[Droford]

I wanna do one of those about the Orioles

Catcher - I think its a 50/50 shot at this point as to whether Wieters stays or they go another direction. Ideally they would give Chance Sisco another year in minors but he's the only catcher worth anything in the minors. Sisco can hit but has no power. my guess is they won't QO Wieters again even at the risk of no draft pick in return since he's be a fool not to take it and he ain't worth 17.2 million. The big question Then is can he find more money elsewhere given he's not anywhere close to where he was pre TJ surgery. Backup Caleb Joseph after being a solid backup in 2015 turned in a shitty year which I'm pretty sure he broke a record for most AB without an RBI.

First - Chris Davis obviously. Might win a gold glove this week to shut up people about him being sub par defensively. Trey Mancini who showed some pop in his call up could spell Davis at 1st if he's used as DH. Davis can play other positions like RF but Buck said in his last press conference after the Wild Card game he wasn't bouncing Davis around next year.

Second- Jonathan Schoop played in all 162 games after injuries limited him in previous year. He started off hot offensively but playing the full season seemed to wear him down. He just turned 25 though..and as far as I can tell they have no other options at 2nd on s long term basis.

Short - JJ Hardy missed a ton off time due to injuries prompting the Is to Use Machsdo at short for an extended period. Hardy will be a free agent after 2017 unless he gets 600 pa which seems impossible given his injury history. He's still a solid defensive shortstop but he's not close to the offensive production from 2011. I don't think they want the $14 mil player option to kick in though ..moving Machsdo over to SS only moves the hole in the lineup from SS to 3rd...and like 2B there's little in the organization to fall back on either way.

Third - Manny Machado

Left Field - Hyun-soo Kim is probably the best hitter on the team..his .381 OBP was the best by an Oriole since 2008. Guess is Buck will play him on a more regular basis after platoonning him vs righties (no hits vs lefties in limited AB) The platoon sucked since their other options in left were horrible which was a common theme for the outfield. Joey Rickard probably doesn't sniff the roster after completing his rule 5 year in the major league roster unless Jones goes down long term..

Center - Adam Jones was pretty close to his usual self in 2016 and would have been there if not for injuries early on in the year. He's also not a leadoff hitter and I can't see him leading off next year..no real options in CF

Right - biggest hole they have. Trumbo will be QO'ed but no way he takes it and I can't see them spending bug money to keep him. So that opens up the door to resign cheaper options like Michael Bourn to play RF who even at 34 next year would still be the speedier guy on the team. Steve Pearce could also be resigned although for whatever reason he seems to have a lot of suitors lined up. Other than that it would have to be a free agent signing..taking a look at the list of FA for right field the only name that stands out as a remote possibility is Josh Reddick but he's a righty platoon guy and two platoons liked that won't work..

DH . There's a lot of talk about getting Alvarez resigned is the biggest move they'll make or not mske. Problem is he was a platoon DH so I don't think it's as important as others do. I assume Mancini gets the DH if he doesn't stay unless they sign someone else..Jokingly I might say Mike Napoli fits here but he's be more expensive than Alvarez and barring any craziness the Orioles won't be spending any big money this off-season on single players

Rotation- I doubt it looks much different despite the fact it should. Tillman would probably be a solid #2 anywhere else but he's the #1. Was on a pace for a nice bounce back year after 2015 until he got hurt. Kevin Gausman showed spurts of being a #1 and still has potential but it pretty much has to show up more consistently in 2017. Dylan Bundy handled the transition from Bullpen to starter ok after the TJS and he is their best pitcher long term but he will probably still be another year of feeling it out in 2017 since there will still be an innings limit on him. Ubaldo Jiminez is in his final year of his contract which can hopefully mean only one thing..a great start through June and being able to trade him for something in return that might slightly ease the pain of his stint in Baltimore. I thought Gallardo would be a good fit in the back end if the rotation but he's clearly not the pitcher he was a few years ago. Wade Miley will probably compete for the spot in the rotation.

Bullpen one of the best in baseball anchored by soon to be Cy Young winner Zach Britton. A healthy Darren Oday, Brad Brach, Mychal Givens are the other keys to the bullpen. They have several options for the other spot including Miley/Gallardo and Vance Worley who was surprisingly ok.. The big question on the bullpen might actually be who the bullpen coach is (and pitching Coach since they both left for the Braves). New coaches might not have a direct impact on the bullpen but if they can somehow find a way to fix the starting situation it might at least keep the bullpen from being way overused..

My overall 2017 outlook at this point is that the Red Sox and Jays both have as many if not more (Jays) question marks going into free agency so its too early to make any bold predictions how ever I will contend that the Orioles will still be in play for the Division despite them not being as active in the off-season as the test of the Division...