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Tim Kurkjian Talks with Orioles Hangout

weams

By weams
in Orioles Talk

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Brooks The Great Major Leaguer

Brooks The Great

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Just curious, how did you score this interview? Is TK someone you know, or did you just contact him cold?

I contacted him cold, in person!

I went to Game 2 of the ALCS. After the Orioles lost, a couple of my friends and I decided to go to Dempsey's for a little bit. Tim walked in a few minutes later, so I went up to him and introduced myself and told him I was a big fan of his work. We chatted for a couple of minutes about the game, then my friends and I went back to our table.

Before leaving, I decided to approach him one last time to ask him for an interview, since I'm also a sportswriter. He was incredibly kind and gracious, and he immediately said "Absolutely!" and opened up his notebook, grabbed a pen, and wrote down his contact info for me. I told him I'd give him a ring after the World Series, and we wound up figuring out a time for a phone interview, which happened earlier this week.

Tim is one of the nicest people I've had the pleasure of meeting. He's extremely busy, and he didn't need to go out of his way to give me some of his time for an interview, but he did me the favor. Obviously, I'm glad I had the chance to talk to him. Loved watching him ever since he joined Baseball Tonight back in 1998.

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Prayin4Reign Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

Prayin4Reign

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Thanks for posting it, Weams!

I did the interview with Mr. Kurkjian. He was very gracious with his time, and he's one of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Great job on Brooks' part, I'd love to see more of this kind of thing. I enjoyed hearing the perspective from a respected national baseball guy, I like Kurkjian.

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Brooks The Great Major Leaguer

Brooks The Great

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The key question was what are our options if we can't sign Cruz. Other options are Morales, Butler, Morse, La Roche, Delmon, or Gomes. Any others?

More of a gamble, and less of a short-term solution, but I'd like to swing a trade with the Nationals for Steven Souza. I doubt he would cost much at all, and I think he could be an option at DH for us at some point if things were to pan out.

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wildcard Hangout Grand Counsel

wildcard

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Gomes and Delmon shouldn't be options unless they are part time platoon guys. I definitely see LaRoche as a target but the question is whether they would DH him or Davis.

Or let Davis and LaRoche split time at 1B and DH. I don't see Morse as a fit. He is not good defensively in the outfield and I don't think he will sign as a DH since he has a choice as a FA.

I see Jack Z and Jon Daniels as guys that might give Cruz 4 years. When I look at the Cano and Choo contracts that these guys gave out anything could happen.

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wildcard Hangout Grand Counsel

wildcard

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Or let Davis and LaRoche split time at 1B and DH. I don't see Morse as a fit. He is not good defensively in the outfield and I don't think he will sign as a DH since he has a choice as a FA.

I see Jack Z and Jon Daniels as guys that might give Cruz 4 years. When I look at the Cano and Choo contracts that these guys gave out anything could happen.

Well, maybe not the Rangers. Looks like they will not be big spenders this off season.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/11/13/6287101/big-market-rangers-short-on-funds.html

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wildcard Hangout Grand Counsel

wildcard

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But the Mariners might be a fit for Cruz:

Originally published September 30, 2014 at 7:26 PM | Page modified October 1, 2014 at 6:57 PM

Jack Zduriencik?s job is simple: Build Mariners? offense

The Mariners have had trouble scoring runs in recent years. If the Mariners are going to build on their 87-win season of 2014, GM Jack Zduriencik must finally get the offense right.

The cupboard isn?t bare anymore, but the Mariners are still a shutout waiting to happen. They will focus on improving the middle of the lineup this offseason. They will look hard at finding right-handed hitting via free agency or the trade market.

?You look at really good offensive clubs, and you see what they have at spots 3, 4, 5 and 6 in the lineup,? McClendon said. ?We were good at 3 and 5, or 3 and 4, depending on where we would put Seager to complement Cano.

?Seager is a prototypical No. 5, to me. Are we looking for a 4 and a 6? Yeah.?

There?s a line of teams looking for the same. But the Mariners don?t have a long list of needs on top of that anymore. They have enough minor-league depth to put together a big trade package for the right player. Zduriencik said he expects the payroll to rise, too. The Mariners will have options.

Now it?s on Zduriencik to nail this offseason and eliminate any perception that he can?t build an offense.

http://seattletimes.com/html/jerrybrewer/2024665792_brewer01xml.html

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Il BuonO Hangout Grand Counsel

Il BuonO

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Gomes and Delmon shouldn't be options unless they are part time platoon guys. I definitely see LaRoche as a target but the question is whether they would DH him or Davis.

Davis has a passable glove at 1B and so does LaRoche, but all signs point to them bringing back Davis. They're not signing LaRoche. Delmon showed no signs of platoon splits last year. In fact, he hit RHP better. However, I'm not sure I feel comfortable giving him anything more than part ABs.

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