Orioles to be more active in International Free Agent Market

[weams]

4 minutes ago, OsEatAlEast said:

Right now I'd be happy to root for a team that pulled somewhat in the same direction. Every year you have to hear about factions and it's getting really old.

Sounds like they fired everyone that might have had different directions!

[weams]

3 minutes ago, theocean said:

I'm sure they'll trade it away for Dana Eveland.

The funny thing is that even Dana Eveland had a great year or so after leaving the Os!

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, weams said:

The funny thing is that even Dana Eveland had a great year or so after leaving the Os!

27 IP counts as a great year?

[Redskins Rick]

30 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Let's not get ahead of ourselves.  Gausman has a long way to go before we start comping this to something like the Glenn Davis trade.

What's frustrating here is that the Marlins are obviously doing everything in their power to get more funds and the Orioles don't seem interested in competing.

They had a big enough head start on the money and if they went ahead and acquired more and more, they could just really blow Miami out of the water.  But that doesn't seem to be the case here.

Miami is going to get these guys, its just a matter of time.  Haven't seen any mention of the Orioles related to VVM, VMJ or Gaston lately.  

I agree Moose.

The uncertainty of the organization front office, has really brought out the doom and gloomers.

[Moose Milligan]

3 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

I agree Moose.

The uncertainty of the organization front office, has really brought out the doom and gloomers.

As usual, there doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency.  Urgency to find a GM, manager, sign the Mesas, Gaston, etc.  

[Redskins Rick]

Just now, Moose Milligan said:

As usual, there doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency.  Urgency to find a GM, manager, sign the Mesas, Gaston, etc.  

How do we know whats going on?

The Baltimore Warehouse is tight lipped about their activities, always has been in the past 2 decades.

How do we know what is going on with the 5 guys down in Miami, just because they are not tweeting every 5 minutes, mean they are doing nothing.

 

[Tony-OH]

41 minutes ago, clapdiddy said:

The Gausman trade will go down as one of the worst deals ever if we don't do something with that international money.

The Gausman trade was as much about getting rid of O'Day's contract as it was getting international money and "prospects". Not to say the trade still won't go down as being bad, especially since Gausman should have at least gotten the team one top ten prospects out of the Braes system at the very least, but there was more than just the international money.

Saying that, it does seem like the Mesa brothers are holding out until the Marlins can come up with the amount of money the Orioles can offer. At that point it's all over.

[OsEatAlEast]

15 minutes ago, weams said:

Sounds like they fired everyone that might have had different directions!

Hopefully you're right on that assessment. Getting everyone on the same page would be paramount. I hope when they do get on the same page they go with fast contact hitters that play great defense.

[Obando]

The theory that ownership put a cap on international spending and that’s why DD trades $750k of it for Jack Zoellner doesn’t add up for me.   Even if there was a cap/budget on what DD was allowed to spend, it still doesn’t justify the fact that he traded it away when he did.  This international bonus money is able to be spent thru 6/15/19, so why would DD feel the need to spend $750k of it in August, before he even knows how much it will take to sign the likes of VVM, Victor Jr. & Gaston?  That’s the part that makes no sense to me.  It’s almost like DD is a deal junkie and just couldn’t help himself, so he felt compelled to make this trade even though there was no need to do it.  I just can’t imagine that John & Lou gave DD direct orders to trade some of that money because he wasn’t allowed to spend more than $6.5M (or whatever the approved amount is) on international players.

I’m convinced that this move was made by DD without any interference from ownership, and it could be because he thought he had more than enough to sign VVM and other players, without the threat of being outbid by other teams, and this $750k was excess capital to use as funny money.  If that was his thinking, he deserved to be fired.  And just watch, Jack Zoellner will make it up to Frederick, if even that far, and then be released by the organization.

[Redskins Rick]

1 minute ago, Obando said:

The theory that ownership put a cap on international spending and that’s why DD trades $750k of it for Jack Zoellner doesn’t add up for me.   Even if there was a cap/budget on what DD was allowed to spend, it still doesn’t justify the fact that he traded it away when he did.  This international bonus money is able to be spent thru 6/15/19, so why would DD feel the need to spend $750k of it in August, before he even knows how much it will take to sign the likes of VVM, Victor Jr. & Gaston?  That’s the part that makes no sense to me.  It’s almost like DD is a deal junkie and just couldn’t help himself, so he felt compelled to make this trade even though there was no need to do it.  I just can’t imagine that John & Lou gave DD direct orders to trade some of that money because he wasn’t allowed to spend more than $6.5M (or whatever the approved amount is) on international players.

I’m convinced that this move was made by DD without any interference from ownership, and it could be because he thought he had more than enough to sign VVM and other players, without the threat of being outbid by other teams, and this $750k was excess capital to use as funny money.  If that was his thinking, he deserved to be fired.  And just watch, Jack Zoellner will make it up to Frederick, if even that far, and then be released by the organization.

Maybe thats why DD is not here, when some of us, thought it looked like he had a new lease on life here.

[Br10n]

It is time to over pay for the kid throwing 97 and move on. Arms are more important than outfielders at this point. 

[Moose Milligan]

15 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

How do we know whats going on?

The Baltimore Warehouse is tight lipped about their activities, always has been in the past 2 decades.

How do we know what is going on with the 5 guys down in Miami, just because they are not tweeting every 5 minutes, mean they are doing nothing.

 

No reports of anything.  They are tight lipped, but not that tight lipped.  Reds are going nucking futs interviewing managers.  Not even any speculation about the Orioles.  

[backwardsk]

How much did they save by trading O'Day?  $12M?  He's owed $9M in 2019 and we traded away 1/3 of his 2018 salary.  I know he had deferments.  Does Atlanta pick that up?  If so, anyone know how much?  If we don't get Mesa wouldn't we likely get more value by not making that trade and dealing him for better prospects?  Seemed like a poor, unnecessary deal at the time.  Even more so now.

[connja]

56 minutes ago, higgybaby said:

Why don’t the O’s get more money??? This is ridiculous. 

Because they don’t have a GM!

[Can_of_corn]

10 minutes ago, Obando said:

The theory that ownership put a cap on international spending and that’s why DD trades $750k of it for Jack Zoellner doesn’t add up for me.   Even if there was a cap/budget on what DD was allowed to spend, it still doesn’t justify the fact that he traded it away when he did.  This international bonus money is able to be spent thru 6/15/19, so why would DD feel the need to spend $750k of it in August, before he even knows how much it will take to sign the likes of VVM, Victor Jr. & Gaston?  That’s the part that makes no sense to me.  It’s almost like DD is a deal junkie and just couldn’t help himself, so he felt compelled to make this trade even though there was no need to do it.  I just can’t imagine that John & Lou gave DD direct orders to trade some of that money because he wasn’t allowed to spend more than $6.5M (or whatever the approved amount is) on international players.

I’m convinced that this move was made by DD without any interference from ownership, and it could be because he thought he had more than enough to sign VVM and other players, without the threat of being outbid by other teams, and this $750k was excess capital to use as funny money.  If that was his thinking, he deserved to be fired.  And just watch, Jack Zoellner will make it up to Frederick, if even that far, and then be released by the organization.

I agree, and have stated previously, that the timing was horrendous even if the O's never planned to spend the 750K.

I think it was a combination of being told he couldn't spend the money and the Phillies calling in a favor because of the botched Jones trade.  (I'm not suggesting my thoughts on this are groundbreaking)