Despite the disappointing summer and impending playoff couch-sitting Orioles fans are set to undergo, the end of the regular season means the piling of free-agent speculation.
Dan Duquette is a shrewd operator, one reason as to why the O's were AL East champions a season ago, and one reason why the Orioles were terrible, no good and very bad for most of the 2015 schedule. If there has been a lesson in 2015, it is capitalizing on production where expectations may be absent. The Steve Pearce's, Bud Norris's Delmon Young's and Zach Britton's of '14 were not brought into Opening Day on a pedestal, but their contributions were substantial.