Thoughts on Trembley, The Road Ahead and the Rundown....

For most Oriole fans, the upcoming year may be hard to stomach, but the Baltimore Orioles may be in good hands with Dave Trembley.

The team may not make much of an impact in the standings, but look at things from afar, we could do a lot worse than the current skipper. As we got to observe to an extent last season, Trembley brings a no-nonsense approach to managing and teaching the game.

He may come off as gruff sometimes, but he seems to be firm, but fair.

Despite expectations of nothing but the worst, Tremebley seems to show the patience, and maturity that's needed for a team in the rebuilding stage. That being said, hopefully he'll have a long tenure in Baltimore, but things as they are right now, he seems to be a leader that the team needs.

We'll see how the saga turns out. Although the team is surely building up for the future; alas, the team still know that it has to play to win as many games as they can in 2008.

Meanwhile, the Sun's Roch Kubatko reports that the Orioles will be focused on fundamentals, doing the little things right and as well trying to be competitive.

Remember, pitchers and catchers show up for camp on Thursday as Spring Training officially kicks off!

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* The Sun's Jeff Zrebeic reports that Ramon Hernandez is in good shape, as the team will sorely need him in '08. In the same piece, the Orioles are interested in Alex Cintron & there's some news on Troy Patton and Chris Roberson.

* Spencer Fordin goes over the returning players on the Baltimore roster.

* Pressbox has their review of the Orioles heading into Spring Training & looks at the starting rotation; meanwhile, Allen MacCallum think the Orioles need more offense, and not arms (I agree to a point; however, pitching should come first and foremost when it comes to a rebuilding plan). Alas, the Oriole will be climbing Mt. Everest if they do not jack up their offense, especially in the powerful AL East. Finally, Stan Charles purports that Andy MacPhail is the one voice filtering information to the masses for the Baltimore Orioles, and I do not think that is a good thing.

* Meanwhile, on the left coast, Mariners manager John McLaren has named Erik Bedard as Seattle's opening day starter.

* Mr. Average, Kris Benson has found a new home, this time with the Philadelphia Phillies.

* One of the premier websites for Oriole fans, Orioles Hangout, takes a look at some of the prospects acquired in the off-season and currently on the roster.

* WNST's Drew Forrester is not happy with the Orioles (I can agree with him to some respect); Phil Backert takes a look at the roster; Mark Suchy praises Andy MacPhail; Nestor ponders if Brian Roberts will be traded & Mark Mussina wonders about the future ahead due to the Bedard trade.