Memorial Day is when gentlemen start their engines and the rest start evaluating baseball teams. So here goes:
Orioles. They averaged 96 wins in 2023-24 and might be heading for 96 losses. The rotation and injuries are obvious problems. But bad mojo is cited, too. The fall was so precipitous they had no clear interim replacement after firing manager Brandon Hyde. They’ll start looking for a permanent skipper in late summer, with Ryan Flaherty, Skip Schumaker and David Ross potential candidates, but for now it’s interim Tony Mansolino, who admitted he thought he might be a candidate 10 years from now if all went right. What actually did the trick was this: All went wrong.
Guardians. They are an annual surprise. Cleveland carries its usual negative run differential but somehow that never seems to be a real negative for them.
White Sox. They’re better. How could they not be?