Should we spend money just to spend it?

[Rockbird]

I wouldn't want them to spend tons of money on the wrong players. There's "The Big 4" this offseason and I wouldn't be upset at all if they went out and splurged to get Zito or Schmidt and Lee or Soriano. I mean come on, after what we've suffered through the last couple offseason wouldn't this be a great "problem" to have? I don't think Zito or Schmidt are any worse then Burnett and Millwood from last year (and are probably better), and Lee/Soriano are likely to perform better then Sexson/Beltre from a couple years ago (sorry Seattle). I think if we have the money to spend, we should spend it and make a splash on the top players this offseason.

But, I'll believe it when I see it. I can easily see the same act of screwing around, lowballing or even giving a vacant top offer to be turned down.

[isestrex]

Zito and Lee scream consistancy which is what O's signings have lacked over the past, well, Angelos era.

It's not like we'd be signing has beens and hoping they rebound in Baltimore. Just for the record, we're like 0 for a couple dozen on resurrected careers.

[NoVaO]

I don't think I want us offering any big contracts in years or money to any pitchers this year. If we are going after a Zito or Schmidt, we are going to have to pay in both years and money. Likely 4 or 5 years for both, totaling around $15 or $16 million a year.

I would rather let our young pitching develop and once we have settled on our future pitchers, then we go out and make a big offer to a big name pitcher to fill any holes in our rotation.

Same thing goes for signing guys like Meche, Lilly, or Padilla...all could get up to 4 years and $28 million (which is probably topping out for them). We could go out and find a cheap, one-year stop gap or keep Benson and let him fill that stop-gap role.

[oriole_way]

I would not give him a guaranteed 5th year..No way.

But, power pitchers tend to pitch better late into their 30's. I think he would be a decent risk for us...I would go as high as 4/50 with a 12 million dollar option year or 2 million dollar buyout to make it guaranteed 4/52.

I am not that familiar with Schmidt as I don't watch that many NL games so I would defer to other people who are more familiar with him.

Looking at his stats, his k/9 has dropped over the past 3 years: 10.04 (2004), 8.63 (2005), 7.72 (2006). 7.72 is his lowest k/9 rate since 2000.

So the idea of giving him a 4 year contract where he will be pitching at the ages of 34, 35, 36 and 37 is somewhat scary to me.

Plus, he would be switching to the tougher American League.

This is not to say that I think that Zito is a slam dunk. I know he's not the power pitcher that Zito is, but he's had an era under 4 every year except 1, (4.48 in 2004). However, I also have reservations about Zito pitching in the AL East. His career era against Boston and the NY Yankees is over 5.

But I would rather risk an 8 figures a year contract on the pitcher who is 4 years younger.

[Rockbird]

I don't think I want us offering any big contracts in years or money to any pitchers this year. If we are going after a Zito or Schmidt, we are going to have to pay in both years and money. Likely 4 or 5 years for both, totaling around $15 or $16 million a year.

I would rather let our young pitching develop and once we have settled on our future pitchers, then we go out and make a big offer to a big name pitcher to fill any holes in our rotation.

Same thing goes for signing guys like Meche, Lilly, or Padilla...all could get up to 4 years and $28 million (which is probably topping out for them). We could go out and find a cheap, one-year stop gap or keep Benson and let him fill that stop-gap role.

Zito is basically the same age as Bedard, and is already way more accomplished. You wouldn't be hurting our "youth movement" at all by signing him, you'd be strengthening it big time. Schmidt I agree with, and if we were to go after him, I wouldn't make it more then 3 years (which probably wouldn't get it done, and then would look to trade Benson for a decent bat).

With Zito, it gives you the leverage to trade one of Cabrera, Loewen or Penn for an elite bat if you can't sign one via FA (or put one in the bullpen for the year as the 6th option, and ready to start next year when Benson is gone).

Of course this is all silly talk because I dont believe we'll offer the type of money to sign a guy like Zito nor do I believe he'll want to sign with us.

[mweb]

Schmidt and Ramirez are the two main guys they should go after imo. Bottom line is I won't be upset if they don't spend a ton of money, but make reasonable offers to those two and smart decisions. Like getting Dellucci and Cruz to platoon in LF. Getting a young first baseman in a trade or signing someone who will at least give us an .800 OPS there. Improve the bullpen.

One other thing they should be looking at is absorbing part or all of a bad contract or two that a team would like to dump. Abreu and Thome are recent examples of that.

[isestrex]

Of course this is all silly talk because I dont believe we'll offer the type of money to sign a guy like Zito nor do I believe he'll want to sign with us.

The truth is we DO have the money to offer him and Tejada might have a conversation with Barry. Regardless, this is the least of my worries. I think the Yankees (still desperate for pitching and they probably won't resign Mussina) will unload on him for their big signing of the year and we won't be able to match.

[Adam]

I'm never one for spending money just for the sake of it. I just want the Orioles to be active on the FA market, cutting deals for players that will help improve this ballclub. Doesn't matter to me if these moves are big or small. As long as I can look at an acquisition and say, "Yeah, this move will definitely help fill a hole", it won't matter to me whether or not that player gets a 4 year, $40 million contract, or a 2 year, $6 million deal. Now, if there is a player out there that will make a dramatic difference in our lineup/and or rotation, and you need to overspend a bit in order to land him, then fine. But otherwise, no to spending money just for the sake of spending. Teams that do that often regret it.

[Baltimoron]

Schmidt and Ramirez

Who? You mean soriano?

[mweb]

Who? You mean soriano?

Aramis Ramirez.

[Rockbird]

I like Soriano and Lee better then Ramirez plus they'll play a position we have a hole at rather then having to move Mora back out of position (not saying I wouldn't, but he's the "3rd" option to me).

[mweb]

I like Soriano and Lee better then Ramirez plus they'll play a position we have a hole at rather then having to move Mora back out of position (not saying I wouldn't, but he's the "3rd" option to me).

Well is Soriano going to want to go back to second? Is he having a contract year and will regress to what he's been the previous few years? How much is he going to get paid? I would guess quite a bit more than Ramirez.

With Lee, well the guy just isn't that great, he's certainly having a good year, but his career shows that over the next 5 years(exiting prime years), his OPS will probably be no more than .840. I don't think it's wise to pay 60-65M over 5 years for a poor defensive LF who will at best average about an .840 OPS.

Ramirez is 2 years younger than both Soriano and Lee, will likely command less money, and will likely average a higher OPS than both of them over the course of the contract. He can play third with Mora in either LF(where he has a career 114 rate) or even 1B. Or maybe Ramirez would move to first.

[NoVaO]

Zito is basically the same age as Bedard, and is already way more accomplished. You wouldn't be hurting our "youth movement" at all by signing him, you'd be strengthening it big time. Schmidt I agree with, and if we were to go after him, I wouldn't make it more then 3 years (which probably wouldn't get it done, and then would look to trade Benson for a decent bat).

With Zito, it gives you the leverage to trade one of Cabrera, Loewen or Penn for an elite bat if you can't sign one via FA (or put one in the bullpen for the year as the 6th option, and ready to start next year when Benson is gone).

Of course this is all silly talk because I dont believe we'll offer the type of money to sign a guy like Zito nor do I believe he'll want to sign with us.

I agree on Zito, but will what we have to pay him really be worth it? Personally, I don't think he will be.

I think we could still move one of our pitching prospects, though it just is a little more risky.

[33rdst]

Of course we should not spend money just to spend money. But the amount of money the O's will spend will depend,I suppose, on how close they think they are to contending. With the emergence of Markakis, and the young pitching, I'm more convinced then ever that we are very close. I believe a top of the rotation starter and someone to protect Tejada are probably our most important acquasitions. Lee or Sorriano are fine. Lee has played the role of big bopper in the line up so I would assume he would be more comfortable with it.

[TyCobb]

I can see the O's actually trying to sign BOTH Soriano and Lee. Have them platoon the LF/DH spot. That would make a really big splash for the MASN channel. Remember the more money you put in the team, the more money you make.