Ask Dan Duquette

[Redskins Rick]

You can't specifically pin point players and say that's why it's a bad idea to get into a bidding war. I guarantee you Cano's performance next year will be great.

really?

Pujols was the best player in MLB, and look how he has fallen.

[El Gordo]

You can't specifically pin point players and say that's why it's a bad idea to get into a bidding war. I guarantee you Cano's performance next year will be great.

We could have posted for Darvish, we could have been in on Cespedis, or Puig, but we didn't. We could be in on Abreu and Tanaka but we won't be.

[Can_of_corn]

We could have posted for Darvish, we could have been in on Cespedis, or Puig, but we didn't. We could be in on Abreu and Tanaka but we won't be.

That is what irks me. Not that they don't win, but that they apparently don't even try.

I guess if team managed to post an undersized Korean High Schooler then the O's would be all over it.

[CA-ORIOLE]

We could have posted for Darvish, we could have been in on Cespedes, or Puig, but we didn't. We could be in on Abreu and Tanaka but we won't be.

Yeah, I think these are the types of things that irk me a bit as well. I have no issue with taking TJ McFarland (and keeping him in the roster this year).

[DrungoHazewood]

That is what irks me. Not that they don't win, but that they apparently don't even try.

I guess if team managed to post an undersized Korean High Schooler then the O's would be all over it.

Didn't they win Chen and Uehara and Urrutia? They'll try, but only if it's not someone who is regarded as a top player.

[Can_of_corn]

Didn't they win Chen and Uehara and Urrutia? They'll try, but only if it's not someone who is regarded as a top player.

Those players did not go through the posting process.

[Redskins Rick]

We could have posted for Darvish, we could have been in on Cespedis, or Puig, but we didn't. We could be in on Abreu and Tanaka but we won't be.

You were okay with the insane amount of money thrown at Puig? An unproven talent at the big league level?

[Three Run Homer]

Roy, pretty hard to say Koji would have made our season, who knows, maybe he pulls his hammy or quad and he spends 2 months on the DL? Baseball is a fickle thing.

He could have...but he didn't. Koji's 2013 performance would have the O's in the playoffs had it occured in an Orioles uniform instead of a Red Sox uniform.

[DrungoHazewood]

Those players did not go through the posting process.

Most posted players are among the better players in Japan, automatically subject to some kind of bidding war, and out of the Orioles' price range.

[FlipCup]

You were okay with the insane amount of money thrown at Puig? An unproven talent at the big league level?

Yes. I wouldn't say unproven either. In America, perhaps.

[DrungoHazewood]

You were okay with the insane amount of money thrown at Puig? An unproven talent at the big league level?

If you made everyone a free agent tomorrow the lion's share of the money would go to young players, many of whom haven't established themselves in the majors yet.

And how is a 7/42 deal "insane"? Juan Pierre has had larger contracts. 4th starters regularly get deals in that neighborhood. Even if Puig fell off the face of the earth tomorrow no MLB team would be hamstrung having to eat $6M a year. Heck, the O's once paid Danys Baez a similar per-year amount, to be the 4th guy out of a 5th-place team's bullpen.

[DrungoHazewood]

He could have...but he didn't. Koji's 2013 performance would have the O's in the playoffs had it occured in an Orioles uniform instead of a Red Sox uniform.

20/20 hindsight always works out. There are probably dozens of players the O's could have acquired on the cheap who'd have substantially pushed them to the playoffs. But if I was a betting man I wouldn't have put money on a 38-year-old reliever coming off a 35-inning season being the thing that pushed the O's and their great 2012 bullpen to the playoffs in '13.

[Can_of_corn]

20/20 hindsight always works out. There are probably dozens of players the O's could have acquired on the cheap who'd have substantially pushed them to the playoffs. But if I was a betting man I wouldn't have put money on a 38-year-old reliever coming off a 35-inning season being the thing that pushed the O's and their great 2012 bullpen to the playoffs in '13.

That bet would have paid off handsomely.

[Redskins Rick]

Yes. I wouldn't say unproven either. In America, perhaps.

Not trying to sound elitist, but sorry, the rest of the world has not caught up to the level of the MLB.

[El Gordo]

You were okay with the insane amount of money thrown at Puig? An unproven talent at the big league level?

Given what we've seen so far, you have to think the scouts were very excited. I don't think 6M a year is anywhere near insane. And if you want to get to the WS you have to take gambles. Puig was not a big gamble, IMO.