Baltimore Orioles 2006 Season and Off Season

The Baltimore Orioles 2006 season was not the year that the fans and organization wanted to see. With a losing record in 2006, they have now had 9 consecutive losing seasons. 1997 was the last time they had a winning record and that year they won their division.

A big problem for Baltimore in 2006 was the pitching staff. The staff gave up 899 runs, which was 99 more than they gave up the previous year. Rodrigo Lopez was an 18 game losers in 2006, and he had an era of 5.90 in 36 games. Bruce Chen started briefly losing 7 games and posting an era of 6.93.

There was some positives about the pitching staff. Erik Bedard had his big league season in 2006. Bedard throw 196.1 innings with a 15 and 11 record. He also lowered his era to 3.76. Kris Benson had another consistent season in his first year with Baltimore. He started 30 games posting a 4.82 era in 183 innings pitched. The closer role was vacated when B.J. Ryan signed with Toronto so someone had to fill in that role. The man that took over the job in 2006 was Chris Ray. Ray saved 33 games with an era of 2.73 in his first year as a closer.

Offensively there was some consistent play out of the veterans. Miguel Tejada played in all 162 games again. He batted .330 with 24 home runs and 100 runs batted in. Ramon Hernandez hit .275 with 23 home runs and 91 runs batted in during his first year as the Orioles catchers. Brian Roberts hit .274 with 10 home runs, 55 runs batted in, and 36 stolen bases. Melvin Mora had a bit of a down year with the bat in 2006. His batting average, home runs, and runs batted in all dropped.

During the off season, Baltimore signed relieve pitcher Chad Bradford to a three-year contract. Bradford had an era of 2.90 in 2006 with the Mets. Former closer Scott Williamson signed a one-year contract. Danys Baez, another former closer, signed a three-year deal. To continue upgrading the bullpen lefty Jamie Walker was brought over after being with the Detroit Tigers. He posted an era of 2.81 in 48 innings. To help on the offense Aubrey Huff was signed to a three-year contract.

With all the signings that the Orioles made for the bullpen during the off season, the 2007 bullpen should be much improved. The starting rotation on the other hand might be interesting. The offense remains mostly the same just the addition off Huff. Depending on how well the starting rotation does, Baltimore fans might be able to see a more competitive season from their team in 2007.