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traveler who knew way more about how bad this team would be than the rest of us."Before the season began Gleyber Torres Jersey , denizens of Camden Chat embarked on their annual tradition: the pre-season contest. It happens during spring training, when everyone is at their most optimistic. Even in years when the Orioles will end up being terrible, the answers to the the contest skew positive. In March of 2018, we were so innocent. Even those of us who thought the Orioles would be bad this year couldn’t fathom the depths to which they’d fall. Could anyone have predicted a 115-loss season? A trade deadline fire sale? Finishing 60 games out of first? Even the most ardent of pessimists wouldn’t make those predictions. Something has to be pretty awful to be described as a dumpster fire. A dumpster fire isn’t a typical losing season, it’s worse than that. A dumpster fire is exactly what the 2018 season turned out to be. I would have said that nobody could predict it, and yet one person did. The winner of the 2018 Camden Chat Pre-Season Contest is DumpsterFire2018, with 19 questions answered correctly! Congratulations to this mystery person. There is no member of Camden Chat with this user name, no way to know more about this prescient entry. How did DF2018 know? Did they have inside information? Are they a time traveler, back to warn the March versions of ourselves of our impending doom? I need to know more, and yet I probably never will. In second place, with 18 questions answered correctly, are Camden Chat regulars dfa and HIO’sFan. Congrats to you two, as well, for being sufficiently pessimistic. There was a six-way tie for third place, one of whom was blog dad Mark Brown (aka Eat More Esskay). In total we had 351 entrants into the contest. You can see the full results here.A big thanks to my friend fart_shoes (not his real name) for creating a well organized and low maintenance spreadsheet for me to work with. Now, let’s get down to the answers. Which will be higher? Walks by Adam Jones or home runs by Mark Trumbo? Winner - Jones (24-17). This was shaping up to be a good race until Trumbo got injured down the stretch. Also I love Adam Jones but only 24 walks? Wow. Even Tim Beckham had more than that and he only played in 96 games.76% of you chose correctly. Start by Hunter Harvey or stolen bases by Manny Machado? Winner - Machado (8-0). Poor Hunter Harvey, injured again. 71% of you chose correctly. Outfield starts by Austin Hays or Mark Trumbo? Winner - Trumbo (19-0). When this contest was written it seemed a no-brainer that Hays would be in Baltimore sooner rather than later. Just another thing to add to the dumpster fire. 33% of you chose correctly. Saves by Brad Brach or Zach Britton? Winner - Brach (11-4). The idea behind this one was to get an idea of how long people thought Britton would be out with his injury. Then they both got traded, though Brach still ended the year as the saves leader (Mychal Givens picked up nine). 66% of you chose correctly. Home Runs byColby Rasmus or starts by Mike Wright? Winner - Wright (2-1). If you would have told me that Wright would make two starts this season, I would agree that sounds about right. I guess what most of us didn’t see coming was that Rasmus would be a quitting quitter who quits, leaving the team after playing only 18 games. 16% of you chose correctly. HR hit by Trey Mancini or allowed by Kevin Gausman? Winner - Mancini (24-23). If Gausman had remained with the Orioles this season, he would have blown Mancini out of the water. Instead he was traded at the deadline Tyler Austin Jersey , freezing his total at 23. At the time, Mancini had just 13, but finally topped Goose on September 26th with his final dinger of the season. 63% of you picked correctly. Chris Davis strikeouts or Chris Tillman walks+hits? Winner - Davis (192-59). Well, this one didn’t turn out as planned. 74% of you chose correctly. Dylan Bundy ERA+ or Jonathan Schoop RBI? Winner - Bundy (76-40). Both of those numbers are lower than we expected, I think. Also counting stats don’t really work out when the player is traded. I wouldn’t have ever guessed they’d trade Schoop though (Go Brewers!). 59% of you chose correctly. Questions right in this contest, Mark or Stacey? Winner - Mark (17-12). When posing this question I brazenly bragged about the fact that I always beat Mark in this contest. But in a land of pessimism, Mark is king. 29% of you chose correctly. Over/UnderAttendance: 2,000,000. Under - 1,564,192. This is the first time since 2011 that attendance has fallen below two million and the lowest attendance in Camden Yards history. 30% of you chose correctly. Longest winning streak: 6.5. Under. The longest winning streak of the year was four games, from May 9-12. Only three times in the season did they even win three games in a row. 31% of you chose correctly. Longest losing streak: 6.5. Over! The longest losing streak the team had was nine games from June 7-16. They had a eight separate losing streaks of at least six games. 52% of you chose correctly. Number of All Stars: 1.5. Under. Only Manny Machado attended the All Star Game for the Orioles, where he acted like a movie star who had just gotten his big break. Before play began in the second half he had been traded to the Dodgers. 20% of you chose correctly. Team ERA: 4.50. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Oops, I mean: Over. Of the 30 pitchers the Orioles used this year, only nine of them individually had an ERA under 4.50. Three of them were traded at the deadline and one was Danny Valencia. 42% of you chose correctly Starting pitchers used: 9.5. Over - 14. Four of those 14 made only one start. Most of those 14 were terrible. 49% of you chose correctly. Who will be the first...Oriole to hit a home run? Adam Jones (3/29). Only 34 of you picked Adam! The most common answer was Machado (33%). Oriole to pitch a complete game? Dylan Bundy (5/24). Bundy was the second most common answer to Gausman. 24% of you chose correctly Team that sweeps the Orioles? Astros (4/2-4/4). They made it all the way to the second series of the year! 30% of you chose the Astros. Not a bad pick. Team the Orioles sweep? Mets (6/5-6/6). Frankly I’m surprised they swept anyone. Only three of you picked the Mets! Wow. Minor leaguer called up? Jimmy Yacabonis. He wasn’t a popular pick, just 11 of you correctly chose Yac. Austin Hays was the most common answer. Who will lead the team in...Home runs? Machado and Mancini (24). Machado left the team in late July but this section of the contest is pretty much the Manny show. At least Trey tied him in this one. 40% of you chose Manny to win this category. 9% chose Trey. OPS (min 350 PA)? Manny - .963. 58% of you chose correctly. Appearances out of the bullpen? Manny Mychal Givens (69). It was a close race for awhile between Givens and Miguel Castro, but Mike pulled away at the end. 55% of you chose Givens, the most common answer. ERA as a starter (min 10 starts)? Gausman (4.43). Cashner could have caught him, but a bad start at the end and an injury knocked him out. Go Braves! 28% of you chose correctly, Bundy was the most common answer. Walks (as a batter)? Manny - 45. I thought Mancini might catch him but then he only picked up four walks in the entire month of September. Really it’s a testament to how awful this season was that anyone led the team with just 45 walks, much less someone who didn’t even play here half the time. Yes/NoWill Manny Machado be traded before the deadline? Yes http://www.yankeesfanproshop.com/authentic-giancarlo-stanton-jersey , traded to the Dodgers at the All Star Break. I personally voted no because I thought the Orioles wouldn’t be good, but would be just close enough to contention that they would be scared to get rid of him. Only 35% of us actually thought they’d trade him. Will the Orioles end the season at .500 or better? haha, no. Only 37% of people correctly guessed no (including, of course, DumpsterFire2018). And that’s it, folks! Check back in spring for the 2019 contest. This is the 2nd straight year that Vlad Gutes has slotted in at #9."Vladimir Gutierrez is nothing, if not consistent. For the second straight season, the Community voted for the Cuban right-hander as the Reds’ 9th best prospect. He had somewhat of an up-and-down season in 2018, but the strikeouts and the control were still good enough for him to stay in the top 10. Another pitcher joins the group today, so get out and vote, all ye Redlegs.TJ Friedl, OF, 23Highest 2018 Level: AA (Pensacola)Eye-Poppingest Fact: .381 OBP over 570 plate appearances in A+ and AAMost Worrisome Fact: .100 ISOAlias(es): TJ Of The Hill Friedl, Frield Day, You Got A Friedl In MeBB-Ref PageAt this point, I think everyone is aware that TJ Friedl came to the Reds as a undrafted Free Agent after some weird mix up in the 2016 draft. Basically, he was playing in an All-Star circuit, didn’t have an agent, and no one knew he was eligible to be drafted. Once it was figured out he was eligible to be drafted, the Reds threw the largest amount of money at him to sign him. I think it was something like $700,000 or so but don’t quote me on that. It’s also not like the Reds were throwing money around. They were the only team that could offered that much because of rules.Regardless Miguel Andujar Jersey , the only thing Friedl has done since signing with the Reds is get on base, and he definitely did that in 2018. Friedl was putting up a super impressive season with Daytona (.405 OBP, .817 OPS) before being promoted to Pensacola and holding his own (.359 OBP, .719 OPS). Scouts like Friedl because of his dependability and because he’s a bit scrappy. He plays a good center field, and can reliably play all over the outfield, and as long as he gets on base he’ll find himself in the big leagues sooner rather than later. There could be a bit of controversy putting him on the voter list so early because he does lack that big prospect ceiling. But, he’s also one of those players that shows reliable skills that could make him a starter or at least a 4th outfielder type. Honestly, he’s probably one of my favorite prospects in the system so he’s getting a favoritism boost.Mike Siani, 19, OFHighest 2018 Level: Rookie (Greeneville)Eye-Poppingest Fact: .288/.351/.386 slash line over 205 plate appearances. He’s like really good at playing the defense.Most Worrisome Fact: .98 ISO and he didn’t pick up many steals.Alias(es): Mike Trout Siani, Mike Salami, Say It Ain’t SianiBB-Ref PageWhen picking the new guy to put on the list I kept thinking to myself, “Don’t pick the young guy that’s in lower level rookie ball. Just don’t do it.” Well, I did it and I’m not ashamed. I’m gonna dream big on this kid because he’s got some killer tools in his arsenal. Mike Siani was considered a high potential draft pick that should have went earlier than the 4th round but a lot of teams figured he’d go to college. However, the Reds threw some big money at him ($2,000,000) which almost no youngster turns down. It’s real fun to see what the Reds do with their draft bonus pool money. They’ve been pretty creative.What is exciting about Siani is that Mike Trout is his favorite player so of course he’s going to turn into Mike Trout. Definitely. Siani is lauded for being one of the best defensive center fielders in not only last year’s draft but probably in all of minor league baseball at any level. He’s got legit, plus skills across the board sporting great range, an amazing arm (90+ MPH pitcher in high school), and a nifty glove. Scouts believe that he’ll also probably keep his above average speed. The only knock on him is that scouts were mixed on how well he would hit. He’s not a real big guy right now, but there is some belief he could put on twenty pounds or so without losing a step.In 2018 Tim Tebow Jersey , he was promoted to hit against college aged hitters and fared pretty well (see the Eye-Poppingest Facts). He didn’t hit for really any power but showed a mature approach at the plate that I don’t think many expected. Obviously, his talents are in the field but if he can continue to hit (and find some power) he’s going to be a top prospect in no time. The smart bet would be that he starts the year in instructional league and then starts the year in Billings. However, I’d be real interested to see if the Reds are more aggressive and just let him sink or swim in Dayton. They did the same thing pretty much with Taylor Trammell and that worked out pretty good.Scott Moss, LHP, 24Highest 2018 Level: A+ (Daytona)Eye-Poppingest Fact: 3.68 ERA in 132 IP in High-A Dayton in 2018.Most Worrisome Fact: K/9 dropped from 10.3 in 2017 to 7.6 in 2018.Alias(es): Mo Fossy Fossy, Randy, Butt FlossBB-Ref PageAfter only pitching 23 innings in his final year at the University of Florida, the Reds took a gamble and drafted him in the 4th round of the 2016 draft. He had a breakout year in 2017, pitching 135 innings for the Dayton Dragons and striking out over 10 batters per 9 innings while putting up a 3.45 ERA. That was good enough to earn him a promotion to Daytona for 2018 where he put up another solid season. He pitched another 132 innings for the Tortugas and put up a 3.68 ERA. While he was able to keep runs off the board, his strikeout totals took a big hit. After striking out 156 batters in 2017, he only struck out 112 in only 3 fewer innings in 2018. His walk rate did improve, though, shrinking from 3.2 per 9 innings to 2.8.Moss relies on a fastball, slider, and changeup. He won’t blow you away with his fastball, as he averages 88-93 MPH on the heater. His main attribute is that he locates his pitches well, which is why he’s had so much success in his young career, even with the shrinking strikeout totals in 2018. Look for him to start the year in AA-Chattanooga this season.