Are Orioles Going to Make A Blockbuster Deal With Cubs? BR Story

[El Gordo]

I believe a different name. But who knows.

Which name do you believe it is? Arrieta?

[GoldGlove21]

Obviously I'm just guessing...no basis in rumors or anything else, but given that Upton's put up fWAR's of 4.8, 3.0, and 6.4 in the three seasons preceding this one, coupled with his age and the reasonableness of his contract...and yeah, I think he'd cost a fortune, even if there's been discontent in AZ.

If I am dealing Upton than I want a couple top prospects or 3-4 very, very good prospects.

I am not sure that Machado and Schoop would be enough, but home many teams could and would offer more in the way of young prospects? Texas has some studs, but they do not need that offense. The Pirates would be a wild card for me because they do have enough young pitching to possibly make a deal and they would have the need. I could see a team like the Tigers being interested, but they need a second baseman.

I think adding superstars that are controlled at a reasonable is a good concept, but them come at the premium of dealing away top prospects. Much of the O's minor league system in the near future is riding on the success of Bundy, Machado, Schoop and even Gausman assuming that we get him signed. Dealing away two of those guys to fill a position of need could make sense, but who replaces Roberts at second and JJ at short in 2014/2015?

[Ampontan]

Dealing away two of those guys to fill a position of need could make sense

DD in his meeting with fans yesterday says he prefers to build organizations rather than jump to trading prospects. It seems as if he's trying to strike a balance to maintain a competitive position this year without selling the farm.

[crissfan172]

I doubt if Machado and Tillman would net you Castro by himself.

Sure it would. Epstein would love to have Machado over Castro. He values important things like OBP. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Castro traded this year. He has a lot of value to the GM's that don't value OBP. Kenny Williams...I'm looking at you.

[sangar]

Sure it would. Epstein would love to have Machado over Castro. He values important things like OBP. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Castro traded this year. He has a lot of value to the GM's that don't value OBP. Kenny Williams...I'm looking at you.

Maybe I'm looking at it wrong. With Castro I see a 22 year old superstar in the making.

[mark_beckens]

JMO, but we are ahead of what I expected this year. Guess you could say, overachived. I don't have a problem with going after Bedard, Colon, secondary pitchers who won't cost us anything in the top 10. Same for a bat. I don't want us trading Arrieta, Matusz, Avery, Machado, Schoop to help improve our chances this year. I think both Arrieta and Matusz will develop into better pitchers then Garza and Dempster. We need a veteran innings eater. The cost of getting a TOR guy is too steep. That said, if the right offer is there, for a bargain, I have no problem. But we shouldn't over pay for anyone, this year!

[mark_beckens]

http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120623&content_id=33813040&notebook_id=33813042&vkey=notebook_bal&c_id=bal

Duquette -- who has stressed building the organization by strengthening the farm system and through international efforts -- made it clear he wouldn't sacrifice the Orioles' top prospects, but he wouldn't hesitate to make a move that betters this year's club without crippling the farm system.

[Mr Snuffleupagus]

Sure it would. Epstein would love to have Machado over Castro. He values important things like OBP. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Castro traded this year. He has a lot of value to the GM's that don't value OBP. Kenny Williams...I'm looking at you.

You talk about Machado like he gets on base at a .400 clip. Castro needs to increase his walk rate but he put up very comparable, actually better, OBP numbers then Machado in the MiL. He's not going anywhere, and we'll be lucky if Machado is putting up Castro's numbers at age 22.

[Bradysburns]

Well put. Arrieta and Matusz simply should not be traded any time soon; their respective values are about as low as they are likely to be, and there is a very good chance their values change significantly in the future. Aside from your pertinent warning "if we give up on talented starters at age 25 as a rule, we're screwed. Really screwed," I'd also add this: if we start making a policy of trading players at the bottom of their value then we're screwed, really screwed.

I find "under team control" arguments only partly convincing. You sign Garza up for another 3-4 years, you have him under team control, too. And he's a proven winner. I'd take Garza over Jake - in a heartbeat. The Orioles have been selling potential for about 15 years now. It's time to win, or go. If Jake can't figure it out, if he's still "finding himself," maybe he needs to go on a yoga retreat.

[crowmst3k!]

O's should at the very least make a run at Garza using a couple of pitchers and taking Soriano as a chip.

I think the east is winnable, even with our injuries, but we need another starter and a LFer. Don't sacrifice all of the prospects, but there are definitely guys in our system that can be traded without too much long-term consequence.

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[WiredinBmore]

Wait I thought the 4.5 year "plan" was to grow the arms and buy the bats? How did that work out? What a spinster joke MacPhail was. He still even has Schmuck fooled.

[crissfan172]

You talk about Machado like he gets on base at a .400 clip. Castro needs to increase his walk rate but he put up very comparable, actually better, OBP numbers then Machado in the MiL. He's not going anywhere, and we'll be lucky if Machado is putting up Castro's numbers at age 22.

Yes...I realize all of this, but Machado's BB rate (which is what I should have said instead of OBP) makes it far more likely that he'll develop into a high OBP machine as he gets older and matures. This and Manny's projectable power is what makes him a better prospect than Castro ever was IMO.

[section18]

Garza pitched 7 innings today against Arizona and gave up 3 runs in the Cubs loss. He didn't get the loss. Soriano had 2 hits today including his 14th HR.

[Dannyboy]

Wait I thought the 4.5 year "plan" was to grow the arms and buy the bats? How did that work out? What a spinster joke MacPhail was. He still even has Schmuck fooled.

This team is winning because of moves MacPhail made. So to say he was a joke just shows how little you know.

[MrOrange82]

Yes...I realize all of this, but Machado's BB rate (which is what I should have said instead of OBP) makes it far more likely that he'll develop into a high OBP machine as he gets older and matures. This and Manny's projectable power is what makes him a better prospect than Castro ever was IMO.

The "projectible" points may be good ones, but the present reality is that Castro's put up fWAR's of 2.2 and 3.4 over the preceding two years, and he's already been worth 2.3 this year (i.e., Castro produced a 2.2 WAR season as a true 20 year old, whereas Machado, who turns 20 on July 6th, doesn't look as though he'll be ready for the major leagues for at least 1-2 years).

Machado might have a higher ceiling in terms of raw talent, but he also might not make it at all (he certainly hasn't set the MiL's on fire thus far).

Castro's already proven himself. We know he's the real deal. I'd take Castro over Machado any/every day of the week, and twice on whatever days permitted the switch.