What was your favorite Oriole trade/signing of all time?

[millertime]

I am curious to see what everyone's favorite Oriole trade/signing of all time was. I'm sure most will say the Frank Robinson trade, but I was pretty young when that happened so I cannot put that as my vote. I have to say the Miguel Tejada signing was my favorite of all time. I remember it like it were yesterday. I was out on a week long hunting trip and when I got back from the woods one day, I saw on the bottom line of ESPN2 it said "Breaking News. Orioles sign Miguel Tejada. I was so happy that day.

[ilovetheos]

I am curious to see what everyone's favorite Oriole trade/signing of all time was. I'm sure most will say the Frank Robinson trade, but I was pretty young when that happened so I cannot put that as my vote. I have to say the Miguel Tejada signing was my favorite of all time. I remember it like it were yesterday. I was out on a week long hunting trip and when I got back from the woods one day, I saw on the bottom line of ESPN2 it said "Breaking News. Orioles sign Miguel Tejada. I was so happy that day.

Yeah, I even liked the promises he made during his first O's press conference. Too bad none of those came true. Our best chance was in 2005 when we were playing soo well. I guess I should come back to reality and get excited about Jones if we get him. I'm looking forward to his ball hawking ability and nice pop in his bat!!!

[Crazysilver03]

I was really excited when we signed Javy Lopez because I really liked him when he was with the Braves.

[millertime]

Yeah, I even liked the promises he made during his first O's press conference. Too bad none of those came true. Our best chance was in 2005 when we were playing soo well. I guess I should come back to reality and get excited about Jones if we get him. I'm looking forward to his ball hawking ability and nice pop in his bat!!!

It doesn't matter if the trade or signing worked out or not, I am just curious to find out which trade/signing got you excited when you first heard about it. Even though it didn't work out in so many ways, I was super excited when we signed Albert Belle. Just knowing we were going to have his bat in the middle of our lineup was good enough for me.

[JTrea81]

I have to say the offseason of 95'-96' was the most exciting. I'll never forget all those jerseys behind Gillick - Alomar, Surhoff, Myers, McDowell. That has to be one of the best offseaons for the Orioles in club history. I was really excited about Alomar, as I knew what he did for Toronto...

Hopefully this one is just as exciting only with trades...

[brvn52]

Vladmir Guerrero...oh, wait, we never signed him! I remember waiting every day for us to sign him and it was the worst feeling when he signed with LAA. I remember we went from getting Miggy, Guerrero, and Pudge to getting Miggy, Palmeiro, and Lopez. Can only imagine if we had gotten the first 3.:rolleyes:

Seriously though, I think the Palmeiro signing (the first time) may be my favorite.

[ChaosLex]

Vladmir Guerrero...oh, wait, we never signed him! I remember waiting every day for us to sign him and it was the worst feeling when he signed with LAA. I remember we went from getting Miggy, Guerrero, and Pudge to getting Miggy, Palmeiro, and Lopez. Can only imagine if we had gotten the first 3.:rolleyes:

Seriously though, I think the Palmeiro signing (the first time) may be my favorite.

If we had gotten Miggy, Vlad, and Pudge, I'm pretty sure we would've made the playoffs the last few years. Hell, we might've even won a championship.

[brvn52]

I have to say the offseason of 95'-96' was the most exciting. I'll never forget all those jerseys behind Gillick - Alomar, Surhoff, Myers, McDowell. That has to be one of the best offseaons for the Orioles in club history. I was really excited about Alomar, as I knew what he did for Toronto...

Hopefully this one is just as exciting only with trades...

I'd be happy with Jones, Truinfel, Cedeno, and Gallagher, amongst 4 or so others behind MacPhail.:D

[brvn52]

If we had gotten Miggy, Vlad, and Pudge, I'm pretty sure we would've made the playoffs the last few years. Hell, we might've even won a championship.

Sucks, doesn't it. That off-season may have been one of the biggest let downs for me over the past 10 years. I really PTI and other shows talking about the O's signing the 'Big 3' and the O's we making national headlines - for good things. Then they go from the Big 3 to Tejada, Palmeiro, and Lopez. We went from playoff contender to barely a .500 contender.:(

[RShack]

"Favorite in retrospect", or "favorite at the moment it happened"? Big difference.

Cuellar and Frank are the "Favorites in retrospect". But neither one of those was a "Favorite when it happened". They proved to be among the greatest trades of all-time, but at the time they happened, who knew?
Cuellar showed up as a 31-yr-old journeyman starter who, despite his age, had only 42 W's and who had pitched more MiL innings than ML innings. To get him, we gave up Curt Blefary, our 25-yr-old LF'er who was coming off 1 bad season after 3 good ones, including the one that made him AL-ROY. Exactly what was there to like about that trade at the time? How many fans predicted that Blefary would soon crap out, and that Cuellar would win a Cy Young immediately and would *average* 20 wins and 275+ innings per-season over the next *7 years*? I'll tell you how many: Exactly zero.
.
Frank was rumored to be "an old 30", a bad clubhouse influence, and a scary black guy who carried a gun. Baltimore was not used to this. To get him, we gave up our best starting pitcher (Milt Pappas), our 1B-man (Norm Siebern who went to the Angels for OF Dick Simpson, who was immediately traded for Frank), our CF (Jackie Brandt who was sent to the Phillies for P Jack Baldschun who was then immediately traded for Frank), and a promising 23-yr-old P who was about to start a five-year streak of being a damn good reliever (Darold Knowles, who went to the Phillies along the Brandt). To a lot of people, that looked a whole lot like giving up 4 important players for somebody who was aging trouble. People were kinda nervous reading the paper about ST that year. Frank immediately won the Triple Crown and MVP, led the way to the O's 1st WS, and taught the team to be serious about winning ballgames. Wanna guess how many fans predicted all of that when the trade happened? I can give you a very precise number if you want ;-)
These are among the best two trades by any team ever. Both of them paid huge immediate high-impact dividends, as well as lasting goodness. But they sure didn't seem steals at the time they were made. The FO knew what they were doing, or got very lucky, or both. (I think it's safe to say "both".)

The ones that felt best when they happened were Miggi, followed by Javy.

Another trade that seemed like a steal at the time was getting Pete Richert from the Senators for 2 guys who didn't matter much. He was their best starter and 2-time AS. We turned him into a long-reliever, and he soon had a couple of the best long-reliever-seasons that I know of (163 ERA+ then 184 ERA+). He was the first "long-reliever specialist" I remember (although they used him in other roles too, it wasn't that strict then).

[Trinidad]

Good thread!!!!!!!!!

I'm too young for the Frank Robinson deal, But the most excited I remember being about the O's off-season was the trade for Glenn Davis. Obviously , in retro spect, not so much, BUT, and I know I'm not alone, at the time it appeared as if we had just pulled one over on the Astros.................It was basically Harnisch and Finley for Davis as Schilling was basically a throw-in.

[Mackus]

Favorite FA signing was Robby Alomar.
Favorite trade was Bobby Bonilla w/ Eddie Murray coming back being a close second.

[wildcard]

Frank

Eric Davis and Randy Myers

[FutureOwner]

The Palmeiro and Alomar signings were my favorites.

Say what you want about Boras, but back then when he first started his 200 page bio's to make his case for his client being the best player in baseball, it was very exciting at the time. I was in middle school, I was young enough to be more caught up in the, "we're getting the best player in baseball!" feeling than, "*******ed Boras is running up the contract!" feeling ;)

[HokieO's]

My favorite was the trade for Glen Davis!!!

And I'm glad we got rid of some guy named George Ruth back in the day. He really would have brought the club down for many years to come.

[TakebackOPACY]

I'll go with the in-season acquisition of Geronimo Berroa. Man... when he or Eric Davis hit a baseball, I could imagine the pain that the ball must have felt.

EDIT: What I liked so much about the Berroa acquisition was that Gillick was doing his thing that he had done for Tornoto against us.

[Moose Milligan]

Bonilla, for some reason, is one of my favorites. Can't really seem to figure out why.

I guess it's because we were in the hunt and we needed a power bat, PA went out and got one. I remember being at sports camp, calling home and my dad telling me that we got him, I was all excited.

Raffy #1 was one of my favorites too.

[PaulFolk]

My favorite was the trade for Glen Davis!!!

And I'm glad we got rid of some guy named George Ruth back in the day. He really would have brought the club down for many years to come.
The O's got rid of Babe Ruth? Considering that the current Orioles franchise didn't exist until six years after the Babe died, I find that hard to believe.

[Old#5fan]

Frank Robinson was and always will be the greatest Orioles trade of all time. He was the HOF offensive player who put the team over the top to greatness as it already had the pitching and defense. No other trade compares.

[McLovin]

My favorite was the trade for Glen Davis!!!
I would second that, but I'm serious. I was a kid and was so psyched that we got him. Even after he tanked the first year, I still held onto hope that he would pull it together.

Roberto Alomar would be my favorite signing. At the time, he was legitimately one of the top 5 players in the game. His first two years for us were amazing...

[Aurelius]

Other than the obvious ones (Frank Robinson and Cuellar deals)...
Ken Singleton and Mike Torrez for McNally (who was way past his prime) and Rich Coggins (who never recovered from the so-called sophomore jinx).
Fantastic deal.

They also stole Gary Roenicke from the Expos a couple years later.

[tywright]

The week of Dec 14-Dec 21 in 2005 had 3 great signings. Randy Myers, Alomar then Surhoff.

[KLINE]

The 2 trades that brought Randy Milligan and Chris Hoiles to Baltimore.
FA signings Alomar and Tejada...

[cindyluvsbrady]

Id have to say Brady!;)

[Delduck]

I would second that, but I'm serious. I was a kid and was so psyched that we got him. Even after he tanked the first year, I still held onto hope that he would pull it together.
Roberto Alomar would be my favorite signing. At the time, he was legitimately one of the top 5 players in the game. His first two years for us were amazing...

I agree. I was so pumped when we traded for him. I fallowed him before we got him and when he was right he could crush a ball.

And my all time signing was the resigning of Cal. I remember in '92 all the talk about Cal hitting FA after the season, and I was so scared he would move on to a different team. IIRC there was talk the O's had done something to upset Cal and the thought of him playing in any other uniform was upsetting.

[DrungoHazewood]

The O's got rid of Babe Ruth? Considering that the current Orioles franchise didn't exist until six years after the Babe died, I find that hard to believe.

I consider any team from Baltimore named Orioles as part of the O's legacy. The original poster did say all time.

Jack Dunn definitely sold Ruth in 1914 from the O's to the Sox in order to stay afloat when he was hemorrhaging money because of competition from the Federal League Terrapins.

My favorite O's acquisition of all time was Dan Brouthers and Willie Keeler for George Treadway and Billy Shindle.

[Boy Howdy]

Probably Miguel Tejada for me, but I was also very excited when the Orioles signed Alan Wiggins back in 1985. He got a real bad rap here, a lot of it deserved, but he was an intriguing fellow that I'd like to write in depth about someday. I still remember those HTS spots with him stealing bases in slow motion to the tune of Turn Me Loose.

One near miss was Ken Howell. That guy had a great arm, and I was excited to see him when the Orioles acquired him in the Eddie Murray trade, but he got traded for Phil Bradley before he even put on an Orioles uniform.

[glenn__davis]

Eric Davis was probably my favorite FA signing. He was my favorite player as a kid.

My favorite MEMORY of a trade (but not my favorite trade) was Bigbie for Byrnes. Only because I remember Jim Hunter having Duquette in the press box and gushing about it for a whole inning or so about what a major trade it was. And i kept thinking, "Are we really supposed to buy this?"

[StunninSteve]

The best free agent signing.... Hmmm let me think...

ALBERT BELLE!!! :D

[McLovin]

My favorite MEMORY of a trade (but not my favorite trade) was Bigbie for Byrnes. Only because I remember Jim Hunter having Duquette in the press box and gushing about it for a whole inning or so about what a major trade it was. And i kept thinking, "Are we really supposed to buy this?"
Ha, well it turns out that *was* a great trade. Non-tendering him, on the other hand...

[tuOsfan]

bobby bo.

i remember listening to games on the radio, and they announced the trade the night before i was headed off to camp. i couldnt wait to come back so i could listen to games and watch him play.

[joldey]

How about the best "I wish they did it then, but I would regret it now" move:

December 2001:

Orioles trade:
SP Sydney Ponson
1B Jeff Conine
RP Buddy Groom
SP Sean Douglass
SP Erik Bedard

Phillies trade:
3B Scott Rolen
1B Kevin Jordan
RP Chris Brock
Minor Leaguer (can't find any confirmation who that would have been)

There are also some reports that it was Josh Towers instead of Bedard (in that case, I change my mind).

Yes, that same "I turned down a 10 year $140 million" Scott Rolen.

The deal was basically final, until Angelos killed it. The Orioles were even granted, at that time, the 48 hour negotiating window.

Looking back. That's the best move. The move we didn't make.

[olehippi]

Frank Robinson....without a doubt. This trade turned the tide for the O's franchaise......until Eli Jacobs and then Angelos got involved.

On a side note.....in the last 30 years the O's have had three owners.... Williams, Jacobs and Angelos....all have been attorneys. Maybe it's a curse....

[Sammy G]

The signings of Bruce Chen and Sal Fasano :D

[RShack]

On a side note.....in the last 30 years the O's have had three owners.... Williams, Jacobs and Angelos....all have been attorneys. Maybe it's a curse....
What we need is a beer-man owner. A beer-man isn't on an ego trip about what kind of owner he is, he just wants to use the club to sell beer. Which means he's motivated to get good baseball people, and leave them alone, because he knows exactly what he's trying to do: he's trying to get a winning team to help him sell beer. The decline-and-fall of the Oriole Way can be traced directly to mega-consolidation in the beer industry.

ps: I think we need a large Jerry Hoffberger statue on Eutaw St.

[NCRaven]

Terrell Owens:)

[GotNitro]

I was in my mid-teens when the O's were last winning. I can't remember if he came via trade or FA but my favorite Oriole of the time was Randy Myers. There was an electricity when they announced him coming in from the pen.

[Blues0080]

How about Rich Coggins and Dave McNally to the Expos for Mike Torrez and Ken Singleton.

[blueberryale77]

Id have to say Brady!;)

I actually have to agree here. The Boddicker trade happened right when I was at the age where I was starting to understand about prospects in the minors and not just thinking new Orioles materialized out of thin air when I saw them on television. I was pretty excited about Anderson and Schilling. That was the first time I can remember being excited about a trade we made and probably still the one I've had the most positive vibe about at the time it happened. Of course, if we hadn't gone and made the Glenn Davis trade, it would have turned out huge for us in the long run. It's a pretty good deal when you trade an aging veteran, give him a chance to play for a contender, and 20 years later the worse of the two players you got is in your team's hall of fame and the other is still playing.

[DonnyUnitas]

My favorite has to be when we traded Ripken at the height of his career for 4 or 5 strong prospects. I mean, it made total sense - we weren't playing well and we needed to rebuild with younger talent. It sucks that he broke Gehrig's record elsewhere, but y'know, we got a solid middle reliever and a first baseman with AWESOME potential out of it!

And yes, I'm totally ignoring the fact that the other 3 in the trade never quite adjusted and that said first baseman became injured and thus never saw his potential. That reliever could hurl though!



ok... pithy satire aside...

Albert Belle.

I was so excited until I realized he was a mentally deranged mongoloid.

[Peace21]

My favorite has to be when we traded Ripken at the height of his career for 4 or 5 strong prospects. I mean, it made total sense - we weren't playing well and we needed to rebuild with younger talent. It sucks that he broke Gehrig's record elsewhere, but y'know, we got a solid middle reliever and a first baseman with AWESOME potential out of it!

And yes, I'm totally ignoring the fact that the other 3 in the trade never quite adjusted and that said first baseman became injured and thus never saw his potential. That reliever could hurl though!



ok... pithy satire aside...

Albert Belle.

I was so excited until I realized he was a mentally deranged mongoloid.

As sad as it sounds, I have never really been so excited about a trade that I can call it my favorite trade or signing. Tejada was cool, Albert Belle was a tragedy. Sammy Sosa was a circus. But I can tell you this, if the O's would have signed Vlad, along with Tejada. I would have been estatic. But oh well. The O's had a real shot at being competitive in the division at that point. But they lost out on Vlad and Tejada couldnt do it all on his own.

[clarence]

I remember thinking that Raffy Part One was a move that was going to help us get back to the World Series. The additions around that time of Alomar and Key had me pretty excited about our chances. I still think if Jeffrey Maier and Armando Benitez had never been born, we would have won a WS in the 90's.

[cindyluvsbrady]

I remember thinking that Raffy Part One was a move that was going to help us get back to the World Series. The additions around that time of Alomar and Key had me pretty excited about our chances. I still think if Jeffrey Maier and Armando Benitez had never been born, we would have won a WS in the 90's.

You are right about Maier and Armando!:002_scry:

[Tank]

Its got to be the Roberto Alomar signing for me. He is my favorite player of all time.