In today's Sun, Orioles beat writer Jeff Zrebiec had an excellent article in which Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail talks about rebuilding the club.
MacPhail says a few things we've been making reference to for many weeks. The team needs to be overhauled, meaning that there is no quick fix.

MacPhail makes the observation that he believes the key for the Orioles will be pitching. That makes sense. The O's can't go checkbook to checkbook with the Yankees and Red Sox on position players but a good pitching staff will neutralize a good-hitting lineup. MacPhail noted that the Orioles were 19-9 in games that Erik Bedard (13-5) pitched.

I'll be surprised to see Miguel Tejada back in Baltimore next season. Any pitching prospect that the O's can get in exchange for Tejada probably helps them more in the long run than keeping him. What may be upsetting to Orioles fans is if the team has to trade one of the more popular and productive players, say a Brian Roberts or a Nick Markakis for pitching. In a value-for-value world, sometimes those are the tough decisions teams are faced with. I think of the two, the Orioles would want to hang onto Markakis more -- but that's just a guess simply based on age. Markakis turns 24 soon and Roberts hits 30 in a week.

Zrebiec calls this offseason one of the most important in the Orioles' recent history. I couldn't agree more. The next few months -- both in terms of player personnel and organizational structuring and direction --- will determine the team's fate for the next three to five years, maybe longer.

And as if MacPhail's views on pitching needed any further illustration, we'll just note that in the three-game season-ending series against the Yankees, the Orioles gave up a total of 30 runs -- including a 10-run fourth inning Saturday.

Let this be the epitaph for the season (listen for the iPod comment).