Baltimore Orioles Season Preview

Sports Saturday

The Baltimore Orioles are off to a terrific start to begin the 2016 season. They squared off against the Minnesota Twins in the first series of the year this week and they certainly took care of business. The O’s defeated them in all three games, holding them to two runs in each game. This was just the start that manager Buck Showalter wanted from his club as they look to get back on top as AL East champions.

The Baltimore Orioles had a relatively quiet offseason as they were unable to sign a big ace for their rotation. However, they did resign a bunch of their own guys who played pivotal roles for the team last season. Most notably, they resigned first basemen Chris Davis to a 7 year $161 million deal this offseason tying the slugger with Baltimore through the 2022 season. Another important bat making his return to Bird Land is catcher Matt Wieters, who accepted the 1 year $15.8 million qualifying offer. Wieters is a three time all-star, but he is coming off two injury riddled seasons. He is in a contract year so look for the former first round pick to bounce back in a big way this season. The last major contributor the O’s brought back was reliever Darren O’Day. O’Day was viewed as one of the top relievers in this years free agency class, but he opted to come back to Baltimore because he likes pitching under coach Buck Showalter and is familiar with the Orioles system.