Trade on the horizon?

[El Gordo]

What's a better move for the O's... give up prospects for Billy Butler, or give up a middle first round draft pick for Morales?

The O's need pitching, pitching, pitching. The offense was good last season and will remain good with a little tweaking. We shouldn't be moving top pitching prospects for a bat.

[LookitsPuck]

If he is such a mess, why would the Mets be interested?

National League team, not a free agent until 2019, lefty, cheap. Maybe they see something in him? Who knows...

When you have flawed players, you're not getting back non-flawed players.

[Redskins Rick]

Honestly, I don't even care what trade goes down, or who the pieces are. I just want something - anything - to talk about that involves new players on the 2014 Orioles.

new. doesn't always "=" better.

[Orioles0615]

new. doesn't always "=" better.

I only have one rule...

[El Gordo]

Britton for Davis seems fair to me, except Davis costs a lot more than Britton. So maybe the Mets throw in something extra?

[Number5]

I only have one rule...

[video=youtube;YtsvsLFYYSg]

[LookinUp]

He was a top-rated prospect. Some people put so much weight into prospect rankings even after the guy is a bust they still want him.

I know it's hard to avoid mindless generalizations when you don't know that you're even doing it, but there is some substance to going after both Smoak and Ike Davis.

They are each quintessential Andy MacPhail moves. Each has some prospect pedigree and then went to hitter's nightmare parks. Both are seemingly buy low candidates, hopefully requiring only mid-level previous let down prospects like Matusz and Britton.

By your wisdom, we should have never targeted Chris Davis.

I suspect you, like most of us, are not going to be pleased by the end of this offseason. There doesn't seem to be a good chance of us making meaningful, big-name, improvements. However, that doesn't mean you stop looking for opportunities to hit on potentially undervalued guys.

[TonySoprano]

may be at the point where he's checking medical records.

Time to move back to DEFCON 5.

[25 Nuggets]

What's a better move for the O's... give up prospects for Billy Butler, or give up a middle first round draft pick for Morales?

That's a good question and I think it comes down to the specific prospects in question. Compared to the Orioles top 5 prospects I'd rather give up the first round pick.

[atomic]

I know it's hard to avoid mindless generalizations when you don't know that you're even doing it, but there is some substance to going after both Smoak and Ike Davis.

They are each quintessential Andy MacPhail moves. Each has some prospect pedigree and then went to hitter's nightmare parks. Both are seemingly buy low candidates, hopefully requiring only mid-level previous let down prospects like Matusz and Britton.

By your wisdom, we should have never targeted Chris Davis.

I suspect you, like most of us, are not going to be pleased by the end of this offseason. There doesn't seem to be a good chance of us making meaningful, big-name, improvements. However, that doesn't mean you stop looking for opportunities to hit on potentially undervalued guys.

Smoak is a .220 hitter. Going to Camden Yards isn't suddenly going to make him a .270 hitter. He might be a MacPhail move if you mean another Mark Reynolds. A guy who can't field or hit. Ike Davis did have some success early in his career and that would give me more hope over Smoak who has been pretty consistently bad.

[LookinUp]

Smoak is a .220 hitter. Going to Camden Yards isn't suddenly going to make him a .270 hitter. He might be a MacPhail move if you mean another Mark Reynolds. A guy who can't field or hit. Ike Davis did have some success early in his career and that would give me more hope over Smoak who has been pretty consistently bad.

I don't expect massive spikes in batting average, but overall numbers can clearly improve significantly, particularly given his age. Name this player (OPS):

In Seattle: 0.716, 0.792, 0.802, 0.784, 0.683

After Seattle: 0.919, 0.892, 0.921, 0.880

Personally, I'd try for every buy-low failed hitter in Seattle. That means I'd look at Ackley too.

[UMDTerrapins]

Name this player (OPS):

In Seattle: 0.716, 0.792, 0.802, 0.784, 0.683

After Seattle: 0.919, 0.892, 0.921, 0.880

Beltre.

[scOtt]

Dang? Is that an old mans curse word? Just kidding with you.

Yes, and a pretty good dang one at that...

As opposed to "Poppycock" ?

You three better behave. We don't want a donnybrook to break out.

[LookinUp]

Beltre.

Yup, and he signed a 1 year deal as a FA because the market was down and people were down on him. I still think we missed an opportunity on that guy (who was worth more money if for no other reason than his glove).

[Three Run Homer]

What's a better move for the O's... give up prospects for Billy Butler, or give up a middle first round draft pick for Morales?

That's a fair question--if you're opposed to signing Morales because of the draft pick, then you must also be opposed to giving up a good prospect (say, EdRod) for Billy Butler, and vice-versa, since I think we'd all be happy if a mid-first round pick turned out to be as good a prospect as EdRod.

I don't think I'd trade Eduardo Rodriguez for Billy Butler straight up, and I don't want to sign Morales or Cruz.