Per Olney tweet, look for resolution in 48 hours

[JTrea81]

At 4.5 million or whatever, Vlad isn't an absolute steal.

You have zero idea how that extra money you are advocating spending on him will effect the draft/international budget.

Would you rather give Vlad that extra few million or use that on amateur talent?

You know the Orioles aren't going to do anything different with international talent or amateur talent regardless of Vlad as long as PGA owns this team.

PGA is willing to spend on Vlad. When and what he wants to spend money on, you take advantage of that situation.

[Orioles_Magic]

He's a DH so that eliminated the NL teams.

So that leaves the 14 AL teams and how many of them needed DH upgrades?

He's unsigned because he wanted 2 years at $8-10 million per. And it sounds like he hasn't come down off of that yet.

Eventually he will if he wants to play, and to entice him, just raise your offer a bit and see if you can get him to bite.

Again, no reason at all to do that.

Put the offer on the table and leave it there.

He can take it or he can retire.

Vlad is not the difference in the O's making or missing the playoffs, IMO.

[JTrea81]

For the final time, we have the ONLY known deal on the table. There is ZERO reason to up the offer. NONE! If he wants to play baseball he'll take our deal.

Or he can wait until there is an injury in ST.

[Dipper9]

Or he can wait until there is an injury in ST.

And if he does that, then its BEYOND obvious he never had any intentions of playing in Baltimore.

[Frobby]

Vlad simply is not a luxury the way this team is configured with the injury prone players it has, the weak bench and lack of quality offensive depth in the minors.

This is a deal that simply has to get done because it makes too much sense for both sides.

It's not a blank check, increase your offer by a couple million and get it done.

PGA told MacPhail to be aggressive.

In the end, what's more important - getting an absolute steal, which you will likely get anyway even with an increased price, or getting the player?

You are so cavalier with other people's millions of dollars. MacPhail already has exceeded his budget. If he can get Vlad at an obvious bargain price, he can sell that to Angelos. If he can't get Vlad at a bargain, then he can't.

You set this up as if Angelos would willingly fork over another $2-3 mm to get Vlad, but MacPhail is holding him back out of some stingy principle. I'd be absolutely shocked if that were true. But go on deluding yourself.

If Vlad signs somewhere else, then I will be very interested to see what he gets paid. I'm pretty sure that money isn't going to be the driving factor here. He simply would prefer to be elsewhere.

[Sports Guy]

You know the Orioles aren't going to do anything different with international talent or amateur talent regardless of Vlad as long as PGA owns this team.

No, i don't know that. They have already discussed that they are over budget, so who knows...Now, answer the question....Few more million to get Vlad signed or the amateur talent?

PGA is willing to spend on Vlad. When and what he wants to spend money on, you take advantage of that situation.

PGA is willing to spend the offer on the table. No where has it been said he is willing to spend more than the other on the table. Do you understand the differences there?

[JTrea81]

You are so cavalier with other people's millions of dollars. MacPhail already has exceeded his budget. If he can get Vlad at an obvious bargain price, he can sell that to Angelos. If he can't get Vlad at a bargain, then he can't.

You set this up as if Angelos would willingly fork over another $2-3 mm to get Vlad, but MacPhail is holding him back out of some stingy principle. I'd be absolutely shocked if that were true. But go on deluding yourself.

MacPhail is definitely the one holding this thing up as Bowden has said IMO. Angelos wants Vlad, but he's letting MacPhail handle things obviously. And let's not forget MacPhail has said he's more conservative than PGA.

It's like MacPhail wants to make sure it's a painful process so he can get Vlad to come down and take a humbling deal so he can "win" the transaction.

And why do we care about how much the Orioles have exceeded the budget?

They've raised ticket prices on the fans, so shouldn't they be spending more anyway?

[El Gordo]

He's a DH so that eliminated the NL teams.

So that leaves the 14 AL teams and how many of them needed DH upgrades?

He's unsigned because he wanted 2 years at $8-10 million per. And it sounds like he hasn't come down off of that yet.

Eventually he will if he wants to play, and to entice him, just raise your offer a bit and see if you can get him to bite.

At the beginning of winter;

Chisox

Detroit

TOR

TAM

MINN

LAAA

A's

Seattle

Texas

Boston

NYA

[canonfaz]

I'm not against adding a little bit more money to the incentives ... a little (< 1m). That being said, I'm also ok if we don't get him at all.

[olehippi]

It's time to stop lowballing Vlad and come up some to get this thing done.

After all the talk at FanFest, losing out would not be a good thing at this point.

It's pretty obvious that Buck wants him on this team as well.

You've made this or similar statements several times....and this question has been asked several times: Why would the Orioles want to bid against themselves? It makes no sense. They have the highest, and perhaps only, bid on the table.

[Dipper9]

MacPhail is definitely the one holding this thing up as Bowden has said IMO. Angelos wants Vlad, but he's letting MacPhail handle things obviously. And let's not forget MacPhail has said he's more conservative than PGA.

It's like MacPhail wants to make sure it's a painful process so he can get Vlad to come down and take a humbling deal so he can "win" the transaction.

And why do we care about how much the Orioles have exceeded the budget?

They've raised ticket prices on the fans, so shouldn't they be spending more anyway?

MacPhail answered this at FanFest. He said the extra money for tickets goes back to the on field product. You can debate that if you want, but those were MacPhail's comments when asked that exact question about ticket prices.

The Orioles have ALREADY exceeded the budget. Angelos has given MacPhail extra to get Vlad, but he did not "open the checkbook" and tell him to get Vlad at any cost. MacPhail, again at FanFest, said they were done, but when a guy like Vlad becomes available at a reduced rate, you have to take a look. Vlad was not a target UNTIL his price tag fell. Why is this so frickin hard for you to get?

You are too much.

[JTrea81]

No, i don't know that. They have already discussed that they are over budget, so who knows...Now, answer the question....Few more million to get Vlad signed or the amateur talent?

You said this about the Orioles when talking about a team valuing scouting and development like Toronto:

But we won't make that commitment with the current ownership in place.

Interesting that you suddenly have "no idea" how a Vlad signing would change the Orioles plans...

I'm sure that if/when we sign Vlad and don't spend as much on the draft as other teams, you will use that against the Orioles, much like you used the Gregg contract to point out why they don't seem to have more money for Vlad.

I'm sure if a pitcher like say a 40 year old Mike Mussina wanted $6-$8 million at this stage, MacPhail would find the money to sign him. AM simply does not value offense like he should and that's why the offer is low.

PGA is willing to spend the offer on the table. No where has it been said he is willing to spend more than the other on the table. Do you understand the differences there?

Angelos has also told them to be aggressive in adding more talent before ST. What MacPhail is doing is not being aggressive. He's sitting back and waiting for Vlad to come crawling to the Orioles.

[Austin]

You've made this or similar statements several times....and this question has been asked several times: Why would the Orioles want to bid against themselves? It makes no sense. They have the highest, and perhaps only, bid on the table.

He has no logical answer for you. Just bump it up a couple more million, why not? If only that penny-pinching MacPhail were out of the way so Angelos could step in and drop some fat stacks on Vlad (and we all know how generous Pete is with his money!). Nevermind the fact that we're the only game in town for Vlad and we'd be bidding against ourselves.

Seriously though, why not just wait it out? Vlad isn't the missing puzzle piece here. While he'd be a welcome addition and I hope to see him in an O's uniform this summer, there is absolutely no reason to bump up the only offer he has.

[Shopay]

You are so cavalier with other people's millions of dollars. MacPhail already has exceeded his budget. If he can get Vlad at an obvious bargain price, he can sell that to Angelos. If he can't get Vlad at a bargain, then he can't.

You set this up as if Angelos would willingly fork over another $2-3 mm to get Vlad, but MacPhail is holding him back out of some stingy principle. I'd be absolutely shocked if that were true. But go on deluding yourself.

If Vlad signs somewhere else, then I will be very interested to see what he gets paid. I'm pretty sure that money isn't going to be the driving factor here. He simply would prefer to be elsewhere.

Unfortunately, I think the bolded is correct. Vlad is hloding out until someone he prefers (like Texas) gives him an offer just somewhere in the same atmosphere as the O's offer and he is gone. AM is playing this correctly.

[bandy75]

MacPhail is definitely the one holding this thing up as Bowden has said IMO. Angelos wants Vlad, but he's letting MacPhail handle things obviously. And let's not forget MacPhail has said he's more conservative than PGA.

It's like MacPhail wants to make sure it's a painful process so he can get Vlad to come down and take a humbling deal so he can "win" the transaction.

And why do we care about how much the Orioles have exceeded the budget?

They've raised ticket prices on the fans, so shouldn't they be spending more anyway?

There is no reason we should care, but AM should care because it his job to do so. I think the question is, why should AM care if Vlad wants a couple more million if no other team is willing to give it to him?