O's two "Win Now" guys in the top management positions.

[Malike]

It will be pretty tough to build around this core when they are almost elligible for FA by the time his contract expires.

Homegrown players usually take 3-4 years to develop at least before they can contribute effectively at the ML level.

He's got to augment via trades and FA and win now, or blow the whole thing up. Otherwise he's doing what MacPhail did - tread water...

He said in his PC that he wants to go the way of scouting and development. Please don't set yourself up for more disappointment this off-season. Be realistic, or I'll bust out Bert again.

[JTrea81]

You can sign Prince Fielder now and win with him later. He's just a kid.

Fielder's window however is shorter than others of his age.

He'll likely be declining rapidly after 32. So you don't exactly have a huge window there. If you sign Fielder, you have to commit to winning now for the contract to be worth it.

[JTrea81]

He said in his PC that he wants to go the way of scouting and development. Please don't set yourself up for more disappointment this off-season. Be realistic, or I'll bust out Bert again.

He also said he wants to build around the core. My point is the core is going to be gone or off-peak if he waits too long.

I don't see how he can build the organization through scouting and development in less than 3 years. I don't see how it can be done in less than 5 frankly...

So either he needs to go all in, or blow things up.

That's the only way he's going to create a competitive team short of being very lucky and signing a bunch of overachievers.

[Malike]

I agree with you here!

They list him at 5'11 and 275LB's. I can say with confidence that when he steps on a scale, its shrieks get the **** off of me. Ever see a fat kid? One of my best friends is a real big guy, has been his whole life, they don't age well. Prince for 10 years would be a disaster of epic proportions. (Pun intented)

[Sports Guy]

Fielder's window however is shorter than others of his age.

He'll likely be declining rapidly after 32. So you don't exactly have a huge window there. If you sign Fielder, you have to commit to winning now for the contract to be worth it.

Well, you could add Fielder, make some other moves and set yourself up to really add more pieces next offseason.

Not everything has to be done in one offseason.

[Malike]

He also said he wants to build around the core. My point is the core is going to be gone or off-peak if he waits too long.

I don't see how he can build the organization through scouting and development in less than 3 years. I don't see how it can be done in less than 5 frankly...

I think he'll make some trades, but I don't think you'll see any big FA signings, until this team shows that it truly has a core in place that compete. We haven't been able to show that at all.

[Malike]

Fielder's window however is shorter than others of his age.

He'll likely be declining rapidly after 32. So you don't exactly have a huge window there. If you sign Fielder, you have to commit to winning now for the contract to be worth it.

Give him a 10 year deal. Pay him 30M a year for the first 3 years, then 10M a year for the next 7. Problem solved.

[Lucky Jim]

Well, you could add Fielder, make some other moves and set yourself up to really add more pieces next offseason.

Not everything has to be done in one offseason.

What's remarkable is that Trea acknowledges that Fielder is a bad long-term investment AND STILL argues that (i) we should sign him; and (ii) urgently spend money to upgrade the team around him so we can profit before he inevitably goes bad.

It's - literally - the most asinine plan for the Orioles I've ever read.

[JTrea81]

I think he'll make some trades, but I don't think you'll see any big FA signings, until this team shows that it truly has a core in place that compete. We haven't been able to show that at all.

We won't be able to develop a core that can compete during Duquette's tenure without major trades or FA signings.

There isn't enough time nor talent in this organization to do that.

You can't sign a bunch of 16-18 year old kids and expect them to be in the majors the next year.

It's going to take time, and that's time where we'll be wasting production of this core group of players.

[JTrea81]

What's remarkable is that Trea acknowledges that Fielder is a bad long-term investment AND STILL argues that (i) we should sign him; and (ii) urgently spend money to upgrade the team around him so we can profit before he inevitably goes bad.

It's - literally - the most asinine plan for the Orioles I've ever read.

You pay for the productive years. So you compete while he's still in his prime. The years on the end are the price for those years of premium production.

[JTrea81]

Well, you could add Fielder, make some other moves and set yourself up to really add more pieces next offseason.

Not everything has to be done in one offseason.

If you wait another season, that's more high round draft picks you lose. If you go all in this offseason, you can sacrifice just one draft instead of multiple ones.

The Orioles could get a Type A FA for the price of a third round pick if they were so inclined.

[Lucky Jim]

You pay for the productive years. So you compete while he's still in his prime. The years on the end are the price for those years of premium production.

Which is why you don't do it when your team is as far away from contention as we are. It's very very simple.

It's already of questionable efficiency. More inefficiency on top of it in order to clasp and claw your way to a point of leverage is just ridiculous.

[Sports Guy]

Jtrea, I am curious if you would be in favor of trading Jones in a deal where we get Smoak back?

[DrungoHazewood]

Fielder's window however is shorter than others of his age.

He'll likely be declining rapidly after 32. So you don't exactly have a huge window there. If you sign Fielder, you have to commit to winning now for the contract to be worth it.

What's remarkable is that Trea acknowledges that Fielder is a bad long-term investment AND STILL argues that (i) we should sign him; and (ii) urgently spend money to upgrade the team around him so we can profit before he inevitably goes bad.

It's - literally - the most asinine plan for the Orioles I've ever read.

Thanks for saving me the effort of typing that up. Really, truly, he's saying the O's need to sign Fielder to a 7/160 deal so that they can win in 2012 and 2013, while acknowledging that the back end of the contract will likely be a catastrophic disaster so bad that it keeps the team from contending in the outyears.

[DrungoHazewood]

If you wait another season, that's more high round draft picks you lose. If you go all in this offseason, you can sacrifice just one draft instead of multiple ones.

Of course the problem is that essentially no bad team has ever signed 4, 5, 6 top free agents in one offseason.