Seeing the need for a lefty, and a decent starter, the new brain boys turned to Omar Daal, who could kill both birds with one stone. The problem is, that's not all he killed. He also did a number on the bullpen, the team ERA, and Mike Hargrove's sanity, until they finally pulled him out of the rotation in favor of Pat Hentgen, only to see Daal get injured and miss most of the rest of the season, anyway.

How bad was the pitcher who didn't win anything except Dr. K's award for the worst pitching performance by an Oriole, the Piñata?  Well, let Kerry tell you himself: Of big league pitchers with at least 90 innings, only six posted higher BR/9 marks than Omar (15.95) and only two of these were in the American League.  Daal was the MLB champion in terms of H/9 (12.88) among those with at least 90 innings last season.  In fact--and this really cemented the decision to give Daal the trophy--no big league pitcher with at least 90 innings pitched has allowed as many hits per nine innings in a season as Daal did in 2003 since 1980 when both Mike Parrot and Ed Figueroa were worse.  Daal's mark is 25th worst in the modern era, and the fifth worst since 1939.  It was also the worst ever in the Baltimore history of the franchise now known as the Orioles.  Furthermore, Daal's 6.34 ERA was, if anything, an understatement of how dreadful he was in 2003; his ERC was 6.57.

The problem is, he's not a one-year wonder. The Orioles have him in the fold for 2004, as well. And not at a bargain price, so he's likely to be around. In his past six seasons, he's actually been at least "all right" for three of them, so perhaps there is hope that he won't be so horrid next season. If both he and Lopez pitch to their 2003 form, however, it could be really ugly in the starting rotation, as at least one of those guys needs to rebound. Since Daal turns 32 during Spring Training, and has been a career NL pitcher, I'm going to wager that Lopez is more likely to recover than Daal.

To Contribute Successfully Next Season, He Must:

(1) Cut down on the hits allowed. He's never been a strikeout pitcher, so this is too much to ask. He's got to reduce the number of baserunners, though, by about three per game. since he doesn't walk a lot of guys, that means fewer hits. Perhaps the O's improved defense may help.

(2) Get off to a Better Start. The fans hated him last year by the end of the first month because he had pitched so poorly. With a new manager, a new team, a new day, it would behoove him to get off to some sort of mediocre start, at least.

(3) Stay Healthy. In this case, it was a good thing he missed half the season, but if he's going to contribute, he must be out there, as well as pitch a lot better.