James Shields

I talked to a major league scout Friday whose territory is strictly the American League East and whose opinion I really respect. He's always been pretty spot on with his assessments, so I was curious as to what he thought about what has happened with this division since the postseason ended. I'm going to warn you, Orioles fans, he's not sold on your club. In fact, if rosters were set today, the scout said he'd predict that the Orioles finish fourth in the AL East in 2013, just above the Tampa Bay Rays.

A recap of the Orioles' 3-1 and 5-4 losses to the Rangers yesterday: A COSTLY DECISION With the score tied at 1 in the seventh inning of Game 1, the Rangers had Michael Young at the plate with a man on second and one out against Orioles starter Steve Trachsel. Orioles left-hander Jamie Walker was warming up in the bullpen with the left-handed-hitting Josh Hamilton on deck for the Rangers. Orioles manager Dave Trembley had the option of walking Young, who has amassed five consecutive 200-hit seasons, and bringing in Walker to face Hamilton.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- On a night when the Orioles' young phenom pitcher was at his most effective, their veteran second baseman hit a grand slam and their sleep-deprived closer had to hold on for four outs, it was perhaps baseball's most understated offensive weapon that halted the Orioles' five-game losing streak in an 8-7 win against the Tampa Bay Rays. A two-out walk. A two-out walk by the free-swinging Felix Pie, who had two strikes against him before shifting into patient zone, watching four consecutive pitches go by and trotting to first to load the bases in a 1-1 game in the sixth.

After a decade as baseball's most obscure and relentlessly terrible franchise, the Tampa Bay Rays are everywhere. Cover of Sports Illustrated. Lead item on SportsCenter. You name it, the Rays have done it as the belles of baseball's first-half ball. After completing a sweep of the defending champion Boston Red Sox on Wednesday, they stood at 52-32, best in the sport. Scouts speak of their young talent in awe. After years of picking at the top of the draft, Tampa Bay could trade prospects for a veteran star this summer and still be left with the best farm system in the game.

If this is December, then there are a lot of Orioles fans who are wondering the same thing. Why is it that every year at this time, the other American League East teams do their holiday shopping at Lord &Taylor and the Orioles seem to do most of theirs at the dollar store? It's a fair question, considering that the Toronto Blue Jays are on a spending spree of such magnitude that it might impact the currency exchange rate between the United States and Canada, and the Boston Red Sox are buying up average players for $13 million apiece per season.

- If the Orioles were hoping that what went around might come around after the way they battled to the last dramatic moment of the 2011 regular season and propelled the Tampa Bay Raysinto the playoffs, they are probably going to be disappointed. The Rays were not in a position to show any gratitude when they faced the Orioles on Monday night in the first game of the final regular season series of 2012. They still had something to play for with the second wild-card playoff berth still in doubt for at least one more night, and they came into the series with three very good starting pitchers lined up against the Orioles.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Right now, it's hard to get around the feeling that the Orioles have run out of magic. Maybe it evaporated when their on-field clinching celebration at Camden Yards on Sunday was put on hold by the Los Angeles Angels, who staged a late rally in Texas to win the first game of a doubleheader and keep the Orioles guessing until late that night. Maybe it was when they were squeezing their arm rests during that emergency landing in Jacksonville, Fla., on their way to play their final series of the year against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Maybe after what happened at this time last year, we all should have known that the American League East race - and the Orioles' position in the postseason - would come down to the last scheduled day of the regular season. Note the qualifier. Wednesday might not be the final day of the regular season if the stars, the Orioles and the New York Yankees line up in such a way as to force a climactic divisional showdown at Oriole Park on Thursday. It is certainly not out of the question after what happened Tuesday in St. Petersburg, but it may not be in the cards after another last-gasp Yankees comeback in The Bronx.

The Orioles' 6-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on an ugly, rainy, sloppy night Friday at Camden Yards provided a crystal-clear example of what separates successful veteran pitchers from inexperienced ones that are seemingly headed toward that path. Tampa Bay's 29-year-old right-hander James Shields threw 103 pitches, lasted 71/3 innings and turned over a lead to his bullpen to get five outs and secure his team's ninth win in 12 games. Meanwhile, 23-year-old Orioles lefty Zach Britton threw eight fewer pitches, made it through 51/3 innings and forced an increasingly taxed bullpen to pitch the rest of the night.

All games on 105.7 FM TODAY Mariners, 3:05 p.m., MASN2 Starters: Mariners' Carlos Silva (1-0, 1.29) vs. Orioles' Daniel Cabrera (0-0, 13.50) TOMORROW At Rangers, 2:05 p.m., MASN Starters: Orioles' Brian Burres (0-0, 0.00) vs. Rangers' Jason Jennings (0-1, 7.20) WEDNESDAY At Rangers, 8:05 p.m., MASN2 Starters: Orioles' Steve Trachsel (1-0, 3.18) vs. Rangers' Kason Gabbard (1-0, 0.00) THURSDAY At Rangers, 8:05 p.m., MASN2 Starters: Orioles' Adam Loewen (0-0, 7.71) vs. Rangers' Kevin Millwood (0-2, 1.29)