Offseason Rumors and Deals Around MLB

[scOtt]

I don't know... are there any FA SHs on the market? Otherwise every deal DD does make will be LHH. Unless he gets a bargain.

[Number5]

I don't know... are there any FA SHs on the market? Otherwise every deal DD does make will be LHH. Unless he gets a bargain.

[Mayor McCheese]

With Giants and Cards likely out, that leaves O's, CHAL, LAA, and KC, for Davis, Upton, Cespedes, and Gordon.

I have a feeling Gordon might go back to KC if his market goes down. I don't see the Orioles signing anyone of those guys because they won't offer the years the other teams would be willing to commit.

They made a great offer to Davis and they have made it very clear that they are only willing to do that with their own guys.

[mdbdotcom]

I have a feeling Gordon might go back to KC if his market goes down. I don't see the Orioles signing anyone of those guys because they won't offer the years the other teams would be willing to commit.

They made a great offer to Davis and they have made it very clear that they are only willing to do that with their own guys.

I think Gordon would prefer to go back to KC, they just haven't made a move yet.

[Mayor McCheese]

I think Gordon would prefer to go back to KC, they just haven't made a move yet.

Unless he gets a wow offer. I agree. KC said the OF market is very crowded and could drag on, which could lower Gordons price tag. They are willing to wait it out and see.

[DrungoHazewood]

It will be interesting to see if they can afford Gordon. They are currently at $86M before arbitration salaries. If you add the projected arb salaries for those they offered, you add another $21Mish. So, you're around $107M plus another $5M or so for ML minimums and small stuff or $112M. That was last year's payroll entering the season. I'm sure they've got 15-25M more available, but I wonder if it is enough to land Gordon and fill other needs. It will be interesting to see how hard they go after him.

How much does their owner care?

[Roll Tide]

I agree. Davis or Gordon. Or shop elsewhere selectively.

Upton is more consistent than Davis and much younger than Gordon. no reason not to sign Upton imo...in a deal over 5 years nhe is the most likely to be worth the contract

[Can_of_corn]

Upton is more consistent than Davis and much younger than Gordon. no reason not to sign Upton imo...in a deal over 5 years nhe is the most likely to be worth the contract

The pick and the money required are reasons.

You might not think they are sufficient reasons but they are valid.

[Pickles]

The pick and the money required are reasons.

You might not think they are sufficient reasons but they are valid.

Well, if they're actually intent on doling out an 8 figure contract to a FA, Davis is probably the worst choice out of that group.

[sportsfan8703]

I have a feeling Gordon might go back to KC if his market goes down. I don't see the Orioles signing anyone of those guys because they won't offer the years the other teams would be willing to commit.

They made a great offer to Davis and they have made it very clear that they are only willing to do that with their own guys.

I see it both ways for the Davis offer. However, if he wants to be an Oriole then he will end up here. Does Davis want an opt out like all the other big players are getting? If so it matters how the contract is structured in the first few years. He might now want to defer money. There's alot more to that contract than any of us know.

I just believe what you said. It's either Davis or bust for with that money. We could be looking at Kim, Gallardo, and Davis instead of Kim, Gallardo, Carter. I think Boras won't let us get Alvarez if we don't give Davis what he wants.

[DrungoHazewood]

BTW, it isn't quite that extreme.

Since 2000 our payrolls gone from 82 mil to 110 last year. I guess this doesn't count deferments.

So it's more like 35%.

Of course, in comparison, the rest of the league's payroll is up like 200% since then.

http://www.stevetheump.com/Payrolls.htm

My barely informed guess is that Angleos saw the payroll of the late 90s and early 00s as an overreach, that it was unsustainable and maybe not even breaking even, and that he's only allowed payroll growth recently as revenues have had a relatively big uptick.

[24fps]

As you say, we don't know anything. Including what's up with the Davis situation. Maybe that's butting up against the ceiling Angelos set. Maybe beyond a certain level ($120M?) there's a higher level of approval/scrutiny. Maybe Angelos wants a $40M profit every year, but he's an old softy for Davis and is willing to eat into that. Maybe Duquette really is the guy holding up the payroll expansion. Conjecture. I think it's kind of implausible that Angelos is demanding a huge profit at the expense of the team, but I don't know.

Maybe psychologically he's stuck in 1971 when teams retained their identities much longer. In that scenario CD at $22 million AAV is a much different proposition than Justin Upton at $22 million AAV or even $18 million AAV. Obviously I don't have any clue about whether there's anything to that theory, but while we're all throwing out conjecture I'll add that I've always wondered about that with PA.

[weams]

I think he's done a laundry list of great civic things for Baltimore city.

But he's a terrible, terrible baseball owner.

And this team will never have sustained success under his ownership.

You are probably right. And you are not going to do a thing that will change the situation.

[weams]

I saw SWAT teams today. Not what I was hoping to see either.

Ok. Yeah. Good call.

[Ohfan67]

Not focusing this comment on the Pete is the devil or an angel aspects of the thread, but it is sadly comical that the Orioles/Angelos' organization seems to have screwed up the RSN model in some way. MASN was definitely sold as a way to pump cash into the Orioles and Angelos and others explicitly stated several times that the RSN was going to allow the Orioles to financially compete with the Yankees and Red Sox (or at least significantly close the gap). I think they got into the RSN business too late and didn't know what they were doing. Probably greatly underestimated the cost of establishing the RSN and over estimated profits. It seems like selling the rights to a Fox RSN or similar would be a much better option for the future.