Okay so WHO do we spend the money on???

[El Gordo]

Sign me up for Aoki and Morse. Trade Bud Norris. Duquette will make this team better before Spring Training.

I would have liked to re-sign Cruz, but I can understand why we decided to go in another direction. I was really worried we'd sign Markakis for 4/$40-$48. Very happy we didn't.

My first choice would be Kemp, but not for Bundy or Gausman, and only if we got back at least 30 M. In lieu of that I like Morse and Aoki too. Maybe Morales only because he is a SH.

[Roll Tide]

I think the message is pretty clear: No long term contracts for players over 30 unless you absolutely have to. Hardy was a have to.

I don't think we have to worry about Morse coming to Baltimore. He is a free agent. He can pick where he wants to go and he's not coming to the O's to DH.

Kemp is not a fit.

DD will add some cheap guys over the next 2 months. Then in Feb signs Morales for one year for a discount price much to Boras chagrin.

We will hear "I like our guys" a lot.

Alvarez will amaze with his arm in ST. He probably starts the year in the minors but is the heir apparent to Markakis by mid season.

Walker hits bombs with the wind in ST and hits pretty well at Norfolk before he is promoted mid year.

DD is about keeping the team young and hungry. Wieters, Manny and Davis are enough to keep the O's pennant contenders into July. Especially with Gauman taking a jump forward.

The pitching is in place and Wallace will have them improve. The defense will be top 3 in the league. The hitting will be ok.

Come July DD adds what is needed for a playoff run.

There is a guess.

I hope this is not the plan! This will mean Duquette has bought the Angelos plan. And he won't need to worry about supplementing in July because it won't matter. Catching lightning in a bottle with

Pearce had a lot to do with luck. And it's a unlikely to be repeated. Cruz and Markakis will be hard to replace despite the sentiments by many here. Dumpster diving and the ridiculous bargain bin platoons that are suggested here by some. I'm certainly willing to let the offseason play out before passing final judgement on the path of our baseball team. But the last few days have been tough on most Os fans.

[Say O!]

I think the message is pretty clear: No long term contracts for players over 30 unless you absolutely have to. Hardy was a have to.

I don't think we have to worry about Morse coming to Baltimore. He is a free agent. He can pick where he wants to go and he's not coming to the O's to DH.

Kemp is not a fit.

DD will add some cheap guys over the next 2 months. Then in Feb signs Morales for one year for a discount price much to Boras chagrin.

We will hear "I like our guys" a lot.

Alvarez will amaze with his arm in ST. He probably starts the year in the minors but is the heir apparent to Markakis by mid season.

Walker hits bombs with the wind in ST and hits pretty well at Norfolk before he is promoted mid year.

DD is about keeping the team young and hungry. Wieters, Manny and Davis are enough to keep the O's pennant contenders into July. Especially with Gauman taking a jump forward.

The pitching is in place and Wallace will have them improve. The defense will be top 3 in the league. The hitting will be ok.

Come July DD adds what is needed for a playoff run.

There is a guess.

Well said.

Think it was Davey Johnson or Gillick who once said that ideally you'd like to break-in 2-3 rookies per year, no more, no less. Will be a position to do so once again this season.

Concur on the trade piece - it's just a matter if occurs during the off-season or in-season. DD very comfortable re-shuffling the pieces to get where he and Buck want.

[Norfolk orioles]

I stand corrected, over the last three years Aoki has hit lefties a little better than he has hit RH pitching. And you are right, he has hit about .287 the last 3 seasons. His 3 year OBP is about .330 which is not great but not too bad either. And I agree he would be a good fit as the lead off hitter. But his speed is the only thing that saves him from being a bad OFer. He does take horrible routes. But you have made me think, and he is not a terrible option.

He may take terrible routes, but he was also playing in Kansas City where you have to play deep or you can give up in the park home runs.

Playing in Baltimore would be much easier for aoki than playing in Kauffman and playing with jones, we could really have a dominant defensive outfield.

I'd take aoki in a heartbeat if the other option is Lough.

I wouldn't mind seeing us trade for justin upton provided the cost isn't too high and really go "all in" this year.

Cruz tore up Camden yards, I have little doubt justin upton wouldn't do the exact same thing.

[wildcard]

Brandon Moss fits the O's needs. The question is what does Billy Bean want for him? Moss is projected to make 7.1m by MLBTR which is within the O's budget. DD probably willing to trade minor leaguers not named Bundy, Harvey, Walker or Alvarez. Mike Wright, Tyler Wilson or Zach Davies are the kind of prospects DD might offer.

Jay Bruce is also a player the O's might be interested in though he may be expensive in terms of salary and the players required to get him.

[joeyc]

I see a down year coming.

[eddie83]

I guess Aoki for RF. Not that he has ever been viewed as a power bat but his slugging % keeps dipping though, that is a concern. He and DeAza would provide the team with better athleticism. I have no desire to acquire Morse, I just have to have faith in DD making a trade, I can't see them spending what Melky will get.

[eddie83]

Brandon Moss fits the O's needs. The question is what does Billy Bean want for him? Moss is projected to make 7.1m by MLBTR which is within the O's budget. DD probably willing to trade minor leaguers not named Bundy, Harvey, Walker or Alvarez. Mike Wright, Tyler Wilson or Zach Davies are the kind of prospects DD might offer.

Jay Bruce is also a player the O's might be interested in though he may be expensive in terms of salary and the players required to get him.

Moss would be a nice fit here, no question. Like you said though what will it take?

[weams]

It's odd to me how the arbitration truth gets ignored. Roch made a succinct post a couple days ago about the 11 arbitration eligible players that we made offers to. The projected raises are about $22M for those guys. This basically offsets all of the Cruz and Markakis salary loss without "adding" a player.

Now we still have several million left from Miller and the leftover from Nick to being flat from 2014 to 2015 salary. We will use that. We will also increase payroll a bit IMO. I'd say we have 10-15M total left to spend in 2015 salary. That isn't going to buy a ton. I'd say someone like Aoki or Morse but not both and a handful of low ML salaries on flyer guys like Masterson.

In the end our payroll will be higher, but our "name factor" will be lower which will drive a lot of people here crazy. I expect the team to be just fine although I'd be shocked if ANYONE is able to walk off with the division by double digit games like we did last year. It'll be a tough division and Buck / DD will get almost everything out of our guys that they have to offer.

One last proclamation. Lough isn't terrible. I think he will play well this year and put up similar numbers to Nick in less at bats. They will sign Morse for DH. Alvarez will do well starting around June. We will see.

I expect a five to seven percent payroll increase. I think that means we can afford Morse and someone else.

[Barnfather]

Bit disappointed with Nick leaving - I guess Cruz was expected, but more from us losing two great guys in the clubhouse than anything else.

In terms of replacing them, I can't really say but could it be worth bringing in someone like Jonny Gomes on a short term deal to add an offensive bat and some left-field defensive nous though?

[weams]

I see a down year coming.

As do so many others around all of baseball. Kansas City Lost Shields and Aoki and Butler so far. Most teams have a whole or two. THE WEEK before the Winter meetings.

[steva84]

Trade norris for gattis. Mostly DH games with rarely OF/C games. Then look for a leadoff.

[weams]

Last Year we needed a front of the rotation arm, closer, leftfielder, DH, secondbaseman, and righthanded bat off the bench.

[mdbdotcom]

Sign Lester, then trade Tillman+ for an outfielder. That's one way to go. I'm sure there are others.

[TheDirtyBird]

Were dumb for not offering Torii Hunter