Disheartening quote from Duquette in this article

[atomic]

I agree with this, but I am not sure who is out there.

We cannot afford Cespedes. Same with Bautista and he is declining fast and aging. I would hope we pass on Desmond, Holliday(age), Moss, Pagan. Saunders will likely cost too much money. Think if Fowler wanted to be here he would have been here last year. Bruce is ineffective, Beltran is old.

Maybe we go for Rasmus, Roddick, or Austin Jackson?

Fowler wanted an opt out or he wanted to be paid. We refused either.

[FlipTheBird]

Per Steve Melewski's article on MASN, these are this years nine Free Agents:

http://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2016/10/notes-on-instructional-league-playoff-odds-and-free-agents.html

The Orioles have nine players that are free agents.

Pedro Alvarez

Michael Bourn

Brian Duensing

Tommy Hunter

Steve Pearce

Nolan Reimold

Drew Stubbs

Mark Trumbo

Matt Wieters

I know the team will certainly investigate Matt Wieters, but I'm fine with any and all of these players walking and allocating assets elsewhere.

This organization has been in the playoffs 3 times in 5 years. They haven't had a losing record in that time. It has flaws, yes. But there is no flawless team in all of baseball. The Cubs are probably about as close as you can get, and they're not unbeatable by any means.

[MikeAD]

Fowler wanted an opt out or he wanted to be paid. We refused either.

Right, I know that, but why would that change in a year? And out of 30 teams why go with the one that thought you weren't worth it a year ago? We certainly won't offer the most $$$.

[Frobby]

I agree with this, but I am not sure who is out there.

We cannot afford Cespedes. Same with Bautista and he is declining fast and aging. I would hope we pass on Desmond, Holliday(age), Moss, Pagan. Saunders will likely cost too much money. Think if Fowler wanted to be here he would have been here last year. Bruce is ineffective, Beltran is old.

Maybe we go for Rasmus, Roddick, or Austin Jackson?

I'm a fan of Reddick. I think his power will play up at OPACY and he's a good defender. He's not going to fix our OBP issues, and won't hit 47 homers, but I think he'd provide more overall value than Trumbo while coming a lot cheaper. He doesn't hit lefties well, so we might need to sign a guy like Pearce to complement him.

[backwardsk]

Wieters, Duensing, Bourn, Pearce.

How much total salary for 2017 for these four?

[El Gordo]

I agree with this, but I am not sure who is out there.

We cannot afford Cespedes. Same with Bautista and he is declining fast and aging. I would hope we pass on Desmond, Holliday(age), Moss, Pagan. Saunders will likely cost too much money. Think if Fowler wanted to be here he would have been here last year. Bruce is ineffective, Beltran is old.

Maybe we go for Rasmus, Roddick, or Austin Jackson?

Take a look at Jon Jays numbers. Good glove good OBP.

[weams]

How much total salary for 2017 for these four?

20 million?

[atomic]

Right, I know that, but why would that change in a year? And out of 30 teams why go with the one that thought you weren't worth it a year ago? We certainly won't offer the most $$$.

We were willing to give up the pick last year. And the Cubs didn't have to give up a pick to sign him as he was their guy. So I think it was either us or the Cubs. Who knows if there will be a QO system again. If there is we can give up the pick and sign him.

[Bahama O's Fan]

The Orioles have nine players that are free agents.

Pedro Alvarez-Mancini can replace him

Michael Bourn-possible 4th or 5th OF resign if reasonable

Brian Duensing-No

Tommy Hunter-No

Steve Pearce-No

Nolan Reimold-No

Drew Stubbs-No

Mark Trumbo-No, QO

Matt Wieters-No, QO, but the hardest one.

With these guys gone, what is our 2017 payroll looking like, before arbitration?

[weams]

The Orioles have nine players that are free agents.

Pedro Alvarez-Mancini can replace him

Michael Bourn-possible 4th or 5th OF resign if reasonable

Brian Duensing-No

Tommy Hunter-No

Steve Pearce-No

Nolan Reimold-No

Drew Stubbs-No

Mark Trumbo-No' date=' QO

Matt Wieters-No, QO, but the hardest one.

With these guys gone, what is our 2017 payroll looking like, before arbitration?[/quote']

Most of that info is in this thread.

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/155119-MLBTR-Arbitration-Projections

[weams]

We were willing to give up the pick last year. And the Cubs didn't have to give up a pick to sign him as he was their guy. So I think it was either us or the Cubs. Who knows if there will be a QO system again. If there is we can give up the pick and sign him.

The Orioles were willing to expense the pick to Fowler, which is why he went back home and is trying again. He wanted 85 million last off season. They were not willing give up a pick for him. He was offered a job at a number.

[Bahama O's Fan]

Most of that info is in this thread.

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/155119-MLBTR-Arbitration-Projections

Thanks, so we will be at roughly 145 million without signing anyone. I would like to assume we are going to go closer to 160 million, but I might be wrong. That give us 15 million to sign a RF and a veteran catcher. I think we are set at pitching, infield, DH, LF (Kim and Rickard) and CF.

[atomic]

Thanks' date=' so we will be at roughly 145 million without signing anyone. I would like to assume we are going to go closer to 160 million, but I might be wrong. That give us 15 million to sign a RF and a veteran catcher. I think we are set at pitching, infield, DH, LF (Kim and Rickard) and CF.[/quote']

I assume we try to trade either Jiminez, Miley or Gallardo. If we could trade one of them it would bring payroll down a bit.

[weams]

Thanks' date=' so we will be at roughly 145 million without signing anyone. I would like to assume we are going to go closer to 160 million, but I might be wrong. That give us 15 million to sign a RF and a veteran catcher. I think we are set at pitching, infield, DH, LF (Kim and Rickard) and CF.[/quote']

I expect much less.

[24fps]

I expect much less.

Why is that? If the argument was made that 2016 was within the "competitive window" and therefore worth a budget increase, then the same could be said for 2017. Expiring contracts and arb increases for 2017 were predictable to a reasonable accuracy as was the closing of the competitive window in 2018. It strikes me as inconsistent to gamble on 2016 but not 2017 when the team is fundamentally the same.