors which is unbelivable. Bobby Bundy struggled at AA but figured to be pitching not at 100%.

I'am suprised I didn't even mention Arrieta or Britton. And I totally did not guess us to be going to the playoffs. What about you guys? Did you're intangibles come true putting aside the fact that our win-loss record is great?

[ofahn]

Davis has been just short of outstanding

Chris Davis has proven that's he's a ML regular, but he has so much untapped potential as a hitter. If he were to just lay off the inside pitches in the lower half of the strike zone he could go into Adam Dunn territory with a better average.

Our second basemen have been terrible. Andino regressed, Antonelli DFA'd, Adams had a injury plagued year and didn't perform in AAA, Flaherty ... probably wasn't quite ready for the majors and had to face the difficulty of sitting for long periods of time.

I disagree with that. I think he has played an above average 2B and has hit when he was given a chance. Just look at his September numbers. I would give him the chance to win the 2B job in ST and platoon Andino with him.

Adam Jones has taken a solid step forward, but he needs to learn to simply ignore those pitches on the low outside corner if he wants to attain elite status.

Frankly, I felt that simply winning more than 81 games would make this a successful season so the results are far beyond what I could have hoped for.

[osforlife]

I disagree with that. I think he has played an above average 2B and has hit when he was given a chance. Just look at his September numbers. I would give him the chance to win the 2B job in ST and platoon Andino with him.

I love Ryan Flaherty as much as any other guy. I was pulling for him to stay on the roster when everyone else wanted him off. I liked his versatility and his sweet swing from the left side. I think he has played a somewhat solid second base. I did not like how Buck sat him for long periods of times, sometimes when he was hot! I think if he played everyday he would have a better stat line. I said he probably wasn't quite ready for the majors because of his terrible first half and his not so pretty batting stats in 2011 AAA. His overall .664 OPS is bad so technically over the course of the season he hasn't been very prodcutive. But his second half numbers are really good. Won't Roberts be ready for ST of 2013. But once he gets hurt, I can see Flaherty getting a bunch of playing time there.

[Matt P]

A lot of things that are unlikely to happen

Wow, lol. Way wrong.

[birdwatcher55]

What needs to happen for this season to be considered a "success"?

Is there a particular player you are looking for a good season from? A certain number of wins?

It's all gravy from this point. 90+ win season and playoffs. We have absolute reason to be proud of this team and what it has accomplished