Ripken Baseball

As the Winter Meetings were winding down, the Orioles managed to take a step in the right direction by landing veteran right-hander Kevin Millwood.

I wrote over the weekend about the need for the Orioles to acquire a seasoned starter in order to bring some guidance to a roster laden with young, promising arms. A guy like Millwood can bring just that type of balance to their rotation, along with the endurance to carry 200 innings while posting a sub-3.70 ERA.

He’ll be the Orioles’ ace come the season’s start, and my bet is he’ll do well all season long. Similar to his move to Texas, a change like this could help Millwood put up some solid numbers. He has the winning attitude that every number one starter should, and he also possesses the ability to go deep into games even when he doesn’t have his best stuff. With those skills, Millwood will set a great example for the younger guys.

Plus, a guy like Millwood can go out every 5th day and keep the Orioles in the game. His arrival pushes the younger arms deeper into the rotation, where they’ll find a more natural fit and have a lot of pressure lifted.

Acquiring Millwood could also open up some more doors for making moves before spring training starts. Now that the pitching rotation has found more stability, the Orioles can consider making some riskier moves that have a high upside, moves they may not have considered before.

Take a guy like Erik Bedard, I’ll use him as an example because he played for the Orioles as recently as 2007 before going to Seattle. Before the Millwood acquisition, the Orioles didn’t have a lot of room to risk picking up a hurler like Bedard. While Bedard’s stuff on the mound has never been questioned; there’s always been some worry about his durability at the major league level.

Now that the Orioles have Millwood in the rotation, they can be more comfortable taking a risk on a guy like Bedard, someone who can throw electric stuff but may or may not have what it takes to last all year.

Some light snow in Baltimore today, so it seems fitting to talk about MLB’s Winter Meetings and what exactly the Orioles might be looking to accomplish in Indianapolis next week.

One thing we know – the O’s have a very talented core of young athletes. I fully expect Wieters to emerge in 2010 as the superstar he really is, and there’s a lot of hype around Josh Bell, the third baseman that came over in the George Sherrill trade with the Dodgers.

But an offense with the likes of Wieters and Josh Bell will only succeed if the O’s pitching can find a way to slow the other team down. Baltimore’s farm system has provided the Orioles with some fantastic arms to accomplish this: Brian Matusz and Chris Tillman to name a couple.

With an arsenal of young arms, the O’s may be heading into the Winter Meetings with the likes of a seasoned vet in their cross-hairs – someone just like free agent John Lackey.

Bringing in an older starter who has already earned respect around the league can be an asset to a team of young arms. Beyond putting more W’s on the stat sheet, a guy like John Lackey can function as a mentor in the clubhouse, helping craft pitchers like Tillman and Matusz into great starters for years to come.

It’s similar to the rumors that were hovering around John Smoltz and the Washington Nationals. Now that the Nationals have Stephen Strasburg – the world’s no-doubt #1 prospect – a guy like Smoltz could share a lot of his wisdom with such a young pitcher.

Not every 150-game winner makes a great mentor. It takes a special breed. Ron Washington has given Kevin Milwood a lot of credit in Texas. Adam Wainwright has often mentioned the way Chris Carpenter has helped him improve. AJ Burnett frequently credits Doc Halladay with helping him find success in the big show.

Specific to the Orioles, just look back to a guy like Ben McDonald – he helped Mike Mussina develop into a first-rate starter.

There’s no doubt some big news will come out of this year’s Winter Meetings, but we’ll just have to wait and see what the Orioles get out of it. Lackey is out there for the taking, it may just require too much to get him. That said, there’s no doubt in my mind the Orioles could use a vet like him to help guide these rookies and this organization out of the bottom of the AL East.