FanHouse AlexCintron

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2009.

Meet the new Rays. Tampa Bay's ascent to the top of the American League has robbed the Eastern division of its perennial doormat, but there's someone new on the block to push around -- the Orioles. It's now been 11 seasons since Baltimore qualified for the playoffs or even had a winning record, and that dubious run will likely be extended in 2009.

But it's not all doom and gloom in the Charm City. In fact, in a little more than a year Andy MacPhail -- seemingly free from the tinkering and meddling of owner Peter Angelos -- finally has the Orioles pointed in the right direction. In any other division, you know one that doesn't have four teams with 80-plus wins already in it, the O's might have even been within shouting distance of the .500 mark this year.

There is little hope of contending in the immediate future in Baltimore, but the organization's recent mistakes have almost all been caused by thinking that there was a quick fix somewhere out there. The Orioles have a rapidly improving farm system and they're not that far from being a real factor, but in order to get there, they're going to need to stay on the track MacPhail has started them down.

It wasn't very long ago that Marcus Giles was one of the top hitting second basemen in the game -- when he made the All-Star team in 2003, I never thought that he'd be out of the game by the time he turned 30. But now, it seems that he might be done for good, even though if the Dodgers had their way he'd be manning the hot corner until Nomar Garciaparra returned. From Tony Jackson's blog for the LA Daily News (via MLBTR):

According to two sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the Dodgers agreed in principle earlier today on a minor-league contract for free-agent infielder Marcus Giles, who had a really good spring for Colorado but ultimately was released last week because the Rockies didn't have a spot for him. The plan was for Giles to go to Las Vegas, reacquaint himself with 3B, where he has just nine career appearances and none since 2005, prove that he could play there for about 10 days, then get called up and share time with Blake DeWitt until Nomar or Abreu comes back. ... And then, as Giles was in his car driving to Las Vegas from his home near San Diego, HE CHANGED HIS MIND. Just decided he wasn't coming. Turned the car around and went home.

The decision screwed the Dodgers in more ways than one: Jackson reports the team passed on Alex Cintron and another unnamed infielder (Scott Spiezio?) thinking that they had Giles in the bag. Giles hasn't given an official reason for his decision, though one of Jackson's sources thinks he just lost the passion for the game. That's one theory. Another theory might involve the fact that his career fell off the table once MLB adopted more stringent drug testing, which may or may not indicate that already knows an inspirational comeback story is never going to happen. We'll probably never know.