How would YOU fix/improve the Orioles, going forward?

[MikeAD]

Who wants him? Good luck finding a market.

IF he can stay healthy, you might find interested teams if the O's eat some salary. If hes not consistently healthy then theres not much you can do. Hes not the typical veteran a team will pickup in the stretch because he costs too much. The big money teams who will be in it (Boston, New York) don't have a need at the position. Maybe the Angels, but that would take something falling apart on their end.

[MikeAD]

Bigger question on BRob....Say a team calls us up, tells us they want him but we need to pay 60% of his contract and they are only willing to trade us 2 Steve Johnson level prospects...IE 2 guys that may be able to have a role for us but nothing major.

Are you making that deal?

I say no to this. Thats too much to be paying for prospects of that tier. I would pay 40-45% for an upper and a mid-tier prospect but a team offering that trade needs to be examined.

[Hank Scorpio]

Bigger question on BRob....Say a team calls us up, tells us they want him but we need to pay 60% of his contract and they are only willing to trade us 2 Steve Johnson level prospects...IE 2 guys that may be able to have a role for us but nothing major.

Are you making that deal?

Depends on what happens with him between now and the deadline.

I'd consider it either way, but I'm not sure that frees up enough money if Roberts is healthy.

[brianod]

I would pour money into scouting and player development. I'd hold on to this team and see if they can compete. The fact of the matter is that no-one on this board who is adamant about this team not being good enough to compete, knows for sure. They can present their opinions as fact all they want but I remain unimpressed and unwilling to give up on this year. If anyone of the negative nellies on this board predicted Cleveland would win its division, I'd start to listen. Anyone do that? So, we are 4 games out after playing 45 games. The tired old refrain of "trade all our starters for prospects" is boring me. I fully acknowledge we need more young talent but why do we try to obtain that talent the old fashioned way, smart drafting and player development. I would double or triple the budget for that and see if what we can do with out existing starters.

[Sports Guy]

Depends on what happens with him between now and the deadline.

I'd consider it either way, but I'm not sure that frees up enough money if Roberts is healthy.

We would basically save 10 million or, one year of his deal(owe 20 million the next 2 years plus whatever this year by the time he would be dealt...5M give or take).

[DrungoHazewood]

Bigger question on BRob....Say a team calls us up, tells us they want him but we need to pay 60% of his contract and they are only willing to trade us 2 Steve Johnson level prospects...IE 2 guys that may be able to have a role for us but nothing major.

Are you making that deal?

No. I'm willing to gamble that he's still a decent player, instead of completely punting on his contract and paying $10s of millions for two prospects who'll probably amount to nothing.

[webbrick2010]

I would look to deal Brob. Even if it ment eating some salary, which would allow us to essentially buy some additional prospects. He is not part of the answer here.

LOL, eating some salary. You would have to eat the entire salary and still only get a mid prospect in return. BRob is pretty much toast.

[The Wedge]

LOL, eating some salary. You would have to eat the entire salary and still only get a mid prospect in return. BRob is pretty much toast.

Say, mind giving me the winning lottery numbers? I'm a bit in the red and could use the money.

[DrungoHazewood]

LOL, eating some salary. You would have to eat the entire salary and still only get a mid prospect in return. BRob is pretty much toast.

Considering the source, I'd take this post to mean Roberts has several quality seasons left in him. Your set point is about six notches more pessimistic than average.

[LookinUp]

It goes without saying that we should spend more in the draft, int'l market and on player development. So, with that agreed to...

I would consider trading Guthrie and Scott. I'd only trade either of them for bona fide prospects. Guthrie must net a "fix" at a position of need, either near term or longer term. With this requirement, his best fit is on a team with a blocked prospect that would get rid of either that blocked prospect or the person blocking him. Alonso and Butler come to mind. So does Singleton, from the Phillies. Guts should also net a power relief prospect. Alternatively, if a team is willing to give up a high-upside young pitcher for Guts, I wouldn't turn that down either. This matches better with our window to compete anyway, IMO.

Scott should net us a couple of pitching prospects; one a starter and the other a power reliever, IMO. I doubt he nets a position player that we'd want, so pitching is the better route to go.

I would not trade BRob for the simple reason that I don't think it would be worth the return. If a crazy team wants to underpay while taking his whole contract, I'd consider it, but has anyone else seen the economy?

Derrek Lee and Vlad Guerrero should be held onto unless someone overpays for each. I'd offer them arbitration and watch as they turn it down. Both would prefer to be on a contender, IMO, and I could be convinced that each could still be decent players next year if they surprised us and accepted. I'd want the picks though.

Koji is an enigma. I doubt people would pay a decent price for him because of his injuries. I bet he'd accept arbitration. I'd probably just keep him and offer arbitration.

I'd consider trying to get rid of Mark Reynolds. I'm thinking that he's over paid and not up to standards. He's owed $7.5 next year. That's a big investment into a .200 batter.

If we could somehow get rid of those contracts (Guthrie, Scott, Reynolds in particular), we'd save $20-$30 million in 2012 payroll. That could be used to splurge.

[Greg Pappas]

Does anyone feel any different a month and a half later? I imagine so in some cases. Time changes many things.

[Sports Guy]

Does anyone feel any different a month and a half later? I imagine so in some cases. Time changes many things.

I would think many would have changed their minds now...but not sure some of them will appear back in this thread.

[Moose Milligan]

I would do everything that SG suggests because he's always right and everyone who disagrees with him is wrong.

[Greg Pappas]

Rob may not always go about expressing himself in the best manner, but I tend to agree with his baseball-related views far more often than not.

[Greg Pappas]

I should not have bumped this thread. My intent was to reevaluate how we see things here at the halfway point, however, we can just start a new thread for that, so as not to seem as if we're trying to start an "I told you so," revival.