Orioles to be more active in International Free Agent Market

[mdbdotcom]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

Fernando Villalobos is a top 50 name.  Can't have too many catchers.

Would be nice to have one catcher.

[tntoriole]

2 hours ago, esmd said:

I was one that said that money talks, and I don't think I was wrong.  The Marlins went out and got more money to be able to match or exceed the Orioles.  And all things being equal, yeah, they were going to choose Miami.  Our only shot was to have a bigger wallet than everyone else and throw it all at them - which was rendered moot by the Marlins' maneuvers.

They better at least get Gaston.  If they don't, the Gausman deal is an absolute fleecing by Atlanta.

All the more reason that they should have just thrown all the money at them BEFORE Miami traded for more slot money and while they still had a big advantage.  That way, the agent would have been forced to turn down the max money from us, knowing that once they did that, they would have get much less immediately from Miami once we announced we were out. 

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

What a second.

There is a bit of a misunderstanding here.

What I said, and what other have also said, is that we think that International spending was capped at a lower level than the total slots Dan traded for plus the slots the O's already had.

That is a far cry from saying Dan was ordered to trade slot money away.

My personal belief is Dan traded away the excess like he has every other year.

I think that theory is plausible given the prior actions of both Dan and ownership.

First of all, I appreciate that you are taking a somewhat different position, but here is the post I quoted and was responding to:

16 hours ago, bpilktree said:

So the ownership told DD to trade away the 750k because they didn’t want to spend it.  They could have just kept it and at the end say that they were unable to sign anyone they thought was worth using it on.  It is not like if you have it you have to spend it.  The traded for the right to spend it if they wanted not that they had too.

So, bpilktree clearly was positing that ownership ordered Duquette to trade the slot money.   And it was stated as a fact, not a theory.   IMO, there’s no evidence this happened and the theory is implausible.  

Your theory is different, and somewhat more plausible, but unless I’ve missed something, it’s still just a theory, not something that has been reported.   Correct?

[Can_of_corn]

23 minutes ago, Frobby said:

First of all, I appreciate that you are taking a somewhat different position, but here is the post I quoted and was responding to:

So, bpilktree clearly was positing that ownership ordered Duquette to trade the slot money.   And it was stated as a fact, not a theory.   IMO, there’s no evidence this happened and the theory is implausible.  

Your theory is different, and somewhat more plausible, but unless I’ve missed something, it’s still just a theory, not something that has been reported.   Correct?

My apologies, I missed the post you were referring to.

And yes my theory is a theory and I've never suggested otherwise.  I do think it fits in nicely with what we have seen before.

[Malike]

2 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I've noticed that once VVM looked to be going to the Marlins folks really started hyping up Gaston.

Maybe he turns into something but he isn't that highly touted.

Marlins liked him enough to do a pre-deal for 2M for him before his test failed. I'm pretty sure VVM isn't exactly what one would call highly touted, either.

[ISU94]

1 minute ago, Malike said:

Marlins liked him enough to do a pre-deal for 2M for him before his test failed. I'm pretty sure VVM isn't exactly what one would call highly touted, either.

He's been pumped up a lot just due to the whole ordeal this has been and being older/more of a sure thing as he isn't some 16 year old with a billion different potential outcomes.

Definitely wanted him, just saying though.

[Malike]

3 minutes ago, ISU94 said:

He's been pumped up a lot just due to the whole ordeal this has been and being older/more of a sure thing as he isn't some 16 year old with a billion different potential outcomes.

Definitely wanted him, just saying though.

Would have loved to have had him as well. Gaston or VM Jr are likely to be as good or better than VVM. Nobody knows. It's not something I obsess over, though. There are some good players from Mexico and Asia that aren't available yet and will be before July of next year.

 

[Can_of_corn]

15 minutes ago, Malike said:

Marlins liked him enough to do a pre-deal for 2M for him before his test failed. I'm pretty sure VVM isn't exactly what one would call highly touted, either.

BA had him at #1 on the same list that Gaston is at #24.  That's a bit of touting. 

While I think it is certainly possible that Mesa Jr or Gaston ends up better than VVM I don't think it is accurate to say it is likely.  The lists are certainly not perfect but I don't think they are quite useless either.

[Malike]

9 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

BA had him at #1 on the same list that Gaston is at #24.  That's a bit of touting. 

While I think it is certainly possible that Mesa Jr or Gaston ends up better than VVM I don't think it is accurate to say it is likely.  The lists are certainly not perfect but I don't think they are quite useless either.

BA isn't infallible as you know. Touted is one thing. Personally, when I hear highly touted, names like Machado, Harper, Guererro Jr, etc come to mind. Maybe this wasn't a very good class, we'll know in a few years I guess. No sleep lost here.

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, Malike said:

BA isn't infallible as you know. Touted is one thing. Personally, when I hear highly touted, names like Machado, Harper, Guererro Jr, etc come to mind. Maybe this wasn't a very good class, we'll know in a few years I guess. No sleep lost here.

I'm more interested in tempering expectations for Gaston than I am propping up VVM.  If VVM comps to Gentry or the other names we have heard and he is #1, what is a reasonable expectation for Gaston?

 

[foxfield]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'm more interested in tempering expectations for Gaston than I am propping up VVM.  If VVM comps to Gentry or the other names we have heard and he is #1, what is a reasonable expectation for Gaston?

 

Ubaldo?

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, foxfield said:

Ubaldo?

That would be a great result.

I was thinking not getting out of A ball.

[foxfield]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

That would be a great result.

I was thinking not getting out of A ball.

I meant current Ubaldo. But well played sir. 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, foxfield said:

I meant current Ubaldo. But well played sir. 

Out of baseball?

Yes, that comp works.

[ISU94]

24 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

BA had him at #1 on the same list that Gaston is at #24.  That's a bit of touting. 

While I think it is certainly possible that Mesa Jr or Gaston ends up better than VVM I don't think it is accurate to say it is likely.  The lists are certainly not perfect but I don't think they are quite useless either.

Because he's farther along and more of a sure thing to make it to the bigs. 

If we're talking strictly upside, VVM isn't with a lot of these guys. Hell, his brother definitely has bigger upside than VVM. VVM is heralded more for his defensive play and I've seen some talk about him as a 4th OF.

None of this is to slam him just because he didn't come here, but the excitement for VVM and co. was definitely more so (at least from me) that fact that we are actually involved in the IFA market and going after top guys. Never thought of VVM as some game changer for us or a massive piece for the future.