To state the obvious, it has been tough to root for the Baltimore Orioles. For the past eleven years, the struggle to field a contending team has flooded from the diamond and into the hearts of the disgruntled fans. We’ve seen numerous players enter Baltimore with high hopes and promising words, only to find themselves wishing for a way out of the city and off to a much more promising baseball picture. Whether it was Miguel Tejada’s trade demands, Erik Bedard’s angry words, claiming the Orioles were “movingbackwards”, or Melvin Mora’s recent comments about being disrespected the negativity gets harder to swallow with each loss the team suffers.

Pitching has also been a steadfast problem for the O’s since their last run in the playoffs in the mid-90’s. Whether it was a lack of good scouting or poor leadership from within the front office, Baltimore didn’t see a respectable prospective pitcher come through their system until Bedard developed a demanding presence in 2005. Whether it’s been Adam Loewen, Daniel Cabrera, or Sidney Ponson, fans have been let down time and time again.

It’s one thing to have bad starting pitching, but a poor bullpen makes it impossible to win games. While the O’s have had some consistency when it comes to finding a closer, with familiar names still running through our heads like B.J. Ryan, Chris Ray, and, until recently, George Sherill, middle and long relief have served to be an Achilles’ heel. Trying to remember the names and faces of most of the guys that have been out there is a difficult enough task. However, maybe that is a blessing in disguise, because no one wants to remember the performances they had when being put in a game.

In the mid-70’s, free agency was introduced as part of the game, changing the entire frame of mind of the front offices around the MLB. Players could push for more money, pitting different offers against each other in order to get as big of a contact as possible. Like it or not, free agency has become an aspect that can turn a team from a pretender to a contender, as long as it’s gone about in the right way.

The history of the Orioles has seen the team go in the right direction, but also down a long road the wrong way. Whether it’s questionable free agent signings like Kevin Millar, a player who didn’t have much of a role on the team, to missing out on big names like Vladimir Guerrero and Mark Teixeira, the Orioles have proven time and again that their mishandling of free agents has ended up costing them.

However, it hasn’t all been problems with the free agent market for the Orioles. They have been able to make certain situations much better than perceived originally. By trading disgruntled shortstop Miguel Tejada to Houston, the O’s received prospects Troy Patton and Matt Albers, as well as left fielders Luke Scott. They also avoiding letting Bedard go to free agency by trading him to Seattle for

Adam Jones, George Sherill, Chris Tillman, and Kam Mickolio.

While the Baltimore Orioles have made plenty of mistakes and bone-headed moves over the past eleven years, the ugliness is beginning to dissolve, revealing an intelligent plan. Andy McPhail, the team’s GM, has set the wheels in motion to begin developing good talent from the minors, drafting players with potential, and allowing them time to grow before calling them up to the big leagues. Players such as Matt Wieters, Brian Matusz, Jake Arrieta, Nolan Reimold, Tillman and Patton are all direct effects of the work of McPhail. Veterans that can play major roles on the big league squad, such as Greg Zaun, have been brought in to mentor. Contracts are being rewarded to keep the homegrown talent in Baltimore, as was seen with the long contracts given to Adam Jones and Brian Roberts.

There is finally a light at the end of the tunnel in Baltimore. The Orioles are only a year or two away from contending in, what is considered the most difficult division in all of baseball. Peter Angelos has finally loosened his grip on the reins so that McPhail can lead in the right direction. So, while the Orioles’ fans know first hand what it’s like to experience anguish, heartache, and, most of all, frustration, they can now look foward to more glory days for a very proud organization.