Morning topic #2: how did Tampa, Toronto and Boston do with all those early picks?

[waroriole]

I would definitely curb the ability of the top teams and the top payroll teams to net extra picks.

If your payroll is over a certain amount, don't allow them to receive comp picks. Or only allow 1 supplemental pick. There is definitely a way to do this and make it fair.

I don't have a problem with TB doing what they did, b/c they just couldn't afford to pay those guys.

[hoosiers]

You have to have some Type A free agents, to start with. The O's haven't had very good fortune with guys having big seasons in their walk years.

We re-signed Mora and BRob before they could walk. These Type A guys need to be re-cycled into picks so that it becomes a cycle of added draft talent replacing free agents. We also could have urged Euhara to leave this past offseason.

Our FO needs to get past the point where everyone believes it is so important to retain these guys. Resigning Mora to his second big contract was terrible management, IMO.

Our lack of draft picks has a lot more influence by FO decisions than "good fortune with guys in their walk years".

[Sports Guy]

Well, yes and no. There is definitely some skill involved in looking for guys who may garner you picks and not holding on to them too long. But when guys like Grant Balfour get you two picks, that's pretty lucky.

Sure it is...But its also about identifying the right players and signing them to the proper contract.

Look at the deals for Gregg and Gonzo..HIGHLY unlikely from the moment we signed them that they would end up netting us picks? Why? Because its very unlikely that the arbitration number we would be offering them would be turned down.

[Sports Guy]

We re-signed Mora and BRob before they could walk. These Type A guys need to be re-cycled into picks so that it becomes a cycle of added draft talent replacing free agents. We also could have urged Euhara to leave this past offseason.

Our FO needs to get past the point where everyone believes it is so important to retain these guys. Resigning Mora to his second big contract was terrible management, IMO.

Our lack of draft picks has a lot more influence by FO decisions than "good fortune with guys in their walk years".

Excellent post.

Also, its about taking advantage of a situation like Toronto did with Olivo.

[The Rick]

We re-signed Mora and BRob before they could walk. These Type A guys need to be re-cycled into picks so that it becomes a cycle of added draft talent replacing free agents. We also could have urged Euhara to leave this past offseason.

Our FO needs to get past the point where everyone believes it is so important to retain these guys. Resigning Mora to his second big contract was terrible management, IMO.

Our lack of draft picks has a lot more influence by FO decisions than "good fortune with guys in their walk years".

I agree wholeheartedly on Mora - It made no sense considering where we were as a team, and Mora getting older.

But with BRob, don't you think that if anything we would have traded him?

[Fan4Life]

If your payroll is over a certain amount, don't allow them to receive comp picks. Or only allow 1 supplemental pick. There is definitely a way to do this and make it fair.

I don't have a problem with TB doing what they did, b/c they just couldn't afford to pay those guys.

I'd go one step further and subtract a roster spot if you are over $X, and add a roster spot or 2 if you are at other payroll targets. The Yankees can have a $200M team, but only able to field 23 players. This levels the margin for error somewhat in that a team like ours may be able to have a Riemold, Pie and Fox on the bench where the Yankees will have to choose more carefully between keeping extra pitching or extra hitting.

[Frobby]

Sure it is...But its also about identifying the right players and signing them to the proper contract.

Look at the deals for Gregg and Gonzo..HIGHLY unlikely from the moment we signed them that they would end up netting us picks? Why? Because its very unlikely that the arbitration number we would be offering them would be turned down.

Why was that less true when the Rays signed Soriano?

[ChaosLex]

Why was that less true when the Rays signed Soriano?

Not to nitpick, but the Rays traded for Soriano.

[hoosiers]

Why was that less true when the Rays signed Soriano?

Look at what the Rays did turning Benoit and Zaun into draft picks and Toronto with Olivo.

Our FO turned Tejada into Pelzer, but that's about it in the past two years.

I am hopeful that our current crop of Hardy, Guerrero and Lee nets more than most of our divisional breathren this year. We'll see.

[Sports Guy]

Why was that less true when the Rays signed Soriano?

The Rays traded for Soriano and his arb number was set....The Rays may have gotten "lucky" that he stayed healthy and was very good but he was also on a 1 year deal, which is less of a time for him to screw up...Plus, they were a good team that needed BP depth, not a bad team like the Orioles.

[Frobby]

Not to nitpick, but the Rays traded for Soriano.

I forgot that. Thanks for the reminder.

[CSB Jack]

Look at what the Rays did turning Benoit and Zaun into draft picks and Toronto with Olivo.

Our FO turned Tejada into Pelzer, but that's about it in the past two years.

I am hopeful that our current crop of Hardy, Guerrero and Lee nets more than most of our divisional breathren this year. We'll see.

Are you talking about losing them as free agents after the year? To net the picks you have to offer them arbitration and have them turn it down. I'd actually like to have Hardy back next year and would sign him to an extension. Are you confident that Guerrero and Lee would not accept arbitration? Do you want them around for next year? If not, that's a bit of a risk to offer arbitration.

I agree that you can do a bit of playing the game in some cases. In the case of Zaun you'd have to be gambling that if he stuck around to the end of the year that he would put up enough numbers to be a Type B free agent at the end of the year, unlikely given his continually decreasing playing time once Wieters was established as the every day catcher.

It seems that there is a sizable sentiment for the Orioles to lose their players so they can get draft picks. That sounds like a loser's mentality to me, though it's understandable that the fan base has gotten beaten down with all the years of losing. It also hurts to see the team get outspent by BOS and NYY and outdrafted by TBR and TOR. It just reinforces how horrible things were before MacPhail arrived and admitted publicly "We suck" and started the process of rebuilding the entire organization. He's made his share of mistakes along the way, but not having extra draft picks because he doesn't have any talent to lose is a tough thing to blame him for.