Dan to Roch: “I’ve been told by ownership that the club’s going to take the payroll down significantly. "

[Ohfan67]

I don't believe a word the owners say about money. Back in the early to mid naughts, there were many reports that Angelos was funding part of the payroll out of his pocket. I think maybe Tony and some of the OH at the time were shown figures at the dinner they had with Flanny and Beattie? Anyway, it turned out that Angelos had loaned the Orioles money, not given the Orioles money. MLB is a racket, a vice. And we're all addicted.

[Natty]

Won't it be interesting having a team where one single player makes more money than the rest of the players combined? 

[drjohnnyfeva]

17 minutes ago, Natty said:

Won't it be interesting having a team where one single player makes more money than the rest of the players combined? 

I think that's where the significant reduction comes in.  Davis can't handle another year of the scrutiny about performance and especially on a losing/rebuilding team team.   We'll eat most of his contract, but not all of it.  He won't be on the team come Spring Training.  That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.

[Satyr3206]

What a joke. Think about all the revenue streams.

[baltfan]

2 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I never believe teams are operating at a deficit.

That's a bit cynical.  With all the egomaniacal owners out there you don't believe that there has ever been one that decided to go all in even if he knew it was likely to result in a deficit just to win once?  Ok, how about an egomaniacal owner who says thinks he will be in a deficit for a given year but the winning will bring more fans in the coming years?

I agree that generally these guys make more money than they pretend they do, but business all of the time operate at deficits while attempting to grow, why would a baseball team be any different?

[baltfan]

46 minutes ago, Ohfan67 said:

I don't believe a word the owners say about money. Back in the early to mid naughts, there were many reports that Angelos was funding part of the payroll out of his pocket. I think maybe Tony and some of the OH at the time were shown figures at the dinner they had with Flanny and Beattie? Anyway, it turned out that Angelos had loaned the Orioles money, not given the Orioles money. MLB is a racket, a vice. And we're all addicted.

Of course Angelos loaned money to the business.  Whenever any owner puts money into a business it is in the form of a loan.  That way when that money is recouped it isn't a taxable event.  

[Frobby]

It only makes sense to take the payroll down during a period when your team won’t be competitive anyway.   The Astros took their payroll down to $14.6 mm in 2013.   The Cubs got down to $59.8 mm in 2014.    This is what rebuilding looks like.   

[Sydnor]

In my opinion this is a common sense decision by ownership, and isn’t really news. I believe that the “significant” reduction in payroll is consistent with where the organization is in its life cycle. When the Astros were in the middle of their massive rebuild, their 25 man opening day payroll bottomed out at approximately $26 million in 2013. After 2013, it gradually increased to approximately $50 million in 2014, $72 million in 2015, and $97 million in 2016 (please note I’m not comparing the Baltimore market to the Houston market, only payroll during a rebuild). It will be difficult for the Orioles to get there because of Davis.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, I would be reluctant to simply toss Cobb and Cashner aside this offseason because I think there is some value to having veterans that can log innings so the team doesn’t have to rush and expose young pitchers before they are ready (unless the team can find serviceable pitchers on one year deals, which has been a challenge in the past). Additionally, I believe Cobb in particular has a decent chance to build some trade value. Sarris recently wrote a piece for The Athletic explaining that Cobb seems have regained his premium splitter, which is consistent with what I have seen. He wrote:

Now, he’s finally got something back on his splitter, and the drop has returned recently, if not all the way back to the halcyon days of early 2014.

https://theathletic.com/456905/2018/08/04/a-beer-a-ball-game-and-a-bag-of-mail-chicago-beer-the-thing-is-back-launch-angles-and-streakiness-and-more/

Thus, I think I’d hold Cobb and Cashner and try to find other ways to pare additional payroll.

[Moose Milligan]

Someone was yammering to me here a couple weeks ago about how a big payroll was a great thing and it was a travashamockery that the Orioles were looking to cut payroll.  

[Sydnor]

7 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It only makes sense to take the payroll down during a period when your team won’t be competitive anyway.   The Astros took their payroll down to $14.6 mm in 2013.   The Cubs got down to $59.8 mm in 2014.    This is what rebuilding looks like.   

It looks like you and I were making the same point, and you posted it while I typed my reply. My apologies.

[wildbillhiccup]

Honestly what else can they do to significantly lessen payroll? They're stuck with Trumbo and Davis and to a lesser extent Beckham. I guess they could maybe trade Beckham (who would take him?), but I don't see anyone taking Trumbo and Davis. And they have no pitching replacements for Cobb and Cashner so how are they going to trade them? 

You know, it's a bit ironic because if they hadn't forced O'Day down the Braves' throat they probably could have gotten back one of their top 10 pitching prospects which would would have made Cobb or Cashner expendable. 

[Frobby]

5 minutes ago, Sydnor said:

It looks like you and I were making the same point, and you posted it while I typed my reply. My apologies.

I thought the detail you provided was very worthwhile.  

[RVAOsFan]

If ownership is talking to DD about next years payroll, does that mean something is in place for him to get an extension and lead the rebuild?

[Aristotelian]

Is he saying significantly from where we are right now, or significantly from last year? The latter is obvious, although neither is really surprising. No QO to Jones, but that is not surprising. Trumbo and Cashner if they can find a buyer, maybe Beckham if they nontender.

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, RVAOsFan said:

If ownership is talking to DD about next years payroll, does that mean something is in place for him to get an extension and lead the rebuild?

I would not make that assumption.