It’s hard to see the glass half full when it comes to anything the Baltimore Orioles have done this year. The hope was to finish around .500, compete for fourth place in the division, not remain the laughing stock of the American League, avoid 100 losses. While the possibility to hit triple digits in the loss column is still possible, the recent play of the O’s at least gives us a reason to think that next season might actually be better than this one.

We’re allowed to dream, right?

Regardless of what the fans are told about the future of this organization,  until they can produce on the field, it will be hard to believe anything. Peter Angelos and friends have made a mockery of an organization that has a rich history, a beautiful ballpark, and a solid base of followers that you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else in the country. Those fans that have been there through the thick and thin and through the ups and downs are being driven away because of poor decisions and irrational attempts to turn things around quickly.

The point is, the Orioles were perfectly capable of avoiding this problem if they had run operations like a professional baseball team should. In 1997, the last year they were competitive, a narrow-minded perspective all but doomed the club for future success. They spent the money on key free agents which, in turn, allowed them to field a team that was fun to root for. However, the beauty was only skin deep.

The O’s lost sight of another very important aspect that makes a major league team good, year in and year out. While the focus was

on the available, proven players, throwing money at the right people, and sweet talking players’ agents, the team was old. The plan for the future was non-existent. Every person’s focus was on the immediate gratification they got from seeing players like Bobby Bonilla, Eric Davis, and Mike Bordick challenge the other powerhouses of the American League while they ignored the aging faces and the eminent disaster the team was headed for. Somehow, home grown talent was forgotten about.

Organizations that are successful for years at a time have two things in common. The major league team is stacked with players. A core of veteran players who have proven themselves in the league and are attracted by money and the chance to win a championship is a necessity. The other is a group of drafted talent that will turn into productive players for years to come. These players must be nurtured and taught as they progress through the steps towards the major leagues.

In order for that to happen, a team cannot disregard their farm system.

When the Orioles began competing with the Yankees and Indians in the mid to late 1990’s, nobody seemed to realize that the minor league system was dry. Scouting and player development wasn’t a major concern because it didn’t seem like it had to be. The Orioles drafted players, but weren’t fully working on finding the ones with the most potential. When the players on the major league roster began retiring and leaving town via free agency, the curtain was pulled back to reveal that the Baltimore Orioles organization had no backbone.

The most frustrating aspect of it is that the team should have realized the problem right away. They didn’t have to look any further then other organizations around Major League Baseball. The Atlanta Braves were a playoff team for thirteen straight years, due strictly to the fact that they put such a heavy focus on their minor league system. The Oakland A’s still run with the same procedure, drafting extraordinarily well, and they see the the benefits of it almost every year. It is a simple equation, but one that, unfortunately, the Orioles didn’t seem to understand.

Now we sit here, eleven years later, and the constant mistakes of the organization has led to the team being nothing more than a doormat for the Yankees and Red Sox. We have watched organizations, such as the Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays grow from the inside out to make it to the World Series. There is nothing worse then to see the cycles of these teams, as they go from good to bad, and back to good again, all while the Orioles seem to be stuck in a trance they can’t figure a way out of.

The minor league aspect is what makes the front office’s claim of better days more valid then claims in previous years. The O’s may have finally figured out why, for eleven years, they’ve been one of the worst-run professional organizations in all of sports. They have gone back to what made the team such a contender in the late 60’s and early 70’s.

We have been told that change is on the horizon. While it still may be one or two years before we see huge differences, the team has the right idea by setting seasonal goals. It seems now that the hardest part is going to be convincing life-long fans that this is the answer the organization needs, and that glory days lie in the near future.

Because the O’s are in the middle of their annual end-of-the-season slump, it’s hard to focus on anything positive. The frustration is boiling over once again as the team continues to find new ways to lose. But, there is a future. The team has a plan, and the fans need to be willing to buy into it, one last time. Right now, that’s about all they’ve got going for them.