Saunders to the Mariners

[TonySoprano]

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal

Source: Saunders one-year deal with #Mariners is for $6.5M. Can earn additional $1M in incentives. Mutual option for ?14.

I don't buy the rumor that we had an offer on the table, not at that price.

[Crazysilver03]

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal

Source: Saunders one-year deal with #Mariners is for $6.5M. Can earn additional $1M in incentives. Mutual option for ?14.

I don't buy the rumor that we had an offer on the table, not at that price.

Agreed. Even those of us that didn't really want Saunders were comfortable with this kind of deal.

[24fps]

I think Duq is being conservative with the budget because he wants to save some money for a deadline addition in case we are in contention. Saunders is likely redundant and who knows what our needs will be in August. Maybe we can pick up a big bat salary dump.

This is the only thing that makes sense to me about Saunders and the whole offseason for that matter.

[Can_of_corn]

This is the only thing that makes sense to me about Saunders and the whole offseason for that matter.

If the O's are still in contention at the deadline they will have buckets of money from increased attendance.

[notyourbuddy]

Yep, got to save save save for our massive midseason acquisition. :rolleyestf:

I'd love to believe this is some grand plan to save now and spend later, but everything the O's have done in the last God knows how long points to this being just another save now save later roundabout.

I'd say last year seems pretty indicative of what we can expect should we find ourselves in contention again. First playoff push in forever, holes in need of filling, and we take the cheapest route possible. What did half a season of Saunders, Thome, and Wolf end up costing us... ~1-2$M?

[24fps]

Ahhh...but at least we didn't do anything stupid. We've got that to keep us all warm and comfy.

[section18]

Michael Bourn or Kyle Lohse? One of them will become an Oriole........two will be a longshot.

[isestrex]

Michael Bourn or Kyle Lohse? One of them will become an Oriole........two will be a longshot.

I wish we still had sigs so I could quote this and laugh at you in April

[sangar]

If the O's are still in contention at the deadline they will have buckets of money from increased attendance.

Oh yeah, I had forgotten about all of those buckets of extra cash we had from last season's attendance increase. All I am saying is if Duquette was given a hard spending cap, his thoughts might be on not spending it all now. He seems to like having flexibility.

[Crazysilver03]

I wish we still had sigs so I could quote this and laugh at you in April

Yeah, definitely. This guy swore up and down we were going to trade for Dickey, among other things. I don't know what makes someone think that will happen.

[Can_of_corn]

Oh yeah, I had forgotten about all of those buckets of extra cash we had from last season's attendance increase. All I am saying is if Duquette was given a hard spending cap, his thoughts might be on not spending it all now. He seems to like having flexibility.

As much as I think the O's could support a higher payroll then they have I have never heard anything that would make me think a spending cap would preclude the O's adding talent late in the year if they were contending.

[sangar]

As much as I think the O's could support a higher payroll then they have I have never heard anything that would make me think a spending cap would preclude the O's adding talent late in the year if they were contending.

I'm thinking of all the roster manipulation that Duq generated last year with little to no budget flexibility and how much more creative he could have been with 6 to 8 million to play with. I have no reason to think these are his thoughts as well, other than projecting my frustration with what appeared to be restrictions. If he had budget flexibility last season, his roster management would likely have been more pronounced.

[Can_of_corn]

I'm thinking of all the roster manipulation that Duq generated last year with little to no budget flexibility and how much more creative he could have been with 6 to 8 million to play with. I have no reason to think these are his thoughts as well, other than projecting my frustration with what appeared to be restrictions. If he had budget flexibility last season, his roster management would likely have been more pronounced.

You could be right. I personally think it had more to do with him being unwilling to pay the price in players rather then the price in dollars.

[sangar]

You could be right. I personally think it had more to do with him being unwilling to pay the price in players rather then the price in dollars.

I'm sure that played at least a small part in his acquisitions, likely more, but salary dumps usually require minimal compensation.

[TonySoprano]

Was it really going to be a challenge to offer him the $6.5M that he accepted from Seattle? Really? The bottom line is we decided to go after cheaper options (McFarland).

Left-hander Joe Saunders agreed to terms last week on a one-year deal with the Seattle Mariners. I asked Duquette whether the Orioles made Saunders an offer and if it remained on the table as the veteran decided on a team.

"I knew it was going to be a challenge to re-sign Joe Saunders, and that's one of the reasons we drafted T.J. McFarland, to have another left-handed starting pitcher, a potential left-handed starting pitcher in camp," Duquette said.

"Joe did a great job for us - stabilized the team, won some games for us down the stretch, made us very competitive in the playoffs. He won that big game in Texas, especially, to get us to New York, so I really appreciate the work he did for us, and I want to wish him a lot of good luck. But I knew it was going to be a challenge to fit him into our mix for the season."

I'm still not clear whether that offer was on the table at the end.

source - Roch