BASEBALL
	3.6.05 Over the course of last March and April I profiled four teams that I thought were interesting going into last season.  They were the Baltimore   Orioles, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the Detroit Tigers.  Here is a look at how each of those teams actually fared: The Baltimore Orioles The outlook last year was that the Orioles had some good young talent in place and the team had opened the checkbook to sign a few veteran free agents to go along with these young players.  If the youngsters broke out and the veterans played to form, the Orioles had a chance to make some noise.  Unfortunately, the youngsters (as is often the case) did not hold up their end of the bargain. The Orioles big acquisition was Miguel Tejada, and he did not disappoint, batting .311 with 34 homers and 150 rbi.  Javy Lopez, who I suggested might have been overpaid after his career year in 2003, came back to Earth, but was still respectable with a .316 average and 23 homers and 86 rbi.  Rafael Palmeiro started to show his age, only batting .258 with 23 homers and 88 rbi.  Melvin Mora continued to impress with a .340 average, 27 homers and 104 rbi. The Orioles young outfield struggled with injuries and inconsistentcy, with Bigbie, Matos, and Gibbons only averaging 108 games played.  Their young second baseman, Brian Roberts had an outstanding first half of the season, but fell back to Earth in the second half, finishing at .273. The main problem for the Orioles was the struggles of the pitching. Ponson was supposed to be the ace, but he went 11-15 with a 5.30 ERA. Rodrigo Lopez was their best starter at 14-9 with a 3.49 ERA.  The super-prospect I mentioned last year, Kurt Ainsworth, made only 7 starts, going 0-1 with a 9.678 ERA. In all, the Orioles improved 7 games from 2003, but not nearly enough to get close to Boston or New York.  Perhaps their acquisition of Sammy Sosa will make a difference for 2005. Los Angeles Dodgers Last year I predicted the Dodgers would win between 85 and 90 games, with solid pitching and defense, and a weak offense.  They outperformed my prediction by three wins, finishing at 93-69, which was just enough to win the National League West.  The unexpected difference was the emergence of Adrian Beltre.  Beltre had long been considered a prospect with a ton of talent, but had never lived up to the expectations placed upon him.  Well, last year was a contract year for Mr. Beltre, and he played like his next paycheck depended on it.  He finished the season with 48 homeruns, leading the league, and batted .334 with 121 rbi.   Other than Beltre, though, the Dodgers offense was not particularly scary, Shawn Green hit 28 homers and drove in 86 runs, but batted only      .266.  At the trading deadline the Dodgers picked up Steve Finley to patrol center field and give them another potent bat, and, in a bold move, traded away team leader Paul LoDuca and bullpen ace Guillermo Mota in exchange for Brad Penny and Hee Sop Choi.  Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Penny only made three starts before hurting his arm, and Choi sucks. The felt that they needed to get Penny because their starting pitching was not as strong as expected.  Odalis Perez had a 3.25 ERA over 31 starts, but somehow only managed to go 7-6.  Los Angeles' next best starter was the resurgent Jose Lima who went 13-5 with a 4.07 ERA.   Jeff Weaver managed a 4.01 ERA, but  a 13-13 record (rather unfortunate for the Dodgers that he ended up with twice as many decisions as Perez  in only three more starts).  The Japanese contingent had mixed results with Ishii going 13-8 with a 4.71 ERA and Hideo Nomo going an atrocious 4-11 with a 8.25 ERA.  To add insult to injury, the Dodgers start pitching prospect, Edwin Jackson, was not ready for prime time, making five starts and compiling a 7.30 ERA. As has been the case over the last few years, the Dodgers' bullpen was outstanding.  Eric Gagne had 45 saves with a 2.19 ERA, and even managed to win 7 games (maybe there are some of Perez' decisions).  Mota had become one of the premiere setup men in the majors when he was traded away to Florida at the deadline to leverage the acquision of Penny.  Gagne suffered a little under the added strain of Mota's absence after the deadline, but the Dodgers felt that they had the young power arms in the bullpen to replace Mota.  It will be interesting to see if his numbers decrease this season in a full year without his sidekick. So the Dodgers made the playoffs, but lost in the first round to St. Louis.  For this season, they have overhauled themselves once again.  Beltre took his career year and turned it into a big contract in Seattle, Finley signed with Anaheim, Lima signed with Kansas City and the Dodgers traded Shawn Green to Arizona.  To replace them, they signed Jeff Kent, Jose Valentin, JD Drew and Derek Lowe.  I think you'd be hard pressed to say that this team is as good as the team that made the playoffs last year.  In fact, this team looks eerily similar to the team I previewed last year, so, unless they have another Beltre-esque breakout from a surprise player, 85-90 wins is probably another good prediction. Next time: The Blue Jays and the Tigers.
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