Orioles to Spend This Winter?

[wildcard]

Why wouldn't the Yankees offer Fielder 25M more then anyone else to be their DH?

More money convinced Dunn to be a DH. VMart was supported to want to catch. But he changed to a DH/C to go to the Tigers.

I never count out the Yankees.

[MikeAD]

Why wouldn't the Yankees offer Fielder 25M more then anyone else to be their DH?

More money convinced Dunn to be a DH. VMart was supported to want to catch. But he changed to a DH/C to go to the Tigers.

I never count out the Yankees.

And they sort of "saved" money this past off season.

[isestrex]

Why wouldn't the Yankees offer Fielder 25M more then anyone else to be their DH?

More money convinced Dunn to be a DH. VMart was supported to want to catch. But he changed to a DH/C to go to the Tigers.

I never count out the Yankees.

Well they're already going to have to find a new RF assuming they don't pick up their option on Swisher (though that option might be Jeter).

I know that Girardi has publicly stated that he would like to keep the DH spot open so that all of their ailing vets (A-Rod, Jeter, Posada) have a place to flow in and out. But common sense and strategic flow don't seem to be concepts in Hank and Hal's library (see Soriano, Rafael). I suppose it's possible for Fielder to go there....

[VeveJones007]

Milwaukee blew their wad keeping Braun, who they will move to 1st in the next few years. They're out.

My guess is Pujols staying with STL and Fielder to the Nats. AM (and probably Angelos, too) isn't going to give Fielder $150 million or more.

[joeyc]

He aint coming here, bottom line, no way no how.

[crowmst3k!]

Why wouldn't the Yankees offer Fielder 25M more then anyone else to be their DH?

It will depend on how Nunez does the rest of the way. If Nunez shows that he's that much better defensively, and improves offensively, the Yankees may consider making Jeter the full time DH and keep acclimating Nunez to the SS position. Their DH position is going to be their "legacy" position for a few years with Jeter taking it for 3, and possibly A-Rod going into it as he gets closer to his 40's.

Either rate, I don't see the Yankees as serious players for Fielder.

[Remember The Alomar]

Not to say those predicting Fielder to the Nats are wrong, but is it possible that they may be wary in tying up so much money in two potentially risky long term deals? It's one thing if the Werth deal ends up being an albatross--if Fielder ended up not living up to his deal it would absolutely cripple that franchise.

IMO I think Werth was their big FA buy and they'll just wait to see where their young talent takes them. A year or two down the road they'll spend on players to fill out their roster once the young talent is up and producing. It's not like their lacking in that department.

Perhaps I'm totally off base, but this is the team that cried poor when confronted with resigning Dunn. If they have the dough, why didn't they want both Dunn and Werth in the same lineup--especially with how well Dunn produced during his two years in WAS. I'm not saying they're poor or aren't willing to spend money (they've shown they are), but I just can't see them handing out two Yankee like FA deals in back to back years. It would absolutely destroy them if Werth and Fielder began to rapidly decline a few years into their deals (assuming they end up giving Fielder 6-7 years). Not saying it would play out this way, but I'm sure they take the worst case scenario into account.

Either way, there's no real chance the O's get Fielder. It'll only happen if a) we offer him the most money (HA!) or b) we're the only team seriously in on him. If the Rangers even have the slightest interest we have no shot.

[isestrex]

Not to say those predicting Fielder to the Nats are wrong, but is it possible that they may be wary in tying up so much money in two potentially risky long term deals? It's one thing if the Werth deal ends up being an albatross--if Fielder ended up not living up to his deal it would absolutely cripple that franchise.

IMO I think Werth was their big FA buy and they'll just wait to see where their young talent takes them. A year or two down the road they'll spend on players to fill out their roster once the young talent is up and producing. It's not like their lacking in that department.

Perhaps I'm totally off base, but this is the team that cried poor when confronted with resigning Dunn. If they have the dough, why didn't they want both Dunn and Werth in the same lineup--especially with how well Dunn produced during his two years in WAS. I'm not saying they're poor or aren't willing to spend money (they've shown they are), but I just can't see them handing out two Yankee like FA deals in back to back years. It would absolutely destroy them if Werth and Fielder began to rapidly decline a few years into their deals (assuming they end up giving Fielder 6-7 years). Not saying it would play out this way, but I'm sure they take the worst case scenario into account.

Either way, there's no real chance the O's get Fielder. It'll only happen if a) we offer him the most money (HA!) or b) we're the only team seriously in on him. If the Rangers even have the slightest interest we have no shot.

Moreland is starting to really hit well....

I don't know why I think this is a possibility, but the Orioles seem to be the only team genuinely shopping for a high paid first baseman this winter. By process of elimination, things keep looking better and better.

[Moose Milligan]

I've been saying this for awhile, I fully expect the O's to bid on Fielder. They offered Tex 7yrs $145M. I do not think they will offer Fielder that 7th year, but I do think they will over him $20.7M per year over 5 or 6 years.

I will not be surprised if the O's also bid on Darvish.

I'm gonna bid on Fielder and Darvish.

I'll get the same results as the Orioles. Wait and see.

[Stotle]

I've been saying this for awhile, I fully expect the O's to bid on Fielder. They offered Tex 7yrs $145M. I do not think they will offer Fielder that 7th year, but I do think they will over him $20.7M per year over 5 or 6 years.

I will not be surprised if the O's also bid on Darvish.

It would be hilarious to see the O's bid heavily on Darvish while complaining about the risk associated with giving a projectable Dominican pitcher $2MM.

[Slappy]

I don't see the Nats as a huge threat for Fielder. They have a few big contracts on the books in R. Zimmerman and of course Werth. They owe LaRoche for next season and won't be able to move that contract with the crap-tastic year he's having. And Mike Morse has a nearly .900 OPS in almost 600AB with Washington. If I'm them, I'm willing to take my chances with those two guys and save a little cash to invest in pitching or weak positions like CF.

Most of the big spenders are set at 1B. The Yanks have Tex, Boston has AGon, Philly has Howard. Sure the Yanks could overspend for Fielder as a DH, but this looks unlikely. They tend to sign scrap heap older guys to fill that position. The Yanks have been more money-concious lately. So I count them as out.

The biggest threats in my eyes would be the Cubs, Angels, maybe Arizona or the Dodgers if they can get their house in order.

[Dipper9]

Every year we sit here dissecting which of the big name free agents the Orioles will bring in, and every year we are disappointed. All things considered, I was fairly happy with this past offseason, but obviously the team is not as good on the field as we appeared to be on paper. In any event, we are not getting Fielder, and Albert is staying in St. Louis. Accept this now and your offseason will be much less stressful.

[isestrex]

I don't see the Nats as a huge threat for Fielder. They have a few big contracts on the books in R. Zimmerman and of course Werth. They owe LaRoche for next season and won't be able to move that contract with the crap-tastic year he's having. And Mike Morse has a nearly .900 OPS in almost 600AB with Washington. If I'm them, I'm willing to take my chances with those two guys and save a little cash to invest in pitching or weak positions like CF.

Most of the big spenders are set at 1B. The Yanks have Tex, Boston has AGon, Philly has Howard. Sure the Yanks could overspend for Fielder as a DH, but this looks unlikely. They tend to sign scrap heap older guys to fill that position. The Yanks have been more money-concious lately. So I count them as out.

The biggest threats in my eyes would be the Cubs, Angels, maybe Arizona or the Dodgers if they can get their house in order.

The Cubs and Dodgers are taking too long to get their affairs in order. It would take a miracle for either of these teams to suddenly find the money to spend. Specifically for the Dodgers, it might take 4-5 years before they are serious off season contenders again.

The Angels have Morales (who the need to figure what to do with) and Trumbo (who they really like) at 1B. As I said earlier in this thread, they would have to both trade Morales and bury Trumbo in the minors if they wanted to be in a position to shop for Fielder/Pujols. As with many teams, they may have money but they don't have room at 1B/DH.

As for the Diamondbacks.... maybe. They would certainly come out of nowhere and I'm not sure where they are financially. But they haven't once been tossed around in the names of possible suitors by the experts so I doubt they have the means.