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No. 16 Baltimore Orioles

  Cal Ripken Cal Ripken hit .340 with 18 home runs last season despite missing 76 games. Otto Greule, Jr./Allsport

1999 Record: 78-84 (4th in AL East)

After a second consecutive fourth place finish, the Orioles brought in Mike Hargrove as their new manager. But he inherits an aging team full of questions.

Will Cal Ripken return from back surgery to be the Cal of old...or an old Cal? Can Brady Anderson put together one more big year at age 36? And can the Orioles avoid the kind of slow start that buried them last year, when they went 6-16 in April?

One of Hargrove's biggest challenges will be trying to get more early out of Albert Belle. Starting slow has been a problem throughout Belle's career, but he seems happy about being reunited with his old manager.

Hargrove's style is more easy going than former manager Ray Miller's and he should be a stablizing force who can get this team to compete. That's why I rank the Orioles as my 16th best team in baseball.


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