Best non-signing of the past decade

[weams]

Not sure I would agree about Tex being the best dodge.

8 years in NY, he has 196 HR, 582 RBIs and OPS of .828.

My vote is Prince, what exactly has he done for Texas in 3 years?

Or in Detroit before?

[byrdz]

Best non-signing was Girardi because of what we got instead.

[LookitsPuck]

I'm not even convinced Girardi is that great of a manager, personally.

[Can_of_corn]

I'm not even convinced Girardi is that great of a manager, personally.

Their Pythag is good under him.

Haven't heard of clubhouse issues.

Hard to go by much else.

[brianod]

The Tex signing has probably been better than average. Honestly, there hasn't been a major FA signing lately that hasn't completely failed in the first few years.

[LookitsPuck]

Max Scherzer?

[OFFNY]

Joe Girardi, when he turned us down in 2007.

Girardi Rejects Shot at Managing the Orioles

(By Jack Curry)

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03EED6103FF931A15755C0A9619C8B63

I'm not even convinced Girardi is that great of a manager, personally.

I think that Girardi is a pretty good manager, but I am very glad that we did not get him.

I believe that the evolution of the turnaround of the Orioles' franchise began with Andy MacPhail's hiring during the 2007 season, continued with Buck Showalter's hiring during the 2010 season, and continued even more with the hiring of Dan Duquette in between the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

Had we gotten Girardi when we were aiming for him back in 2007, who knows what subsequent moves may have or may not have happened ???

So historically, it wound up being a great non-signing for the franchise at-large (in my rat's ass of an opinion.)

[Frobby]

The Tex signing has probably been better than average. Honestly, there hasn't been a major FA signing lately that hasn't completely failed in the first few years.

Per fangraphs, Tex has been worth about $127 mm compared to the $169 mm he's been paid so far ($11 mm to go this season). That's not above average, but it's not anywhere close to the really bad deals.

Somewhere, there's a year old thread where I broke down all the contracts exceeding $100 mm. There were several where players values exceeded what they were paid, or approximately equaled it. And there were some really bad ones. I'd put Tex in the mildly disappointing category.

Edit: here's a link to my list, which doesn't include this offseason's contracts:http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/150752-Boon-Busts-Large-Free-Agent-Contracts?p=3943869#post3943869

[MachoMachadoMan]

o

Joe Girardi, when he turned us down in 2007.

Girardi Rejects Shot at Managing the Orioles

(By Jack Curry)

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03EED6103FF931A15755C0A9619C8B63

I'm glad we ended up with Buck, but Girardi turning us down was the best managerial dodge. We would've been fine with Girardi as long as he stayed, though, his heart was always in the Bronx.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5319218

Valentine directing energy elsewhere

Former Texas Rangers and New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine, now an analyst with ESPN, has withdrawn his name from consideration for the managerial job with the Baltimore Orioles, Valentine confirmed Wednesday.

Girardi would've been fine to good. Bobby V would've been a disaster.

[OFFNY]

I'm glad we ended up with Buck, but Girardi turning us down was the best managerial dodge. We would've been fine with Girardi as long as he stayed, though, his heart was always in the Bronx.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5319218

Valentine directing energy elsewhere

Girardi would've been fine to good. Bobby V would've been a disaster.

I don't think that we would have been fine to good with Girardi.

More significantly, if Girardi had been hired and was even modestly successful, then we likely would never have gotten Showlater, and perhaps may not have gotten Duquette, either.

[BohKnowsBmore]

I would say Prince singing was great for the Tigers. They got two productive years out of Prince and then traded him for Ian Kinsler. I would say that was the best signing not the worst.

Didn't they eat like $40MM?

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[Aristotelian]

Didn't they eat like $40MM?

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They ate $30M but got Kinsler for 5/$62M or 6/$69, so it comes out to 5/$92M or 6/$99M for Kinsler. Not bad for a 5+ WAR player. Definitely not a disaster.

[terpfan101]

Good call on Girardi (and Bobby Valentine)...in retrospect don't think Tex is the worst but more have looked at the last few years and the fact that we would have had his bad years which coincide with our winning seasons, might have prevented them with his $20M salary. Also he was closest it seems other than Balfour to have signed. Prince Fielder's looked to be the worst signing so far though otherwise.

[sportsfan8703]

I'd have rather had Girardi than Bobby Valentine.

By far the best non moves. Buck has meant everything.

[Redskins Rick]

Max Scherzer?

Good one, and I agree, 7.0 with the Nats is pretty strong plus for them.

Greinke is another FA that has produced both with the Dodgers and now the Diamondbacks.