Sporting News, The: O's are done with slumming it - Baseball

It wasn't all that long ago the Orioles were the virtual equals of the Yankees. The rivals, two of the biggest revenue producers and biggest spenders in the game, met in the 1996 ALCS, a series essentially decided by a 12-year-old boy's glove. Both made the playoffs again in 1997, the Orioles as wire-to-wire division champs.

But then their trajectories diverged sharply and quickly, the Yankees spending more and winning more (even if they eventually lost sight of which one was the ultimate goal), the aging Orioles sinking to fourth place in 1998 and remaining there ever since.

In the time since the Orioles last finished a season with a winning record, the Albert Belle era in Baltimore came and went. Cal Ripken's streak ended, then so did the Iron Man's playing days. Attendance at Camden Yards plummeted. The Ravens won a Super Bowl and disproved the notion that Baltimore was and always would be a baseball town. Former club vice president Syd Thrift's "Confederate money" went unclaimed by free agents.

The Orioles eventually lost the will to compete in baseball's richest division, ceding the role of the Yankees' chief foil to the Red Sox and fielding a series of young, cheap, marginally talented teams that avoided the division cellar only through the graciousness of the perpetually awful Devil Rays.

Now, all of a sudden, six years after their last taste of success, the Orioles are like Paris Hilton at the end of The Simple Life, sick and tired of slumming it with the common folk and ready to return to a high-rent lifestyle.

Full of wild ambition, newly acquired talent and cash freed up by the expiration of several ill-fated contracts, the Orioles are ready to compete again. The only question is whether that still is possible in this age of $200 million payrolls in the Bronx and reckless resolve in Beantown.

The reality of the American League East in 2004 is shortstop (Miguel Tejada), an All-Star catcher (Javy Lopez) and a solid setup reliever (Mike DeJean) but still have not gained ground on the Yankees or Red Sox--or, for that matter, on the fortified Blue Jays. Vladimir Guerrero, the Hall of Fame-caliber right fielder of whom the Orioles are in hot pursuit, could close the gap considerably, of course.

During last month's winter meetings, when no one else seemed to be spending money, one prominent agent was asked whether the Orioles were controlling the market.

"At this point," he said, "the Orioles are the market."

Still unanswered is the question of how the Orioles expect to win with a starting rotation topped as of now by Kurt Ainsworth and Rodrigo Lopez.

Perhaps they will sign a solid starter (a return by Sidney Ponson is not out of the question), or perhaps they are content to wait until prospects such as Adam Loewen and Denny Bautista come of age in 2005. A word of warning, though: Some in the industry believe the Orioles overestimate the quality and depth of their pitching prospects.

But for a franchise and a city that has not had a slugger since Belle's retirement in 2000 or a compelling reason to watch since Ripken's farewell in 2001, the high-rent district--even if the Orioles can't really afford it--beats the simple life any day.

(S) "Did your favorite club make the right moves? For complete coverage of the latest offseason developments, go to www.foxsports.com, keyword: MLB.

SPEED READ

* When was the last time the new year arrived with the best free-agent hitter (Vladimir Guerrero) and several top pitchers (Greg Maddux, Sidney Ponson) still unsigned? Try never. Agents are gambling that clubs won't be able to keep up their resolve as spring training nears. But calling someone's bluff in this high-stakes game could be dangerous.

INSIDE DISH

C Javy Lopez, who lost 30 pounds before last season, has a financial incentive to keep the weight off with the Orioles. The team will weigh Lopez four times a year, and if he comes in over a prescribed target, $25,000 will be deducted from the first level of his performance bonuses. For example, if Lopez reaches 450 plate appearances, he will be paid a $100,000 bonus. That will be cut by $25,000 if he is overweight at one weigh-in.... A name from the not-so-distant past: OF Grog Vaughn is among the Cardinals' nonroster invitees to spring training. Vaughn, who hit 95 homers in 1998-99, has been unable to keep a job since the Devil Rays let him go in '02.... The Expos, who have managed to remain competitive despite Major League Baseball's bloodsucking in recent years, will be hard-pressed to keep it up. In addition to seeing their best pitcher (RHP Javier Vazquez) and best hitter (RF Vladimir Guerrero) leave, they may have to part with RHP Rocky Biddle, their closer, to save money.... The Yankees are without a lefthanded starter after David Wells' departure to San Diego last week, and there are few suitable replacements available. The best lefty free agent still on the market is Kenny Rogers, who largely was a bust in the Bronx in the mid-'90s. And unless the Yanks dangle someone such as 2B Alfonso Soriano, no team will be willing to trade them a top-end southpaw.... The Mariners will feel the loss of CF Mike Cameron a bit, but CF Randy Winn is ready to step up, and he should provide more offense than Cameron. Winn is a far better contact hitter than Cameron, and, as a former leadoff man, he utilizes his speed well.--Staff reports

Dave Sheinin covers baseball for The Washington Post.