Vlad: 'the Orioles have the inside track on signing him' Roch: Uh, no

[micahl69]

New updated article on mlbtraderumors.com on vladi and manny.

would LOVE this move...we regretted not signing him last year, let's take a shot this year.

'Manny Ramirez and Vladimir Guerrero may not be on our free agent list much longer. Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes hears from various sources that both players are moving toward deals (link in Spanish). One source tells Rojas that Ramirez is likely to sign by the beginning of next week.

The Angels, Twins, Rangers, Rays and Blue Jays have shown some interest in Ramirez, but Minnesota just added Jim Thome and is no longer interested. The Angels, Rangers and Rays are pursuing him most aggressively. Rojas hears that Manny wants to prove himself after a disappointing season; money, it seems, is not the slugger's primary concern.

A person close to Guerrero told Rojas that the Orioles have the inside track on signing him, but the Angels are another possibility.'

[basstrombonenyc]

...according to "a person close to Guerrero." Could be a nice signing. What do you guys think?

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/01/manny-vlad-progressing-toward-deals.html

[EddieEddie]

"oh boy...." comes to mind

[section18]

Sign him before the Angels do for a second time. Most of us have been wanting this to happen and it's good to hear we may be nearing a deal for him. AM this morning talked about getting a starting pitcher and a combination of Luke Scott and Tillman should help land a quality starter.

[olehippi]

"oh boy...." comes to mind

Followed by a ....."eh....nah"

[MrOrange82]

I still don't see the point unless the O's are committed to trading Scott, Pie, or Reimold (or some combination thereof).

[EddieEddie]

Followed by a ....."eh....nah"

Yeah i meant like "oh boy....here we go...."

[micahl69]

Sign him before the Angels do for a second time. Most of us have been wanting this to happen and it's good to hear we may be nearing a deal for him. AM this morning talked about getting a starting pitcher and a combination of Luke Scott and Tillman should help land a quality starter.

Agreed. We let the Angels have him during his prime, not that it would have made a big difference in our W-L.

This time I think he would make a big difference. Impact bat, who could play 140 games and stay healthy with the depth of our bench.

[Brendan25]

I still don't see the point unless the O's are committed to trading Scott, Pie, or Reimold (or some combination thereof).

My guess is that they would try to put Pie in a trade for a pitcher, but who knows with this team.

[sportsfan8703]

Vlad would make our whole lineup so much better...

Roberts

Markakis

Lee

Vlad

Scott

Reynolds

Jones

Weiters

Hardy

That's a top 5 lineup in the mlb.

[orioleman123]

Now we can see why the Orioles are raising ticket prices, to off-set Vlad's contract with the Orioles.. It's kinda funny how this news is coming out the day they raised the ticket prices

[RyanW]

That's one scary lineup. It's a nice balance between contact and power guys. Hopefully Pie is packaged for a nice, young pitcher.

[GoldGlove21]

Now we can see why the Orioles are raising ticket prices, to off-set Vlad's contract with the Orioles.. It's kinda funny how this news is coming out the day they raised the ticket prices

One has nothing to do with the other. Maybe the Orioles did a market analysis and decided that our prices were a little too low. If the Orioles are averaging 20,000 fans per game and the seats go up $2 per butt in the seat then we are looking at an increased revenue of $40,000 per game or $3.2M per year. Maybe the changes took place due to the upgrades to OPACY over the last year.

[atlantaoriole]

I support it. Vlad would be a tremendous upgrade for the middle of the lineup and Scott can now play LF while Reimold and Pie battle it out for 4th OF. Deeper bench, better hitters, good move!

[MrOrange82]

My guess is that they would try to put Pie in a trade for a pitcher, but who knows with this team.

Scott or Pie would be likely, IMO. I don't understand/agree with the move mostly because Vlad would be yet another one-year guy. Following the 2011 season the O's will have to replace Lee, Vlad, and potentially Scott, and that doesn't even take into account Roberts' situation (i.e. will he be healthy? Will his back/something else give out entirely? Will 2B then be another hole to fill?).

I dunno...