O's have made final offer to vlad

[BRob411]

No Detroit for Vlad, according to MLB Trade Rumors...

I know Sports Illustrated baseball insider Joe Sheehan said Detroit was a possibility and would be a good fit last week. I think he was just throwing that out there though. Vlad needs to accept the Orioles deal now.

[BRob411]

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110201/SPORTS0104/102010430/Tigers--Dombrowski--We-won-t-sign-Bonderman--Guerrero-not-a-good-fit

[crawjo]

Yes, but the fact that he expected to get 2/16 from Texas, and he is being offered 1/4? from Baltimore, is a big dose of reality for a proud guy to have to face. I bet he's asking himself how much is it really worth to keep playing.

He may very well be asking himself that question, as you say. My point is that it would be foolish for him to retire for this reason. Retire because you don't feel you have anything more to give to the game, or because you need more time with your family, or whatever. But don't retire just because one offseason doesn't produce the lucrative multi-year deal you were hoping for. Give it another shot in 2011 and then try to find a better situation for yourself after that. You only get one chance at having a full Major League career and I just think it would be silly to retire in a huff because of one bad offseason, especially coming off a year when you hit .300 with 29 homers. If there's more left in the tank, let it come out.

[Frobby]

Yes, but the fact that he expected to get 2/16 from Texas, and he is being offered 1/4? from Baltimore, is a big dose of reality for a proud guy to have to face. I bet he's asking himself how much is it really worth to keep playing.

Oh, Vlad will play, I'm sure. It's just a matter of whether he accepts $4.5 mm to go to a city/team where he really prefers not to play, or whether he takes $2 mm or so to go somewhere he finds more desireable. He's made $118 mm playing baseball, so he certainly can afford to take $2-3 mm less to go to a place he prefers.

If he comes to Baltimore, I think what will drive him here is the opportunity to get 500+ at bats, not the money.

[El Gordo]

Oh, Vlad will play, I'm sure. It's just a matter of whether he accepts $4.5 mm to go to a city/team where he really prefers not to play, or whether he takes $2 mm or so to go somewhere he finds more desireable. He's made $118 mm playing baseball, so he certainly can afford to take $2-3 mm less to go to a place he prefers.

If he comes to Baltimore, I think what will drive him here is the opportunity to get 500+ at bats, not the money.

I agree with this in that it is not the money. But if he had received an $2MM offer from Texas or LAAA to be a bench guy, I think he would have taken it by now. I think he is still waiting for that, and if he doesn't get it, I wouldn't be surprised if he retired.

[El Gordo]

He may very well be asking himself that question, as you say. My point is that it would be foolish for him to retire for this reason. Retire because you don't feel you have anything more to give to the game, or because you need more time with your family, or whatever. But don't retire just because one offseason doesn't produce the lucrative multi-year deal you were hoping for. Give it another shot in 2011 and then try to find a better situation for yourself after that. You only get one chance at having a full Major League career and I just think it would be silly to retire in a huff because of one bad offseason, especially coming off a year when you hit .300 with 29 homers. If there's more left in the tank, let it come out.

You're not looking at it from his perspective.

[ThatGuy]

So its looking like Vlad's Only options are either signing here, or Jermaine Dye-ing himself? Or am I missing something

[tntoriole]

If I were AM, I would goose the offer by a million or so...let's say if its 4.5 now... then 5.5 with a production bonus that might take it to 6....but the proviso would be that Vlad had 24 hours to take it or leave it and then we move on...

That way it might enable closure of the situation and, if he does come to Baltimore, that he saves some face, gets some positive karma going on...

[bluedog]

Oh, Vlad will play, I'm sure. It's just a matter of whether he accepts $4.5 mm to go to a city/team where he really prefers not to play, or whether he takes $2 mm or so to go somewhere he finds more desireable. He's made $118 mm playing baseball, so he certainly can afford to take $2-3 mm less to go to a place he prefers.

If he comes to Baltimore, I think what will drive him here is the opportunity to get 500+ at bats, not the money.

I completely agree.

Free agent contracts almost always come down to Rings, Swings or Cha-Chings! and in Vlad's case I think playing everyday is what's most important to him.

That's not to say the man doesn't want to get paid or have another shot at a World Series - but the fact the O's have any shot at him at all would seem to suggest no one's come close to topping their offer of a full time spot and 4 to 5 million per year. We know a lot of teams can match those dollar figures, which would indicate the sticking point is Swings.

[El Gordo]

If I were AM, I would goose the offer by a million or so...let's say if its 4.5 now... then 5.5 with a production bonus that might take it to 6....but the proviso would be that Vlad had 24 hours to take it or leave it and then we move on...

That way it might enable closure of the situation and, if he does come to Baltimore, that he saves some face, gets some positive karma going on...

If I were AM I would wine and dine Vlad's mom at Tio Pepe's. The owners Spanish, but most of the other employees are from El Cibao in the DR.:laughlol:

[tntoriole]

If I were AM I would wine and dine Vlad's mom at Tio Pepe's. The owners Spanish, but most of the other employees are from El Cibao in the DR.:laughlol:

Absolutely....have not been to Tio Pepe's in many years since leaving Baltimore...but it was a classic and THAT would do the trick!!

[crawjo]

You're not looking at it from his perspective.

No, I'm not, and neither is anyone else in this thread. We have no idea what his perspective is on this at all. What I'm saying is that retiring because no one other than Baltimore was interested in your services for 2011 would be short-sighted and stupid. That's my opinion.

[duffaphonic]

Vlad, if Charlie Manuel can learn Japanese Buck could learn Spanish. Ven a Bal'more, hombre.