Notes from the Post!

[fansince71]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/30/AR2006103000995.html

[fansince71]

More from the Post- The Baltimore Orioles, according to a team source, began preliminary discussions with Washington Nationals left fielder Alfonso Soriano , and were floored by the free agent's initial contract outline.

According to the source, Soriano is seeking a deal similar to the seven-year, $119 million deal given to center fielder Carlos Beltran by the New York Mets before the 2005 season. It's unlikely the Orioles will be in the running for Soriano if he doesn't back off those demands. Teams can start bidding on free agents on Nov. 12.

[JTrea81]

So we are "interested" in Sheffield and Floyd is interested in us, Benson is leaning toward staying with the O's provided they do something this offseason and the O's will keep Lopez barring a trade. The interest in Floyd would hopefully only be as a platoon/ part time DH player. It seems the O's have been interested in Floyd for awhile and now surprise surprise now that he is older and declining and had offseason surgery, he is interested in them...

More from the Post- The Baltimore Orioles, according to a team source, began preliminary discussions with Washington Nationals left fielder Alfonso Soriano , and were floored by the free agent's initial contract outline.

According to the source, Soriano is seeking a deal similar to the seven-year, $119 million deal given to center fielder Carlos Beltran by the New York Mets before the 2005 season. It's unlikely the Orioles will be in the running for Soriano if he doesn't back off those demands. Teams can start bidding on free agents on Nov. 12.

I think he'll actually get close to that, so a platoon in LF for a few years just makes sense at this point. Go after a big time bat for 1B and get a solid platoon in LF. Forget about Soriano and his demands. It's good to see the O's after Soriano this quickly though, quite a encouraging sign that they are going to be at least somewhat agressive this offseason.

[PeteCanes]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/30/AR2006103000995.html

Thanks for the link!

[fansince71]

Some more from ESPN Prediction: There will be more smoke over the winter, but not a fire. Rodriguez won't go anywhere. However, at least two other stars with American League East teams will. Look for Baltimore to finally deal Miguel Tejada and Boston to find a taker for Manny Ramirez, even if it has to pay some of the salary to move him.

[inmiggywetrust]

Where does it say the thing about Soriano? And I believe we cannot negotiate with him until the filing period is over.

I would add Floyd as a dh and Lee or Ramirez as the big bat.

[giantfan]

More from the Post-

According to the source, Soriano is seeking a deal similar to the seven-year, $119 million deal given to center fielder Carlos Beltran by the New York Mets before the 2005 season. It's unlikely the Orioles will be in the running for Soriano if he doesn't back off those demands. Teams can start bidding on free agents on Nov. 12.

I can see Anaheim doing that, oh well back to the drawing board

[JTrea81]

Where does it say the thing about Soriano? And I believe we cannot negotiate with him until the filing period is over.

I would add Floyd as a dh and Lee or Ramirez as the big bat.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/30/AR2006103000899.html

I believe teams can discuss preliminary terms but figures cannot be exchanged until the Nov. 11th deadline to file.

[Rockbird]

More from the Post- The Baltimore Orioles, according to a team source, began preliminary discussions with... and were floored by the free agent's initial contract outline.

This quote could have been from any of the past 3 or 4 offseasons.

[nadecir]

Seven years for $119 million? Couldn't we just offer Soriano a 33% interest in ownership of the team instead? Forbes' values the Orioles at $359 million, so one-third ownership sounds about right to me.

I think Frobby is right, free-agent contracts will be outrageous this offseason. Although Soriano won't get $119 million for seven years, it would surprise me to see him get something close to Beltan. It'd be insanity for the Orioles to sign him at anything close to this.

[CharmCityCrab]

Honestly, this is one time I agree with the Orioles officials who are floored by a free agents salary request. Soriano will not be able to duplicate his statistics from last year. It was a career year. A seven year contract for $119 ($17,000,000 a year through 2013, if my math is correct!) would be an albatross for whatever team signs him. Let the Yankees do it. They'll regret it in the morning.

This guy will be lucky to hit 30-35 HRs next year and his numbers are going to start to decline thereafter as well. By the end of that contract, I don't see him as being productive at all. Sure, I'd like a player of his caliber, but not at anything near that salary and not at anything near that length of time. Signing Soriano to a contract like that would doom the Orioles to non-contention for years to come.

[orioles119]

Since when did Soriano have Boras for an agent? Far as I can tell, he's got Borat as an agent.

"Longball excite me much!"

[mikezpen]

Mildly encouraging. Benson's wondering if they w/try to assemble a winning team. You'll note that Burrell says the same thing. The rumors are interesting. At least they mention players w/more talent than the duds they signed or tried to sign last winter. I think the sticker shock on some of the better FA's could soon have the Orioles offering the usual excuses about their limited economics and the terrible salaries. But at least the article doesn't say we're looking at Jeff Conine again-not yet.

[Boston Dave]

Since when did Soriano have Boras for an agent? Far as I can tell, he's got Borat as an agent.

"Longball excite me much!"

How does this fit? Not sure, but I still chuckled.

7:30a, first laugh of the day. Rep points.

[SoBo]

7/119 is a silly number but you can bet he lands somewhere in the neighborhood of 6/100. After reading Buster Olney's description of the new CBA agreement in which the new threshold for the luxury tax at $148mm and growing to I believe $178mm by 2010, it's not at all a shocker to see Soriano ask for a Beltran like deal. Olney stated that the deals for Ryan and Burnett last year that we all thought were crazy are going to seem reasonable under the new CBA. And as unreal as Soriano's demands seem, I have a feeling we're all going to be blown away by the money it's going to take to sign one of these big name FA's.

As another poster already stated, it is at least a good sign to see us being aggressive and not "waiting for the market to set itself." With Soriano already pricing himself out of the O's range. I think you will see us be aggressive with Carlos Lee or Aramis Ramirez.

It's gonna be a REALLY interesting off-season...