Matt Kremnitzer: On Orioles roster, expect the unexpected

You already know the Orioles will need help from familiar names like Manny Machado, Matt Wieters and Chris Davis after Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis departed via free agency. National writers and reporters repeated that line of thinking often during the preseason, and it isn't wrong. But things rarely go as expected, and the Orioles are likely going to need more than that over the course of a long season. It's also a bit simplistic - of course the O's could use strong performances from their best players - and it sells short the roster work that Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter have done in recent years (after many of Andy MacPhail's early moves shaped the core of the roster).

One of the staples of a Duquette-led organization is the goal to improve the margins of the roster. That includes the flurry of lesser known player signings and acquisitions both during and after the season, the Rule 5 draft picks and the constant roster machinations. More or less, Duquette strives to eliminate the presence of bad players on the roster. The Orioles even announced a couple of roster moves yesterday after the original opening day roster previously had been reported. One opening day roster just wasn't sufficient.

Most of Duquette's additions end up not mattering and can often be disregarded. Fringe players are frequently signed and eventually discarded if they're not producing. But occasionally, these signings work. Nate McLouth was a help to the O's in late 2012 and 2013. Miguel Gonzalez was signed in March 2012, has amassed more than 430 innings both as a starter and reliever and he begins 2015 in the O's rotation. Then there's Steve Pearce, who the O's had to acquire multiple times for him to finally stick in Baltimore. The O's technically released Pearce last April, though he elected to stay in Baltimore and carve out playing time. Pearce rewarded the Orioles with a monster 2014 and was arguably the team's best offensive weapon.

There's also Delmon Young (signed to a minor league deal in 2014 and brought back this season), Brad Brach (acquired from the Padres for a low-level arm) and Alejandro De Aza (picked up from the White Sox for two minor leaguers). Ryan Flaherty and T.J. McFarland are two Rule 5 picks who have contributed. And I'm leaving out at least a few others. That's sort of the point: It's a never-ending exercise. Opposing teams didn't want many of these players, and the Orioles not only found roles for them, but continued to win in the process.

The Orioles have been able to get production out of under-the-radar players by combining solid scouting, quality coaching and some good fortune. They haven't just been able to identify some talent, but also figured out how to deploy players and their various skills effectively. Showalter is very good in that department. The O's have offered players a fair chance at playing time, and now they've also been able to string a few winning seasons together. For the most part, if the available money is equal or close, players would prefer to play on a winning team. Showalter and Duquette have helped turn the O's into an attractive destination. That hasn't been the case for quite some time.

So who will be the overlooked player (or players) to stand out or step up in 2015? Some possibilities include Travis Snider, Everth Cabrera, Jimmy Paredes, Jason Garcia and Ryan Lavarnway, to name a few. After his solid all-around effort yesterday, Snider seems like the early favorite. But it could be any of the names above, or it could be someone the O's haven't added yet.

The current Orioles are built around Adam Jones and Machado, and there are certainly a bunch of other very good players on the roster. But the periphery of the team matters, as well - both for depth purposes and to complement the established players. And Duquette and Showalter have done a masterful job of constantly reworking and improving the team's overall quality.

Matt Kremnitzer blogs about the Orioles at Camden Depot. Follow him on Twitter: @mattkremnitzer. His thoughts on the O's appear here as part of MASNsports.com's continuing commitment to welcome guest bloggers to our little corner of cyberspace. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.