Along with a continued fascination for the post-playing careers of Cal Ripken Jr. and Ray Lewis and the personal life of Michael Phelps, nothing gets juices going in these parts like projection systems that knock the Orioles’ prospects for the upcoming baseball season.
Prepare for another round of that (and perhaps, in months, the subsequent “I told you so” columns, as Baseball Prospectus’ annual PECOTA release has the Orioles as a 72-90 ballclub this year, the third-worst record in baseball by their estimation. (That’s been revised up to 73-89 since the projections were released this morning, likely on a playing time adjustment).