How Do Free Agents View the Orioles?

[wildbillhiccup]

I was responding to a post in another thread and it got me thinking. With the uncertainty surrounding Machado, the poor pitching, and having to play in arguably the toughest division in MLB how do most free agents view the Orioles as a landing spot? I have them ranked as the 6th worst destination spot for free agents. Thoughts? 

Most Unappealing Teams to Free Agents

1) Miami - The team is a mess and even the rostered players don't want to stay. 

2) Cincinnati - A perpetually bad team with very little hope of improving anytime soon. 

3) Detroit - A team rebuilding in a semi unappealing City. 

4) Oakland - The luster of money ball has long worn off. 

5) Tampa - Just traded the face of their franchise and play in the worst stadium in the league. 

6) Baltimore - A team poised to lose their marquee player with terrible pitching and a meddling owner. Beautiful ball park, but the city has gotten a bad national rep for crime in recent years. 

7) Chicago (White Sox) - Lots of young talent, but a team that will always be Chicago's redheaded step child. 

8) San Diego - A team with less young talent than the White Sox, but you can't discount the weather and the city (one of the best). 

9) Philadelphia - Terrible record last season, but they have young talent and seem to be heading int the right direction.

10) Pittsburgh - A solid franchise, but their in the midst of a slow rebuild. 

 

[Number5]

3 hours ago, wildbillhiccup said:

I was responding to a post in another thread and it got me thinking. With the uncertainty surrounding Machado, the poor pitching, and having to play in arguably the toughest division in MLB how do most free agents view the Orioles as a landing spot? I have them ranked as the 6th worst destination spot for free agents. Thoughts? 

Most Unappealing Teams to Free Agents

1) Miami - The team is a mess and even the rostered players don't want to stay. 

2) Cincinnati - A perpetually bad team with very little hope of improving anytime soon. 

3) Detroit - A team rebuilding in a semi unappealing City. 

4) Oakland - The luster of money ball has long worn off. 

5) Tampa - Just traded the face of their franchise and play in the worst stadium in the league. 

6) Baltimore - A team poised to lose their marquee player with terrible pitching and a meddling owner. Beautiful ball park, but the city has gotten a bad national rep for crime in recent years. 

7) Chicago (White Sox) - Lots of young talent, but a team that will always be Chicago's redheaded step child. 

8) San Diego - A team with less young talent than the White Sox, but you can't discount the weather and the city (one of the best). 

9) Philadelphia - Terrible record last season, but they have young talent and seem to be heading int the right direction.

10) Pittsburgh - A solid franchise, but their in the midst of a slow rebuild. 

 

Seems like most of the comments you've made about Miami, Cincy, Detroit, and Tampa also apply to Pittsburgh.  Not sure what you find about Pittsburgh that pulls them out of the same category as the others.

[Redskins Rick]

I think different cities will appeal/not appeal differently to each individual.

Some like the 24x7 buzz of New York city, while others dislike it.

Some might shy away from the Orioles, because they play in the high pressure of the AL East.

You talk about crime in Baltimore, let you neglect to mention cities like Chicago, the murder capital of the USA.

Fans have been killed at Dodger stadium for attending games there, yet you didn't mention that.

You fail to mention Oakland and their bad stadium, which some say is worse than Tampa, considering you have raw sewer flowing in both dugouts at times.

[Going Underground]

14 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

I think different cities will appeal/not appeal differently to each individual.

Some like the 24x7 buzz of New York city, while others dislike it.

Some might shy away from the Orioles, because they play in the high pressure of the AL East.

You talk about crime in Baltimore, let you neglect to mention cities like Chicago, the murder capital of the USA.

Fans have been killed at Dodger stadium for attending games there, yet you didn't mention that.

You fail to mention Oakland and their bad stadium, which some say is worse than Tampa, considering you have raw sewer flowing in both dugouts at times.

Chicago is not close. Statistics not out for 2017 but Baltimore will probably be #1 in murder. Also causing some businesses to close because of all the other crimes. Baltimore had more murders in 2017 then NYC. NYC population is way more then Baltimore. 

The murder rate in Baltimore is 27.3 per 100,000. 

The murder rate in Chicago is 12.1 per 100,000

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/a-wartime-mayor-struggles-to-calm-a-city-awash-in-violence/2017/12/29/50648944-e1e4-11e7-bbd0-9dfb2e37492a_story.html?utm_term=.482cb70d30ff

[Number5]

12 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

You talk about crime in Baltimore, let you neglect to mention cities like Chicago, the murder capital of the USA.

Yeah, all cities have high crime areas.  It's pretty doubtful that major league baseball players look to locate their families into those particular areas of any city.  They can all afford to locate elsewhere in the metro area.  I think this is a bit overblown as to how it might affect a player's thinking.

[scOtt]

Just one example from Roch:

The Orioles didn’t recall Andrew Faulkner from Triple-A Norfolk after an April trade with the Rangers and they designated him for assignment and outrighted him in September to create a 40-man spot for shortstop J.J. Hardy, who came off the 60-day disabled list. Plans were scrapped to send Faulkner to the Arizona Fall League.

...

“You’re always a little disappointed,” Faulkner said. “Obviously, my goal is to pitch in the big leagues, but at the same time it was a long year and I think they were in a spot where it was more good for them to get some younger guys some looks to see how they performed. Yeah, it stunk, but when I looked back and I thought about it, it made sense and it was probably a good idea.”

Faulkner said a couple of teams were in play to sign him as a minor league free agent, but he chose to stay in the organization. One factor was linked to Showalter’s reputation for handling his relievers.

“There were a few other teams, but (the Orioles) showed immediate interest and this was one of my first choices, so I signed pretty early.”

[Redskins Rick]

8 minutes ago, scOtt said:

Just one example from Roch:

The Orioles didn’t recall Andrew Faulkner from Triple-A Norfolk after an April trade with the Rangers and they designated him for assignment and outrighted him in September to create a 40-man spot for shortstop J.J. Hardy, who came off the 60-day disabled list. Plans were scrapped to send Faulkner to the Arizona Fall League.

...

“You’re always a little disappointed,” Faulkner said. “Obviously, my goal is to pitch in the big leagues, but at the same time it was a long year and I think they were in a spot where it was more good for them to get some younger guys some looks to see how they performed. Yeah, it stunk, but when I looked back and I thought about it, it made sense and it was probably a good idea.”

Faulkner said a couple of teams were in play to sign him as a minor league free agent, but he chose to stay in the organization. One factor was linked to Showalter’s reputation for handling his relievers.

“There were a few other teams, but (the Orioles) showed immediate interest and this was one of my first choices, so I signed pretty early.”

Nice post Scott.

 

[Redskins Rick]

16 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

Chicago is not close. Statistics not out for 2017 but Baltimore will probably be #1 in murder. Also causing some businesses to close because of all the other crimes. Baltimore had more murders in 2017 then NYC. NYC population is way more then Baltimore. 

The murder rate in Baltimore is 27.3 per 100,000. 

The murder rate in Chicago is 12.1 per 100,000

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/a-wartime-mayor-struggles-to-calm-a-city-awash-in-violence/2017/12/29/50648944-e1e4-11e7-bbd0-9dfb2e37492a_story.html?utm_term=.482cb70d30ff

Its all in how you look at it.

New York is doing a great job on crime, thanks to their aggressive police work. Crime is at their 1950s rate. Baltimore's Mayor should look to NYC, instead of coming up with excuses.

Baltimore had under 400 murders in 2017, and Chicago had 650 which had come down for them.

Yes, if you do the math, Baltimore has a higher rate based on a much lower population.

https://www.forbes.com/pictures/mlj45jggj/1-detroit/#1d7fa8a969d9

Baltimore shows up #7 on the top 10, and neither Chicago or NYC is listed in the top 10.

However, Detroit, St Louis, Oakland and Atlanta are ranked in the top #10 and higher than #7.

 

[Beef Supreme]

1 hour ago, Number5 said:

Yeah, all cities have high crime areas.  It's pretty doubtful that major league baseball players look to locate their families into those particular areas of any city.  They can all afford to locate elsewhere in the metro area.  I think this is a bit overblown as to how it might affect a player's thinking.

You are absolutely correct: crime stats have zero effect on free agents' decisions.

[OFFNY]

1 hour ago, Number5 said:

 

Yeah, all cities have high crime areas. It's pretty doubtful that Major League baseball players look to locate their families into those particular areas of any city. They can all afford to locate elsewhere in the metro area. I think this is a bit overblown as to how it might affect a player's thinking.

 

o

 

Reminiscent of when Mike Hampton claimed that he signed with the Rockies because he had heard good things about the Colorado school system for his kids.

 

Rockies' Hampton, the Education Pitcher, Is Sticking to His Story

(By Murray Chass)

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/05/sports/on-baseball-rockies-hampton-the-education-pitcher-is-sticking-to-his-story.html

 

o

[wildbillhiccup]

I guess the point I was trying to make is that pubic perception, be it right or wrong, has shifted away from Baltimore being a charming / quirky little city to that of one riddled by crime and drugs. 

[wildbillhiccup]

2 hours ago, Number5 said:

Seems like most of the comments you've made about Miami, Cincy, Detroit, and Tampa also apply to Pittsburgh.  Not sure what you find about Pittsburgh that pulls them out of the same category as the others.

Fair point about Pittsburgh, although they have a log jam at OF so I can't really fault them for moving McCutchen. The Cole trade is more of a head scratcher unless they think Glasnow is ready to turn the corner. 

The other thing to maybe keep in mind is that, of the teams on my original list, only a handful of them seem to be interested in in pursuing "name" free agents. Right now that would be Baltimore, Philly, and maybe Oakland. So that means more often than not Baltimore is probably going to be on the bottom of the list when free agents rank their suitors...unless they pay more. Speaking in completely general terms as I completely understand that each situation is unique. 

[SteveA]

2 hours ago, scOtt said:

Just one example from Roch:

The Orioles didn’t recall Andrew Faulkner from Triple-A Norfolk after an April trade with the Rangers and they designated him for assignment and outrighted him in September to create a 40-man spot for shortstop J.J. Hardy, who came off the 60-day disabled list. Plans were scrapped to send Faulkner to the Arizona Fall League.

...

“You’re always a little disappointed,” Faulkner said. “Obviously, my goal is to pitch in the big leagues, but at the same time it was a long year and I think they were in a spot where it was more good for them to get some younger guys some looks to see how they performed. Yeah, it stunk, but when I looked back and I thought about it, it made sense and it was probably a good idea.”

Faulkner said a couple of teams were in play to sign him as a minor league free agent, but he chose to stay in the organization. One factor was linked to Showalter’s reputation for handling his relievers.

“There were a few other teams, but (the Orioles) showed immediate interest and this was one of my first choices, so I signed pretty early.”

Hey scOtt, haven't heard from you on here in a while.   Hope you haven't spent the winter shivering out on the balcony?

[Redskins Rick]

4 minutes ago, wildbillhiccup said:

Fair point about Pittsburgh, although they have a log jam at OF so I can't really fault them for moving McCutchen. The Cole trade is more of a head scratcher unless they think Glasnow is ready to turn the corner. 

The other thing to maybe keep in mind is that, of the teams on my original list, only a handful of them seem to be interested in in pursuing "name" free agents. Right now that would be Baltimore, Philly, and maybe Oakland. So that means more often than not Baltimore is probably going to be on the bottom of the list when free agents rank their suitors...unless they pay more. Speaking in completely general terms as I completely understand that each situation is unique. 

Pirates laid an egg trading Cole IMO.

They were already 2 seasons with sub-par, and it looks like they are back on the rebuild path.

[wildbillhiccup]

4 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

Pirates laid an egg trading Cole IMO.

They were already 2 seasons with sub-par, and it looks like they are back on the rebuild path.

I'm reserving judgement until after this season. I want to see how Meadows, Taillon, Glasnow, and Polanco work out. 

 

I also think Cole had a very bad relationship with the front office. I'm sure the move was mostly financially motivated, but have to wonder if that factored in as well.