Orioles are considering selling, per Morosi

[DrungoHazewood]

Why did they sign Markakis?

That remains a mystery. They're a retooling team that was trading off current talent for the future, but still overbid on a declining 31-year-old, 2-win player. I never understood it.

[Can_of_corn]

Why did they sign Markakis?

Wieters has a home there, went to school there and he has been linked there. If you watch the games, Gary Thorne even said it was his most likely destination in free agency.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't see the logic of non-contender renting a Boras client in the hopes that he stays with the team long term.

I get the first round pick thing but honestly the Braves should be trading off pieces and getting into a protected first round pick status.

It is too big a risk unless they have been tampering.

[Rene88]

I don't see the logic of non-contender renting a Boras client in the hopes that he stays with the team long term.

I get the first round pick thing but honestly the Braves should be trading off pieces and getting into a protected first round pick status.

It is too big a risk unless they have been tampering.

I don't disagree but why have the Phillies refused to sell the past 3 years or so? Some things defy logic.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jonesy10]

The Indians have some starters on the block. Carrasco and Salazar are both young and already TOR starters. Carrasco is 28. Salazar is 25 and could very well be cheaper than Carrasco due to a very high HR/FB% which has lead to his peripherals being much better than his ERA. Another interesting guy could be TJ House as a lefty replacement for Chen. Had a great season last year and gets a ton of ground balls. And should be much cheaper than Carrasco or Salazar.

[Can_of_corn]

I don't disagree but why have the Phillies refused to sell the past 3 years or so? Some things defy logic.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Despite the reality of the world around me I do not expect folks in that type of position to make stupid decisions.

There should be a basic level of competence in a job that hard to get.

And some of the other stuff he is doing is really smart.

[Jonesy10]

Another interesting name could be Mike Napoli. He's suffered from some bad luck this season (.249 BABIP). But he walks a ton and he is striking out less. Even while having a down year he still mashes lefties. Get rid of Parmelee for Napoli, get rid of Snider for an everyday COF (not saying those would be the players traded for Napoli or the COF, just that they would be the ones losing roster spots).

[mrpennybags]

Apparently lives in Atlanta, also attended Georgia Tech. Only makes sense if they plan to sign him to an extension I guess.

This at least explains where the rumor might have come from. Maybe someone heard that;

a) Atlanta was Wieters' most likely destination in the off-season.

b) The Orioles might look to trade Wieters.

And they 'put two and two together' and got eleven. Then they mentioned that idea to a couple people and it turned into a rumor.

[pdiddy]

No. I expect them to sign Manny to an enormous deal.

Me too. They set a bit of a precedent by signing AJ.

I have been in favor of paying the man since the beginning of his second season. Would have been great to get him on the cheap post injury(ies) but his advisors would have balked.

I think there's a decent chance that they sell at the deadline and start working on an extension for Manny to regain some of the lost goodwill.

[ECUDrummer]

Not sure what else the FO needs to see to prove we should be selling right now.

[Barnaby Graves]

Sell everyone, DFA everyone else. Call up Tyler Wilson, call up Christian Walker, Walker Texas Ranger, Christian Slater, Kelly Slater, Oil Can Boyd, Marty Bergen, my grandmother, I don't care anymore. They are allergic to winning.

[ButterBread]

Sell everyone, DFA everyone else. Call up Tyler Wilson, call up Christian Walker, Walker Texas Ranger, Christian Slater, Kelly Slater, Oil Can Boyd, Marty Bergen, my grandmother, I don't care anymore. They are allergic to winning.

LOL! I'd take the Oriole Can Bird over Snider.

[eddie83]

That remains a mystery. They're a retooling team that was trading off current talent for the future, but still overbid on a declining 31-year-old, 2-win player. I never understood it.

I think I saw somewhere from an Atlanta writer that the Braves didn't want to completely blow things up. They didn't think the market there could handle it, something along those lines.

[Moondoggie]

Some fascinating opinions in this thread. I'll take a shot at it myself.

It's highly unlikely that this particular Orioles team will catch the Yankees at this point, even if the Orioles add a big bat and a big pitcher. And how are they going to do that anyway? With Bundy and Harvey injured, they just don't have the prospects to pull it off. And if they sell off the talent they have in the minors that anyone would want, it will take years to build the system back up. And they'll be struggling to fill a lot of holes next year. The Blue Jays have a much better chance of pulling something off right now because they have better prospects to deal.

Davis, Wieters and Chen are Boras clients. The Orioles aren't going to re-sign them for the money and contract length they will demand. It just isn't going to happen. So why keep them around for two months to play for a team that just isn't going anywhere then lose them for the price of a compensation pick when you can trade them for some good prospects and quickly build your minor league system back up? See what you can get for O'Day as well (I just heard today that the Dodgers are looking for a right-handed setup man and I could see Chen being attractive to them too). You can still try to bring O'Day back next year. Wieters probably isn't going to get you much, but since I think Atlanta is his most likely destination in free agency, if you can get something with equal or more value than a compensation pick that's great. And Atlanta can re-sign him without losing a pick. (This, of course, is assuming the Orioles would even be prepared to make him a qualifying offer, which isn't a given considering his health concerns.) Dealing Britton, on the other hand, would be insane unless you're not really planning to be competitive next year. Britton still has a lot of team control left. Yes, that makes him more valuable as trade bait. But it also makes him more valuable to the Orioles than guys who are out at the end of October. If you can get a bucket of batting practice balls for Bud Norris and a few of the others, fine, but that's not where your value lies.

Once you've cleared out as many of the pending free agents as possible, you can call up Alvarez, Walker, maybe a couple of pitchers, etc., and give them a good look over the last two months so you can evaluate where you stand and what needs to be done over the winter to put a contending team on the field in 2016. Maybe you can take the $33 million or so you're saving on Davis, Wieters, Chen and Norris and put that toward signing a front line pitcher (Zimmerman maybe?) and bat (Justin Upton?). So then you go into next year with an outfield of Jones, Alvarez and Upton (or whoever); Manny, Hardy, Schoop and Walker around the infield; Caleb doing most of the catching and a rotation of Zimmerman (or whoever), Tillman, Gausman, Ubaldo and Gonzalez. You'll still have Britton as the closer and if you can't bring O'Day back you can move Brach into that role. Bring Mike Wright and maybe somebody else with options into the bullpen for some of the flexibility that isn't there this year. And who knows? Maybe Dylan Bundy can be a good bullpen piece next year. They have to keep him on the big club or risk losing him and there's no way he can pitch starters' innings. I see no reason a team that looked like that wouldn't have a shot at winning the AL East. Plus you'd have a better stash of prospects in the minors, hopefully ready to contribute soon.

[Nevermore]

No. I expect them to sign Manny to an enormous deal.

Can the O's organization afford the sort of deal that Manny will need? Maybe O's management needs to offer Manny for a package of top-rated prospects. (I should put in a green smiley here. but I don't know if I'm kidding or not, the way things are going).

[JayThomas]

Welcome. Great opening post.

I really like the idea of retooling rather than rebuilding. The way you laid out a potential team for next year as basically needing two pieces is very encouraging.

Only trade Wieters, Davis, and Chen if you're getting back better than the comp pick, because we WILL get a comp pick for each of those 3 guys. For all other free agents (I am big on trading DOD, as stated elsewhere), go ahead and trade them. We're not getting comp picks for them. I repeat myself, but especially O'Day, Hunter, and Norris (you should get quality for O'Day and take whatever you can get for the others) should be dealt as bullpen pitchers are the one strong suit that we seem to have in our MiL.