26-year old switch-hitting catcher Matt Wieters finished in 21st place in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award in 2012. Wieters played in 144 games for the Orioles last year and he was 131 of 526 (.249 avg, .764 OPS) with 67 runs scored, 23 homers, 83 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has now played in 509 games in his first four years with the Orioles and he is 475 of 1,826 (.260 avg, .749 OPS) with 211 runs scored, 65 homers, 249 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Wieters just keeps getting better, so I expect him to have a good year for the O’s in 2013.

27-year old righty swinging CF Adam Jones finished in 6th place in the A.L. vote in 2012. He played in all 162 games for the Orioles last year and he was 186 of 648 (.287 avg, .839 OPS) with 103 runs scored, 32 homers, 82 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. Jones has now played in 713 games in his first five years with the Orioles and he is 770 of 2,746 (.280 avg, .782 OPS) with 391 runs scored, 104 homers, 361 RBIs and 55 stolen bases. Jones just might win an MVP Award in the next couple of years as he is hitting his prime right now.

29-year old righty closer Jim Johnson finished in 7th place in the A.L. Cy Young vote and he also finished #14 in the A.L. MVP voting. Johnson pitched in 71 games (0 starts) for the Orioles last year and he was 2-1 with a major league leading 51 saves, a 2.49 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. Johnson gave up 55 hits and he walked 15 batters while whiffing 41 of them in 68 2/3 innings, which are impressive numbers. Johnson has now pitched in 286 games (1 start) in his first seven years with the O’s and he is 15-18 with 72 saves, a 3.14 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. I see no reason to think that Johnson can’t keep up the good work moving forward.

56-year old manager Buck Showalter finished in 2nd place in the voting for the A.L. Manager of the year to Bob Melvin of the A’s. Both Showalter and Melvin did outstanding jobs with teams with low expectations. Showalter led the O’s to a 93-69 (57.4%) record during the regular season and they were 3-3 in the playoffs. Showalter is now 196-185 (51.4%) in his first three years in charge for the Orioles. Showalter is the right guy to keep the Orioles going in the right direction in the future.

27-year old lefty starting pitcher Wei-Yin Chen finished in 4th place in the A.L. Rookie of the Year voting for 2012. Chen pitched in 32 games (all starts) for the Orioles last year and he was 12-11 with a 4.02 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. He gave up 186 hits and he whiffed 154 batters while walking 57 of them in 192 2/3 innings. Those are pretty good numbers and I think he will improve on them in 2013.

54-year old Buck Showalter arrived on the scene in the second half of the 2010 season and the Orioles looked good under him. Showalter led the Orioles to a 34-23 (59.6%) last season which should give the team momentum heading into 2011. The Orioles also made some trades and signed some reinforcements to improve the lineup, defense and bullpen. Showalter has a career record as a major league manager of 917-856 (51.7%) during the regular season and he is 3-6 (33.3%) in the post season. Showalter is aiming to get the Orioles back on the right path and I think he will in 2011.

23-year old lefty starting pitcher Brian Matusz finished tied for 5th for the A.L. Rookie of the Year Award with Rays’ catcher John Jaso and 25-year old outfielder Brennan Boesch of the Tigers. Matusz started 32 games for the Orioles last season and he was 10-12 with a 4.30 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. He has now pitched in 40 games (all starts) in his first two years with the Orioles and he is 15-14 with a 4.37 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Matusz has a bright future for the Orioles as he will be working near the front end of the starting rotation.

32-year old righty swinging 1B/2B/3B Ty Wigginton will be making his first appearance of his career in the All-Star Game. Wigginton has played in 75 games for the Orioles so far this season and he was 67 of 267 (.251 avg, .790 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 14 homers and 42 RBIs. Wigginton is kind of lucky that every team gets at least one player on the All-Star Team because the Orioles don’t really deserve to have one. Wigginton has been the best player on the O’s so he deserves to go.