BALTIMORE — Seeking an encore to their appearance in the AL Championship Series, the Baltimore Orioles sputtered through a .500 season primarily because they couldn't replace stars lost to free agency and received sub-par performances from several of the 2014 standouts.
Baltimore won the AL East with a 96-66 record last year. Over the winter, major league home run leader Nelson Cruz left for Seattle, standout reliever Andrew Miller signed with the Yankees and right fielder Nick Markakis shuffled off to Atlanta.
The Orioles might have been able to survive those losses if Bud Norris, Delmon Young, Alejandro De Aza and Steve Pearce played as they did last season.