Should the Orioles trade some of their pitching this off season?

[Dark Helmet]

Really this argument can be made for any free agent ...Fielder wont be worth what he was before this past season in the last few years of his contract. Hamilton can be moved to DH eventually to preserve his value.

Thome for example didnt drop off until his late 30s (36/37). The end of the day ...There is no reason to believe Hamilton will decline before a 5 year contract is over. He might be 25 hr / 90 RBI at 36 ....But again you are paying later for production now...Thats just the game.

I think a lot assume that because hes an ex addict, limbs will start falling off at 34.

[Dark Helmet]

Do you want Fielder under his contract? If not, I wouldn't use him as an advocate in your argument...

I think his point is, no ones worth their contract in the end. Extending Matt Wieters, is a popular decisio.. But, most likely by year 4, it will look like a mistake.

[wildcard]

Of course I'm not going to convince you of anything, but I would be careful in penciling in Davis for a solid 40 homer, 100 RBI season in full time play when prior to 2012 he was a sub-replacement player, and has a .727 OPS/sub-.300 OBP against lefties. It's somewhat suspect to expect year-after-year improvement from someone who continues to strike out five times for every walk.

So for a clean up hitter walks is what is all about? It doesn't matter that he was 8th in the league is HR or 8th in HR/AB or 15th in slugging pct. We are just worried about walks. OK. Got it.

[Roll Tide]

Do you want Fielder under his contract? If not, I wouldn't use him as an advocate in your argument...

I'll say this just once more ..... They will have to take a chance on somebody if they are serious about winning. If they dont they will likely regress as the offense struggled mightily early and then late. I would have been okay with Prince ...But he got a lot of money. Will he be reasonably productive until his contract expires at 37? Who knows for sure ... David Ortiz has held up pretty well and he's a fat guy. He missed time this year and still managed 90 games at a OPS of 1.026

End of the day your either in it to win or your not. If the Orioles are only shopping the scrap heap as to keep from making a mistake we will relapse back to closer to what last years team should have been. There's almost 0 chance the bullpen will be anywhere close to as good. There is 0 chance the Orioles will be that spectacular in 1 runs games. Scoring more runs without improving the lineup is very unlikely.

[Brendan25]

I think his point is, no ones worth their contract in the end. Extending Matt Wieters, is a popular decisio.. But, most likely by year 4, it will look like a mistake.

Some have complained about Nick Markakis' contract but I think he is playing very close to what his contract is paying him, and will be in 2 years when it expires.

That's fair though. He would be correct on most players who are 30-32 when they sign these monster contracts.

[Brendan25]

I'll say this just once more ..... They will have to take a chance on somebody if they are serious about winning. If they dont they will likely regress as the offense struggled mightily early and then late. I would have been okay with Prince ...But he got a lot of money. Will he be reasonably productive until his contract expires at 37? Who knows for sure ... David Ortiz has held up pretty well and he's a fat guy. He missed time this year and still managed 90 games at a OPS of 1.026

End of the day your either in it to win or your not. If the Orioles are only shopping the scrap heap as to keep from making a mistake we will relapse back to closer to what last years team should have been. There's almost 0 chance the bullpen will be anywhere close to as good. There is 0 chance the Orioles will be that spectacular in 1 runs games. Scoring more runs without improving the lineup is very unlikely.

If you go back to the past two years, I have been advocating Prince and Adam Dunn. I was shocked with how much Prince got but I'm usually one of the ones that is screaming to go get a cleanup hitter.

Hamilton just really scares me. I agree that sometimes you have to take a risk, and a lot of times at the end of the contract you are paying more then they are worth. I'm just scared that youa re going to be paying Hamilton more then he is worth way too early.

[Roll Tide]

Some have complained about Nick Markakis' contract but I think he is playing very close to what his contract is paying him, and will be in 2 years when it expires.

That's fair though. He would be correct on most players who are 30-32 when they sign these monster contracts.

Markakis had a couple of years where many on here complained that he was over paid and not producing for what he was being paid. They even called his contract unmovable unless the Orioles ate a large portion. Check the archives as you obviously werent posting here then.

[Brendan25]

Markakis had a couple of years where many on here complained that he was over paid and not producing for what he was being paid. They even called his contract unmovable unless the Orioles ate a large portion. Check the archives as you obviously werent posting here then.

I read it all. Disagreed with it.

[DrungoHazewood]

I think his point is, no ones worth their contract in the end. Extending Matt Wieters, is a popular decisio.. But, most likely by year 4, it will look like a mistake.

What? Of course there are players worth their contracts. Just not many guys signed to long, $100M+ deals after their 30th birthdays, and even fewer who walked into those deals with high risk markers. We'll see if/when Wieters is extended.

So for a clean up hitter walks is what is all about? It doesn't matter that he was 8th in the league is HR or 8th in HR/AB or 15th in slugging pct. We are just worried about walks. OK. Got it.

No. It's about production. And I don't care how many homers you hit, if you have a .290 OBP, limited or negative defensive value, a 5:1 K:BB ratio... it's going to be very difficult to be a productive player. Your outs will be more (negative) value than your power makes up.You can close your eyes and ignore the data, that's the facts.

[Roll Tide]

If you go back to the past two years, I have been advocating Prince and Adam Dunn. I was shocked with how much Prince got but I'm usually one of the ones that is screaming to go get a cleanup hitter.

Hamilton just really scares me. I agree that sometimes you have to take a risk, and a lot of times at the end of the contract you are paying more then they are worth. I'm just scared that youa re going to be paying Hamilton more then he is worth way too early.

A drug relapse would be a big reason as to why... 36 isnt old for a hitter. Put the drug clause in his contract or have a insurance policy written to cover it. Either way its just the economics of baseball. As I said ...go get Swisher & Butler. I think they need to add a free agent and trade for a guy.

Free agent impact guys Hamilton, Swisher ..... Guys I think could be traded Butler, Morneu .... I think its a bad idea to have Reynold, Davis, Thome, and Jones as the meat of your line up again.

[Roll Tide]

I read it all. Disagreed with it.

Markakis signed his deal after 2008 ... his near .897 OPS was his highest. The next two seasons it dropped to .801 & .805 respectively. One could argue thats quite a drop.

[Brendan25]

A drug relapse would be a big reason as to why... 36 isnt old for a hitter. Put the drug clause in his contract or have a insurance policy written to cover it. Either way its just the economics of baseball. As I said ...go get Swisher & Butler. I think they need to add a free agent and trade for a guy.

Free agent impact guys Hamilton, Swisher ..... Guys I think could be traded Butler, Morneu .... I think its a bad idea to have Reynold, Davis, Thome, and Jones as the meat of your line up again.

I think having Jones-Davis as your 3-4 will work next year. And more importantly, we will keep our starting pitching depth that is goign to be VERY vlauable to our team next year.

[Dark Helmet]

What? Of course there are players worth their contracts. Just not many guys signed to long, $100M+ deals after their 30th birthdays, and even fewer who walked into those deals with high risk markers. We'll see if/when Wieters is extended

If signed early enough, your right. But, if a 27 year old becomes a FA, most likely he will want and get 8-10 years, at 20+ mil a year. With the way contracts are backloaded, most likely he wont be worth the 25 mil he will be getting, in years 7-10. Your not going to get many quality ML players under 30, for short, team friendly deals.

[Dark Helmet]

Markakis signed his deal after 2008 ... his near .897 OPS was his highest. The next two seasons it dropped to .801 & .805 respectively. One could argue thats quite a drop.

A lot of people, compared him to Alex Rios, and was ready to place Nick on waivers, in hopes some team would claim him.

[Dark Helmet]

A drug relapse would be a big reason as to why... 36 isnt old for a hitter. Put the drug clause in his contract or have a insurance policy written to cover it. Either way its just the economics of baseball. As I said ...go get Swisher & Butler. I think they need to add a free agent and trade for a guy.

Free agent impact guys Hamilton, Swisher ..... Guys I think could be traded Butler, Morneu .... I think its a bad idea to have Reynold, Davis, Thome, and Jones as the meat of your line up again.

If a player is suspended for violating the substance abuse policy, isnt it suspension without pay? IF, Hamilton violated it, he wouldn't get paid anyhow, right? Or do the teams still have to pay, but the salaries goes into a fund? We would just get stuck losing a 40 man roster spot?