Would you have wanted the Orioles to spend 5/$125 on Josh Hamilton?

[Elbren]

Except when he signed Belle and the Orioles had the highest payroll in 1998. I love how much of a troll you become when you aren't posting Twitter responses.

To be fair:

- that was 14 years ago

- there were only 6 players on the team making over $5 Mil.

- looking at BB-R, our highest paid player that year was Moose at almost $6.8 Mil.

- Moose and Drabek were the only SP's making over $5 Mil.

- we had 7 players making between $1 - 2 Mil. 2 were everyday players (Baines & Surhoff), 1 was a SP (Drabek), 1 was our Closer (Benitez) and 2 more were important parts of the bullpen (Mills and Orosco)

- going off of BB-R, our team salary for that year was below $75 Mil.

- Belle's first year with the O's was 1999.

It's a bit disingenuous to point that far back in suggesting this team doesn't mind spending on FA's. After Belle, the only "major" FA's this team has spent on was the year we brought in Tejada, J. Lopez, and brought back Palmeiro and Ponson. To me, even that has to be taken with a grain of salt considering it was a down year in free agency where seemingly no one was spending on free agents.

I voted no, but I had to think about it.

It's not so much the money, it's just one year too long for me.

I would have done the years (5 was the max for me), I would have done $25 Mil. per ... but ultimately, I voted No because there's no way I give him both.

It's not the fact that we didn't sign him that bothers me. It's the fact that we're almost never in the conversation.

We (and more importantly, ownership) need to realize that there is no 'perfect FA'. Whether it's age, future health/weight concerns, current health concerns, attitude problems, etc. They're all going to have some kind of rust dimming their shiny, new finish. We can preach all we want about developing our own talent, but even if our system does produce a Hamilton/Pujols/Teixeira/M. Cabrera, it still doesn't change the fact that, in the end, you're going to have to pay them. It's great seeing guys like Adam Jones sign less-than-market deals, but you can't seriously expect every player we develop to do that. Especially when we have a long history that shows that, even if they do sign a team-friendly deal, there's little-to-no chance that ownership is going to support them by trading for/signing players of equal talent. It's why players have, and will continue to, sign with the Yankee's/ Red Sox/ Phillies/Dodger's/Angel's of the world. You sign with a team like that, you're going to be surrounded by a lot of other talented players. You sign with a team like Baltimore/Pitt./Kansas City, you are now 'The Man' and all of the weights on you.

No, I don't think Hamilton was a must-have signing for this team. But I do think he's yet another good player, that fit several of our team needs, that the FO/ownership let go by us without a second thought.

[Malike]

I voted no, of course. There is a sadistic part of me that would have loved to have seen them give him this deal, and then have Hamilton underperform like crazy, just so people here could see how devastating it would be to have 20M+ a year on a sunk player, and how it would literally cripple this franchise. Maybe then, all the nonsense about spending with the LA/NY/BOS/PHI crowds would stop.

[sangar]

Would Hamilton's bat have made a difference last year? I'll bet it would have made a significant difference. The Orioles are real close, a bat like this could push us over the last step.

[Malike]

Would Hamilton's bat have made a difference last year? I'll bet it would have made a significant difference. The Orioles are real close, a bat like this could push us over the last step.

Texas had that bat last year, its all about the pitching. Would he have helped? I don't know, but what did he do for TEX in the playoffs, other than get booed out of the stadium for doing pretty much nothing at all?

[SteveO]

Texas had that bat last year, its all about the pitching. Would he have helped? I don't know, but what did he do for TEX in the playoffs, other than get booed out of the stadium for doing pretty much nothing at all?

Seriously......it was a one game playoff. Even Babe Ruth had bad games.

That said Hamilton did very little to help them stave off the A's and prevent them from having to play that one game playoff

I can honestly say that anyone who thinks a guy who hit 40+ HR would not have helped this team is just delusional. Hamilton vrs Lew Ford/Pearce and McLouth....come on man...thats a no brainer if the money is not an issue.

Hamilton is a good get for the Angels. He should not only help them via his own numbers, but he should also provide some legit protection for Pujols. Now if their pitching is decent that is gonna be a tough team.

[NJOsFan]

I answered no. I dont think it wouldve been wise to dump that kind of money into a player who has as many question marks attached to him as Hamilton. Would it be awesome to see him hitting 4 home runs in a game at The Yards while sporting the orange and black? Sure it would. I just think that contract has a better chance of failing to live up to itself than it does working out for the better.

My big concern is that the management/ownership is declining to spend for higher profile players only for the sake of saving money. It's one thing to pass on a player you're not certain is a right fit, or one that you feel won't hold up their end of the bargain. If you're just passing on these guys solely to make the rich a little richer while failing to improve the team's chances of winning, that's a tough pill to swallow as a fan.

As of right now, I will reserve judgement on the management's handling of the offseason. It's been said many times before, but I believe DD has earned himself some leeway.

[Malike]

Seriously......it was a one game playoff. Even Babe Ruth had bad games.

That said Hamilton did very little to help them stave off the A's and prevent them from having to play that one game playoff

I can honestly say that anyone who thinks a guy who hit 40+ HR would not have helped this team is just delusional. Hamilton vrs Lew Ford/Pearce and McLouth....come on man...thats a no brainer if the money is not an issue.

Hamilton is a good get for the Angels. He should not only help them via his own numbers, but he should also provide some legit protection for Pujols. Now if their pitching is decent that is gonna be a tough team.

I think its delusional to assume that over the course of a 5 game series, you can assume that he would have propelled the team to the ALCS. Hamilton, as we all have seen, is prone to long slumps. You can't assume that he would have put the team on his back in the NY series, because he pretty much as you stated, did nothing to help keep his teams head above water down the stretch. He was in a pretty bad funk, too much caffiene or something made his eyes blurry, or some such.

[DrinkinWithFermi]

Seriously......it was a one game playoff. Even Babe Ruth had bad games.

That said Hamilton did very little to help them stave off the A's and prevent them from having to play that one game playoff

I can honestly say that anyone who thinks a guy who hit 40+ HR would not have helped this team is just delusional. Hamilton vrs Lew Ford/Pearce and McLouth....come on man...thats a no brainer if the money is not an issue.

Hamilton is a good get for the Angels. He should not only help them via his own numbers, but he should also provide some legit protection for Pujols. Now if their pitching is decent that is gonna be a tough team.

But would he be healthy enough to help us? He only played in 75.8% of his games during his age 26-31 seasons, and missed 40 or more games 3 times in 6 years.

And now he's heading into what are generally a player's declining years when their body typically begins to break down...

[sangar]

I think its delusional to assume that over the course of a 5 game series, you can assume that he would have propelled the team to the ALCS. Hamilton, as we all have seen, is prone to long slumps. You can't assume that he would have put the team on his back in the NY series, because he pretty much as you stated, did nothing to help keep his teams head above water down the stretch. He was in a pretty bad funk, too much caffiene or something made his eyes blurry, or some such.

I think it is delusional to assume that he would fail every time he is in the playoffs. Hamilton would not have needed to "put the team on his back in the NY series." If you remember, we nearly won as it was. Having an elite bat in our lineup may have been the difference.

[Malike]

I think it is delusional to assume that he would fail every time he is in the playoffs. Hamilton would not have needed to "put the team on his back in the NY series." If you remember, we nearly won as it was. Having an elite bat in our lineup may have been the difference.

Sure, it may have. But that is pure and utter speculation, and nothing more. Neither of us can say definitively that it would made one bit of difference. Besides, we had no chance at Hamilton last year, so I'm not sure why that is even being discussed. What he would do for us for the next five years is what we should be speculating, and at 125M dollars, I am of the opinion, not enough.

[Slappy]

A lot of money, big bust potential. Man, those LA teams are really tossing some cash around.

[MikeAD]

This is a really good time to do something like this but I am not sure Hamilton right now is that player, even if the time is right. 5 years is too much (although way better than 6-10 years).

Putting a big name FA in LF when you have Jones and Markakis in CF/RF for years to come, Machado, Schoop (soon), Hardy, Wieters, and Davis in the infield a long with them sounds really great to me. Add in anything you get if you decide to move Hardy and push Manny over to SS and it could get even better.

I said yes, but end of the day I think this is a deal we don't mind passing on. Different player, different age, you pull the trigger.

[SteveO]

I think its delusional to assume that over the course of a 5 game series, you can assume that he would have propelled the team to the ALCS. Hamilton, as we all have seen, is prone to long slumps. You can't assume that he would have put the team on his back in the NY series, because he pretty much as you stated, did nothing to help keep his teams head above water down the stretch. He was in a pretty bad funk, too much caffiene or something made his eyes blurry, or some such.

For the record I did vote no also. I would not have given him 5/125.

That said you cannot assume he would have propelled the team to the ALCS...you are right. That said he is one of the best hitter in baseball period. The numbers bear that out. Having him in your lineup ensures nothing but does increase the odds of a player who can make a difference over say....Lew Ford or Jim Thome (now). Following your logic you could just simply put out any 9 players and would not matter.

Good players increase the odds your going to win. Hamilton regardless how you may feel about him is one of the best hitters in the game period. Having him in your lineup helps your team. In fairness to Hamilton its not like Nelson Cruz, Andrus, Beltre etc did a lot to help stop that slide either.

[mark_beckens]

Of course I'd like them to sign him. But 25 million on a payroll <100 million just isn't going to work.

[$Greatness$]

Yes! Because I want to win a championship and he helps me get closer.

You play to win the game. HELLO! YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!