We have made it to Opening Day.
Sure, it's happening in Florida and not Baltimore.
And you are in the new "Orioles Insider" blog instead of the "Toy Department." That's why we have Sheryl Crow's "Change Will Do You Good," playing continually on the jukebox. Hope your ears don't bleed by lunchtime.
As I said in my initial post in these new digs, it'll be the same old content here, just a different place for you to find it.
So we are going back to our bread and butter (which is basically the menu at Connolly's) today: The Orioles.
I know it is the first day of the season and everyone has a chance and hope springs eternal and blah, blah, blah. But we don't serve that junk here.
We dole out hefty plates of realism. The Orioles will almost surely finish fourth in the American League East. The New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays are arguably the three best teams in the AL, and the Orioles aren't in that conversation.
The flip side is that the Orioles have plenty of young talent and should be better than the Toronto Blue Jays. They should also be better than they were last year. I am saying eight games better – which sounds good until you realize that still means 90 losses.
But 72-90 would be a significant upgrade from last year's 64-98. It also would be the club's best record since 2005. So I guess you can find a silver lining there if you are really fishing.
Now it is your turn.
Daily Think Special: Predict the Orioles' 2010 record.