Twice last Monday, Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias said the offseason goal is to enter spring training with a club that can compete for the AL East title — an aim so simple and modest that it required clarification that a World Series was also the goal.

They feel one and the same to me — to be projected at or near the top of a division with three playoff teams would easily put the Orioles in the top handful of clubs in the American League, and that’s a good place to start.

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