I think Dan Duquette has done a great job, but...

[GoldGlove21]

I was on www.mlbtraderumors.com and saw the following quote by Duquette regarding the international market:

"We're working all the markets. Teams have different strategies to acquire talent. Our strategy is to sign good players and look for value in the market and that is what our scouts are doing,"

I am not sure how to take that quote, but the part about teams having different strategies to acquire talent makes me think. There is really only a few ways to acquire talent (trade, rule V, free agency, international prospects and the ML draft) and the Orioles haven't done much in free agency or the international market and the rule V usually doesn't work out for most teams. We have spent some money on the draft, but a lot of teams do the same. Should I read the quote as, "we like the international market, but we are not giving big deals to unproven talent"? If so, the Orioles are missing a good opportunity to boost the minor league system which could lead to a little extra leverage with some of your own upcoming free agents or the ability to actually get a guy like Cliff Lee if the opportunity presents itself.

What are your thoughts?

[foxfield]

I was on www.mlbtraderumors.com and saw the following quote by Duquette regarding the international market:

"We're working all the markets. Teams have different strategies to acquire talent. Our strategy is to sign good players and look for value in the market and that is what our scouts are doing,"

I am not sure how to take that quote, but the part about teams having different strategies to acquire talent makes me think. There is really only a few ways to acquire talent (trade, rule V, free agency, international prospects and the ML draft) and the Orioles haven't done much in free agency or the international market and the rule V usually doesn't work out for most teams. We have spent some money on the draft, but a lot of teams do the same. Should I read the quote as, "we like the international market, but we are not giving big deals to unproven talent"? If so, the Orioles are missing a good opportunity to boost the minor league system which could lead to a little extra leverage with some of your own upcoming free agents or the ability to actually get a guy like Cliff Lee if the opportunity presents itself.

What are your thoughts?

[sarcasm]If you do not know what is being said here I don't know what to say...clearly what DD means is this: If we had an owner that would allow us to spend more than $139.47 then we might be able to sign a piece of crap talent that may actually help us win a dad gone pennant. Until that happens he expects me to trade Brob for Justin Verlander and Prince Fielder and even the nutjobs on Oriole Hangout don't have that kind of expectation.[sarcasm]

[weams]

"The two teams in the Dominican give us the opportunity to take a look at more players in one season. The idea is that from quantity will come quality. That is the idea," Duquette said.

"We had plenty of players in the Dominican and by entering two teams into the schedule it just gives us an opportunity to play them more regularly.

"We are making good progress in the international markets, not just in the Dominican but some of the other kids we are signing from other countries in Latin America."

http://www.masnsports.com/steve_melewski/2013/07/dan-duquette-talks-about-the-orioles-international-efforts-1.html

[tntoriole]

Weren't Chen, Wada, M Gonzalez, Urrutia "international" free agents? Or am I missing something?

[Can_of_corn]

He has been busy trading away surplus International Pool money.

Pretty obvious that he isn't being given a large budget.

[sfosfan]

DD is simply doing what any good buyer does. That's not the case with everyone else in baseball so DD said the polite thing.

[Can_of_corn]

DD is simply doing what any good buyer does. That's not the case with everyone else in baseball so DD said the polite thing.

I disagree.

If you have the means you are generally better off buying quality merchandise.

[Brooks The Great]

Yes. Urruita was signed for 775K. We weren't serious players for Puig, Cespedes, or Chapman, players where competition by other teams was actually present and where it took big contracts to sign them. We signed Wada and Chen, and were not players for Darvish, the big money guy. That is what Duquette is saying. We are looking for "value".

The problem, of course, is that every single other foreign player you mentioned is providing great value for their contracts, even though they were signed for big money. We're only looking for value on the cheap, and that's a strategy that will limit us and put us at a disadvantage.

[Redskins Rick]

He has been busy trading away surplus International Pool money.

Pretty obvious that he isn't being given a large budget.

Pretty obvious to most of us that have been following the team, there hasn't been big money spent on any single person, since Albert Belle.

[Can_of_corn]

Pretty obvious to most of us that have been following the team, there hasn't been big money spent on any single person, since Albert Belle.

Tejada (6/72) counts as big money in my book.

[pollaxt]

Pretty obvious to most of us that have been following the team, there hasn't been big money spent on any single person, since Albert Belle.

Tejada. Markakis. Jones.

[Redskins Rick]

Tejada. Markakis. Jones.

Wasn't there several years between these contracts, and if I remember that 65 million for Belle was top dollar then.

Wasn't 275 million for A-Rod, the big money standard.

I agree that 72 is a dang big amount of money in my book, but compared to market value of others.

[Tony-OH]

On the bright side, this was an organization that wouldn't spend over $25,000 on a player up until about 3-5 years ago. McPhail was able to get that ceiling broken a bit and Duquette was able to get guys like Chen, Wada, and Urrutia to deals so there is some improvement. Saying that, it's doubtful the Orioles will be in the market for the million dollar plus international players that have not played in a major league or competition (Japan or international competition).

There is a valid argument that a lot of international players, especially from the Dominican are over paid by some teams. A quick look through the BA Baseball Prospect book over the years will show prospect lists littered with million dollar Dominican bonus babies that never made it out of AA. Of course we can say the same thing about the 1st round of the Amateur draft as well. Players like Schoop (Curacao) and Rodriguez (Venezuela) were not huge money signings yet they are among the organization's best prospects.

That's why Duquette said it's better to scout smarter than just throw money around.

[Can_of_corn]

Wasn't there several years between these contracts, and if I remember that 65 million for Belle was top dollar then.

Wasn't 275 million for A-Rod, the big money standard.

I agree that 72 is a dang big amount of money in my book, but compared to market value of others.

Tejada was one of the font line free agents that year. So was Vlad and by all accounts PA was prepared to pay him a large sum of money as well. Vlad's issues with Baltimore's offer were not monetary in nature.

[Can_of_corn]

On the bright side, this was an organization that wouldn't spend over $25,000 on a player up until about 3-5 years ago. McPhail was able to get that ceiling broken a bit and Duquette was able to get guys like Chen, Wada, and Urrutia to deals so there is some improvement. Saying that, it's doubtful the Orioles will be in the market for the million dollar plus international players that have not played in a major league or competition (Japan or international competition).

There is a valid argument that a lot of international players, especially from the Dominican are over paid by some teams. A quick look through the BA Baseball Prospect book over the years will show prospect lists littered with million dollar Dominican bonus babies that never made it out of AA. Of course we can say the same thing about the 1st round of the Amateur draft as well. Players like Schoop (Curacao) and Rodriguez (Venezuela) were not huge money signings yet they are among the organization's best prospects.

That's why Duquette said it's better to scout smarter than just throw money around.

It is even better to scout smarter AND throw money around.