AL East Roundtable: Orioles

Scott from Camden Chat recently posted the Orioles-related portion of the discussion. Check it out if you have time.

2. Is this the year Daniel Cabrera finally breaks out? He was widely believed to be a breakout candidate last year, especially with Leo Mazzone coming aboard, but he struggled right off the bat. He did improve towards the end of the season, though. Is Mazzone finally getting through to him?

Marc Normandin: I've watched Cabrera pitch brilliantly and incredibly poorly, but you can see that he has a lot of talent. He picked up on Mazzone's lessons a bit later in the year, and you could see he was a bit better of a pitcher than he had been earlier in the year, but he's not quite there yet. I still think he can turn into a serious pitcher-and hope he does, with all the ability he has-and along with Bedard, can form one of the best 1-2 combos in the majors. The Orioles are going to need that to happen, and it's certainly a possibility. I think the O's have more positives going for them than we give them credit for, but they're stuck in the AL East, and you can't luck your way into the playoffs there for the most part.