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Orioles deal with Grant Balfour Cancelled

Greg

By Greg
in Orioles Talk

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russ snyder Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

russ snyder

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As a few other people have pointed out, the biggest problem with the Balfour deal falling through (if it does) is that the O's seem likely to turn around and waste money on an inferior "experienced closer" like Perez or Rodney. So if you hated the Balfour signing because you don't like spending money on closers, well, this probably isn't going to get the Orioles off the hook -- they seem determined to spend money on a closer no matter what.

If the O's don't sign Balfour, I think they should just use an in-house option as closer (Webb or Hunter) and spend their extra money on a more important resource like a starting pitcher or LF/DH. But for whatever reason, the O's seem insistent on signing a closer. And if so, I'd much rather it be Balfour than anyone else.

I hope that the Orioles are able to work this out with Balfour. However, if it does not, I hope that they don't throw 4 or 5 million dollars at guys like Rodney or Perez.

I agree that the in house options would be a better use of resources than sigging a guy like the two listed above.

The reason for their insistance may be the perception that they need to replace Johnson, the guy who saved 100 games the last two years.

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CaptainRedbeard All-Star

CaptainRedbeard

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I greatly dislike Rodney's antics and he is certainly a headache to have as a reliever, but there's a solid argument for him to be made as being a very effective reliever, possibly even more effective than Balfour.

Last year, he posted a 2.84 FIP with a 7.1% HR/FB rate. Relievers with his kind of gas (96+ mph) can suppress homers so that's not unreasonable to expect as a repeat in that area (career 8.5% HR/FB). He also gets alot of ground balls, which plays well for our team/ballpark, the opposite of Balfour.

Balfour obviously has a stellar track record and is a year younger than Rodney, while Rodney has one out-of-this-world season in 2012 and an extremely mediocre/frustrating career before that.

Overall, Rodney on 1/7 is probably a better deal that Balfour on 2/15, even if Balfour's shoulder was not an issue. I'd much rather watch Balfour as the closer, but in terms of value, if his deal falls through and we end up with Rodney for one year, that would not be the end of the world.

However, if we end up with Rodney for two years, that would be really bad, and if we end up with Perez for any years, that would be a disaster. Perez isn't even worth maybe one marble and should be far, far away from the 9th inning on whatever team he plays for. So fingers crossed.

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hoosiers Hangout Grand Counsel

hoosiers

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By the way, I'm sure the insurers (1) don't agree to issue a policy until they've seen the results of a physical, and (2) don't insure 100% of the value of the contract.

I expect you are correct. My post concerned an earlier poster who kept saying Balfour would be insured and that really means little to me regarding the on-field success of our team (and repeated discussions on how much $ our owners are pocketing).

We need a healthy closer entering ST. I am fine with Balfour, would prefer Rodney and would want no part of Perez. I expect DD will find someone and am not very concerned.

Regarding Balfour, we'll just have to wait for better information. Maybe we are re-opening negotiations, maybe we are checking a recent MRI against prior ones, maybe we need to get a better understanding of minor known shoulder issues that were not disclosed, etc.

I guess I need to do a better job of understanding the anger at PA, but I find it discouraging in this instance because: 1) I think you have to trust the doctors; and 2) people are openly discussing how the well-run Red Sox dealt with their own issues with Napoli and his physical a few years ago. These issues are not "Orioles only" caused by our owner. Let's deal with the issue at hand and stop laying blame without appropriate information.

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lovetoaster Veteran All-Star

lovetoaster

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But it rings through as super-plausible with history being what it is.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

Since when? With Aaron Sele in 1999? That is the only time a situation like this has arisen with PA. And as has been pointed out in this thread, we were kinda right in that instance.

To me, if this was an instance of "PA is cheap, PA is meddlesome," the contract would have never been agreed to in the first place. The team is a business and to torpedo a deal that has been agreed upon without a good reason is a terrible way to do business. And say what you will about PA, to have that much money, you have to know a thing or two about business.

I think there has to be something there that has raised concern, and that this is more complex that the typical PA narrative. It's a reflex from a lot of people, and I get that to an extent, but it does not fit every situation.

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