Britton for Wright and $4M

[AgentOrange]

Its hard to say at this point whether this saves money.

Wright would have cost more then $3M/yr but now they have to replace Britton. That will cost. Time will tell.

You must think very highly of Britton. To me he was nothing special. I didn't think he had enough to be a top tier reliever. That is just viewing him through my eyes.

So don't throw crazy stats at me to try and prove me wrong, I don't care. I am just saying that my gut reaction to this trade is that it is a smart move because I see this as a building block for things to come.

[wildcard]

I totally disagree with this and think it was a good deal, but for a dissenting opinion:

A terrible move for an organization that still has to be considered one of the worst run in baseball. Britton, whom the Orioles were never especially fond of in part because of his conditioninign issues, had a 3.35 ERA in 53 2/3 innings as a rookie and he's under control for six more years. Wright, on the other hand, is under control by the Yankees for one more day. After that, he'd become a free agent, at which point the Orioles very likely could have signed him for right around the $3 million they're set to spend. Oh yeah, and he's not any good at all. Forget salaries and service time: we'd take Britton over him for 2007 alone.

They are a little harsh in the way they express it, but this is close to way I think, without the insults.

[wildcard]

You must think very highly of Britton. To me he was nothing special. I didn't think he had enough to be a top tier reliever. That is just viewing him through my eyes.

So don't throw crazy stats at me to try and prove me wrong, I don't care. I am just saying that my gut reaction to this trade is that it is a smart move because I see this as a building block for things to come.

I agree that it frees up RLo for trade. And that is important. But the same would been true if they signed Wright as a FA.

I think Britton is a young guy with a good arm. He was a piece of the bullpen puzzle for 2007 that seem to fit. Not the closer, or the setup guy but a good young reliever that needed to go to Camp Leo and learn another pitch.

What he would have come to with the O's and now with the Yankees is under the category of potential. This is 5 years of potential I don't think the O's needed to give up.

Wait a few days and sign Wright as FA and kept Britton would be a better move IMO.

[GlennGulliver]

They are a little harsh in the way they express it, but this is close to way I think, without the insults.

I guess it boils down to what you think Wright could earn as an FA. I think with his strong finish and this overheated market he could have earned 2years/10 million minimum.

[bigbird]

I like this move. Some team would have given Wright a multi year deal. We get an ok starter for around $2.5 million. If he can produce under Mazzone again we got a steal.

[wildcard]

I guess it boils down to what you think Wright could earn as an FA. I think with his strong finish and this overheated market he could have earned 2years/10 million minimum.

I agree. $5M/yr. The O's will pay $3M for him for 2007. And now they need to replace Britton as a reliever. That could cost $2M+ per year.

That still leaves the 5 years of contract control for Britton that they gave up.

[Jules]

Can you give us some numbers towards that prediction?

BTW, Wright better have his second best season ever to make this deal look decent. He's only here for one year guaranteed so it better be one heck of a year.

So what is one heck of a year? He had a 4.49 ERA last year and wasn't completely healthy. Would 175IP and a 4.25 ERA qualify? I think that would be outstanding considering he is back with Mazzone.

[RustyMcNail]

Any time you can get a decent starting pitcher for a middle relief guy you don't consider a prospect you pull the trigger. Stockpiling pitchers allows us to seek a trade for offense. Everybody needs pitching. Good move.

[wildcard]

I would think Wright would project at:

10-7, 130 IP, 24 Starts, 4.43 ERA

[GlennGulliver]

I agree. $5M/yr. The O's will pay $3M for him for 2007. And now they need to replace Britton as a reliever. That could cost $2M+ per year.

That still leaves the 5 years of contract control for Britton that they gave up.

The O's were going to have to shell out $2M+ for a reliever anyway, even if they hadn't made this deal. You could also look at it as now they have room to carry a rookie reliever that will make the same as Britton and hopefully approximate Britton's performance... Britton came out of nowhere to be effective in 2006 and perhaps someone in-house can do that as well next year.

[wildcard]

Well, that's better than his career ERA of 5.07.

Agreed. Look at his last three year. I always believe that what happened 5 years ago has little to do with projecting forward.

[bigbird]

So let any team dumb enough to give him a multi year, do it. If you like Wright so much and think Mazzone can get him back to two years ago, then why would you be worried about a multi year contract for something like 2/10, which is about the most that I could imagine anyone giving him? This is almost a lose/lose situation. If Wright sucks, we lost a serviceable and cheap reliever. If Wright is any good, we'll have to overpay to keep him and his fragile arm next year. Don't like it. It's a longshot to work out for this year and a very, very longshot to work out anytime after this year.

First I think we'll have a couple guys ready for the show in 2008 (Penn and Olsen) who will produce better. Second, we'll get a lot more at the deadline than Chris Britton. We traded a young hit or miss reliever and don't have to offer a mid lever free agent a multi year deal. I look at it as a win/win situation.

[wildcard]

The O's were going to have to shell out $2M+ for a reliever anyway, even if they hadn't made this deal. You could also look at it as now they have room to carry a rookie reliever that will make the same as Britton and hopefully approximate Britton's performance... Britton came out of nowhere to be effective in 2006 and perhaps someone in-house can do that as well next year.

The O's have the 2nd worst pitching staff in baseball. They need to improve it.

The O's pen probably needed to add three relievers to Ray, Britton, Burres and Penn.

Now they need to add 4 relievers.

Relying of rookies who are not ready for the majors is how the O's posted a 5.35 ERA.

[orioles119]

At first glance, what hurt the most was giving up Britton. In the end, though, Britton was streaky at times despite his okay numbers at the end of the season. Maybe there is some magic left in Wright when paired with Mazzone. We'll see about that. Wright does give the O's the flexibility to trade others for an impact bat. This move didn't hurt the rotation as it currently sits and give the O's another option in pitching.

Plus, I don't mind that Wright's contract is expiring. At least the O's aren't on the hook for the entire $ 7 M.

[GlennGulliver]

This is almost a lose/lose situation. If Wright sucks, we lost a serviceable and cheap reliever. If Wright is any good, we'll have to overpay to keep him and his fragile arm next year.

Don't understand this - we are under no obligation to overpay Wright in 2008, he'll be an FA at the end of 2007. Quite the opposite, if he's any good, he'd be excellent deadline trade bait at his salary if he didn't fit into our long-term plans.