The Orioles are hoping that this is the breakout season that many scouts have predicted Adam Jones will soon have. The 23-year old righty swinging Jones played in 132 games for the Orioles last season and he was 129 for 477 (.270 avg, .711 OPS) with 61 runs scored, 9 homers, 57 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Jones is also a good defensive CF making only 3 errors in 129 games there while showing good range. Jones will have a good all-around season again in 2009 for the Orioles.

24-year old lefty swinging Felix Pie would likely slide over to CF if Jones were to get injured in 2009. Pie played in 39 games in CF for the Cubs last season without making any errors while showing good range.

28-year old righty swinging Justin Christian will likely be insurance at AAA for the Orioles. Christian played in 24 games for the Yankees last season in which he was 10 for 40 (.250 avg, .627 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 6 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. He also played in 74 games in AAA-ball last season in which he was 82 for 268 (.306 avg, .801 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 6 homers, 45 RBIs and 22 stolen bases.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: B