Source: O's working on Fernando Rodney...

[MrOrange82]

Not only is it a bad allocation of resources but by designating one guy as their closer they run into the same problem they created with Johnson. By having him as "the guy" all it did was strengthen his case when it came time for arbitration by showing all the saves he had piled up.

The Orioles would be much better off not being in that position again by either a) trying Hunter to see if he can overcome his problem with LHB, b) moving a guy similar to Johnson like Webb into the role whom for they've already paid or eventually c) trying a somewhat unknown quantity like Stinson or Wright in the role. Any of these would be preferable to spending 5%-10% of our payroll on a reliever.

Must spread rep. It all sounds so simple, doesn't it?

[El Gordo]

So there was some fundamental sea change between May and December? Care to clue us in on what happened? Did missing the playoffs cause it? Was the series finale of Breaking Bad to blame? Something he ate?

Offering 2/15M to a RP with a questionable medical history, after eating all of Wada's contract and getting nothing out of him.

[Tx Oriole]

This is vintage Orioles right here. Have the guy who lead the league in Saves the past two seasons and trade him. Go after Balfour, screw that up, let the Rays get him (after they already got Heath Bell) and then go after the guy the Rays don't want who will be 37 on opening day.

Damn.

It will interesting to see how fans react if Balfour's arm falls off during the

second year of his contract. Just like Sele. He wanted four years. O's backed. He

signed with another team and pitched good for two years. Not good in years three

and four. So maybe Angelos doctors are right. Not saying I want the O's to sign

Rodney. IMO

[MrOrangeandBlack]

I do not want him..He reminds me of Kevin Gregg and makes things very interesting.

[Tx Oriole]

I do not want him..He reminds me of Kevin Gregg and makes things very interesting.

Yes maybe too interesting.

[MikeAD]

It will interesting to see how fans react if Balfour's arm falls off during the

second year of his contract. Just like Sele. He wanted four years. O's backed. He

signed with another team and pitched good for two years. Not good in years three

and four. So maybe Angelos doctors are right. Not saying I want the O's to sign

Rodney. IMO

Im really not saying that we did the wrong thing with Balfour. I'm glad we moved away from someone who wanted that many years and MAY have been not ok physically. However if Tampa signed him I think he checks out. Again though, if he collapses we say told ya so and move on, but we still have Rodney as the closer...

[El Gordo]

It will interesting to see how fans react if Balfour's arm falls off during the

second year of his contract. Just like Sele. He wanted four years. O's backed. He

signed with another team and pitched good for two years. Not good in years three

and four. So maybe Angelos doctors are right. Not saying I want the O's to sign

Rodney. IMO

Yeah I hope his arm falls off. Anything to keep from besmirching PA's good name and impeccable reputation in the business. :rolleyestf:

[Three Run Homer]

Not only is it a bad allocation of resources but by designating one guy as their closer they run into the same problem they created with Johnson. By having him as "the guy" all it did was strengthen his case when it came time for arbitration by showing all the saves he had piled up.

The Orioles would be much better off not being in that position again by either a) trying Hunter to see if he can overcome his problem with LHB, b) moving a guy similar to Johnson like Webb into the role whom for they've already paid or eventually c) trying a somewhat unknown quantity like Stinson or Wright in the role. Any of these would be preferable to spending 5%-10% of our payroll on a reliever.

I'm so glad we're not a stupid organization like Tampa or Oakland. Who needs to spend money on a closer when we can have the fun of spending the year trying a bunch of guys out, and maybe finding someone good by August?

[crawjo]

I do not want him..He reminds me of Kevin Gregg and makes things very interesting.

I think he's better than Gregg. Gregg is more like Jose Valverde.

[markakis4pres]

So you think DD signed Balfour without PA's approval? And now we're penny pinching because Angelos, like, woke up or something? That's quite a conspiracy theory.

Why is it so hard to believe that PA changed his mind about the Balfour deal?

It just makes zero sense that teams had no problem offering him a multi year deal.

As for the Jones extension, could just be to keep people in the seats so PA keeps lining his pockets with no desire to win at all. It's pretty sad when the players don't even recognize who PA is because he never makes appearances.

PA can show me something by extending Wieters and Davis but we all know that is a long shot. Davis has already expressed disappointment with how the offseason has gone.

[flyhighbirds]

Everybody hated Johnson until we didn't sign him lol.

[Going Underground]

The Red Lobster kid might be wrong? His claws might be pinched.

The Orioles may attempt to ramp up their pursuit of Fernando Rodney, the best free-agent closer still available, but they hadn’t done it as of Thursday afternoon.

According to an industry source, the Orioles and Rodney’s representatives have not had any dialogue in weeks while the club narrowed its focus to starting pitching.

That’s contrary to several Internet reports Thursday that said the talks between the Orioles and Rodney had heated up.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-source-orioles-hadnt-talked-with-rodney-in-weeks-20140123,0,3019525.story#ixzz2rKFVmj7F

[joedogg9999]

So apparently DD has about 17mil to spend and hes going to spend the majority of that on a 37 year old closer who was 2nd in the league in blown saves, 2nd only to your very own Jim Johnson, when they could have gotten Matt Garza at a discount?

Truly astonishing beyond words.

[Can_of_corn]

So apparently DD has about 17mil to spend and hes going to spend the majority of that on a 37 year old closer who was 2nd in the league in blown saves, 2nd only to your very own Jim Johnson, when they could have gotten Matt Garza at a discount?

Truly astonishing beyond words.

While I certainly don't want Rodney you can just make a statement like "they could have gotten Matt Garza at a discount". You can't just take Garza's contract, tack on an extra twenty bucks and proclaim he would have signed it. We have no idea if Garza would have signed with the O's and what it would have cost. (or if he could have passed the physical)

[MrOrange82]

I'm so glad we're not a stupid organization like Tampa or Oakland. Who needs to spend money on a closer when we can have the fun of spending the year trying a bunch of guys out, and maybe finding someone good by August?

Are you capable of making off-the-cuff, player-by-player comparisons of the Orioles and the Rays/A's in order to substantiate the idea that, "hey, if those teams acquired closers, then it must also be a good idea for the Orioles." When you made the above comment, could you actually compare the rosters and finances of the three teams so as to prove your general proposition? Or does your central premise really boil down to "two good teams obtained closers, so doing what they do must also be good for the Orioles"?

If the Orioles, A's, and Rays shared identical circumstances, you'd be hearing far fewer complaints from Orioles fans over how the organization has been run. Unfortunately, those teams do not share identical circumstances, and, unless you've crunched numbers not evidenced by your sarcastic response to a well thought out post, what's good for the Rays/A's goose ain't always good for the O's gander.

Lastly, I feel like I spend half my time in these threads begging people to look up past closer statistics from around baseball, but how many "career" closers are out there right now, in your estimation? Is Balfour a "closer," or is he a guy who's closed for two full years, and didn't become a "closer" until his early/mid-30's? You sound averse to "trying a bunch of guys out" in a "closer" role, and yet many of the top "closers" who emerge each year were failed starters or journeyman relievers before they were put in charge of closing games. Of course, and regardless, all this ignores the idea that having a lone closer might not be the best strategy, which is what socal's post was driving at in the first place.