Baltimore Orioles: Interesting case study

The Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Rays are an interesting study of two teams that went in the opposite direction of where they were supposed to go this year. Prior to the season I, along with many other people, predicted that the O’s would take a step forward in 2011, with Tampa taking a step back. In the off season Tampa lost Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, and Rafael Soriano to free agency (with Pena and Soriano relocating within the division), and the Orioles picked up the likes of Derrek Lee, Vladimir Guerrero, J.J. Hardy, and Mark Reynolds. That, combined with a presumably healthy Brian Roberts made many people feel that the O’s would in fact leapfrog the Tampa Rays in the standings this year. Yet going into tonight’s game, the O’s are twenty games behind the Rays in the standings. What gives? You can look at the statistics yourself and deduce that the Rays have gotten far superior starting pitching and clutch hitting this year as opposed to the Orioles. However I suppose I’m pre...