Orioles Spend 250k of their International Money ( Report that it was $750k)

[eddie83]

1 hour ago, Sydnor said:

To me the question is why are you trading $750,000 of your allotment for a 9th round pick who was a senior sign that is playing in the GCL and is 3 years older than the average GCL player (and much older than any legitimate GCL prospect)? I’d honestly rather see the organization not spend their allotment than trade it for a guy who might get cut in spring training next year. I never expected them to spend all of the slot money that they acquired, or even a significant chunk of it without signing VVM, but as I mentioned above, the optics are poor, and as @Moose Milligan better said, this looks really dumb.

If we get Mesa no one will care.

If we don’t, everyone will be upset no matter if Zoellner was aquired or not. 

 

[eddie83]

41 minutes ago, clapdiddy said:

Yes...or even 7 more 100K types.   This deal smells pretty rotten.

Are there 7 more 100K types out there? I have no idea. 

 

[Ohfan67]

1 hour ago, eddie83 said:

So they added slot money to make trades look better? The slots have a value of zero if they aren’t spent or traded for a player. 

I’m waiting for someone to insinuate that this trade has cost them VVM. 

I think it’s possible. It’s assuming the worst about the Orioles. I hope they sign V2 and all is well and this idea is just grumpy Orioles fan negativity. I’m certainly pretty grumpy about the Orioles.  

[jerios55]

2 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

If we get Mesa no one will care.

If we don’t, everyone will be upset no matter if Zoellner was aquired or not. 

 

Until the Orioles have a winning team and solid minor league system, we'll always care (and even after).

Bad deals are bad deals. 

Even if Zoellner turns out solid, was he really worth what they have offered? 

VVM has a chance to change my view of Gausman trade.  If 750k is true, I'll remain annoyed with this one.

[sevastras]

Maybe they have a desperate need for a veteran presence in the GCL? They really have me on this one. 

The Phillies made the trade so they can add the international money to flip for the Bautista trade with the Mets. I just don’t understand why not a better player?

[Frobby]

11 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

Are there 7 more 100K types out there? I have no idea. 

 

People act like $100 k is nothing, but in terms of a signing bonus, it’s  still pretty substantial.    It would be interesting to know how many international players get a bonus that large every year.  

[jsbearr]

I think there is a lot of dread here that is more reflective of past seasons.

Also, "sign three more guys for that 750k" sounds great in the abstract, but you have to find those guys.  And those 250k guys are often players other teams think are worth far below that.  All in all, no one is signing a guy no one else knows of.  They are signing guys they think better of than other teams think of those players.

So maybe the Phillies see three or four more players they want to secure.  The Orioles probably do not know who the Phillies want, but certainly know of those players and think those players likely are worth far less than that.

So you couple that with where the Orioles are in a commanding position to offer money to Mesa and you wind up with having more money being able to spend than you think is worthwhile spending.  What do you do with that money, you acquire assets that you, for some reason, find value.

Someone in the Orioles system likes Jack Zoellner.  i do not know why.  Maybe he has great makeup.  Maybe they think he can help stabilize the lower minors.  Maybe they have some faith in a weird metric that means more to them than his age or poor contact performance.  I have no clue.

The take home here though is that this is an inconsequential deal for the most part.  Zoellner is not a big deal.  750k is not a big deal if the club sees nothing of great importance to buy with it and the club still has a ton of money left over to offer Mesa if Mesa wants money.

Keep your powder dry because, knowing this club, they will do something incredibly curious.  However, this event is not that. 

[Ohfan67]

What are the Phillies going to do with 750K? All the lists I can find online suggests that all the top talent except V2 have been signed. Is there 750k of talent still out there after V2? In the end this may just be a PTBNL type of trade and folks like me getting ticked are off base. Will be interesting to see how it plays out, for sure. 

[Enjoy Terror]

13 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

How would that work? Jones wasn't going to waive his no trade clause unless the situation was right. How would they know if the situation was right without trying to see what was available?

I wasn't under the impression he was going to waive his NTC period.

[Redskins Rick]

18 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

And that's worth 250K in international slot money?

But, we spent International slot money.

[jsbearr]

11 minutes ago, Ohfan67 said:

What are the Phillies going to do with 750K? All the lists I can find online suggests that all the top talent except V2 have been signed. Is there 750k of talent still out there after V2? In the end this may just be a PTBNL type of trade and folks like me getting ticked are off base. Will be interesting to see how it plays out, for sure. 

They are likely signing guys they value in the 100-300k range who are likely guys other teams think are worth far less than that.

We you sign an amateur for 200k, you are signing someone else's 50k guy. Not always, but that is often the case.

[Ruzious]

36 minutes ago, jsbearr said:

I think there is a lot of dread here that is more reflective of past seasons.

Also, "sign three more guys for that 750k" sounds great in the abstract, but you have to find those guys.  And those 250k guys are often players other teams think are worth far below that.  All in all, no one is signing a guy no one else knows of.  They are signing guys they think better of than other teams think of those players.

So maybe the Phillies see three or four more players they want to secure.  The Orioles probably do not know who the Phillies want, but certainly know of those players and think those players likely are worth far less than that.

So you couple that with where the Orioles are in a commanding position to offer money to Mesa and you wind up with having more money being able to spend than you think is worthwhile spending.  What do you do with that money, you acquire assets that you, for some reason, find value.

Someone in the Orioles system likes Jack Zoellner.  i do not know why.  Maybe he has great makeup.  Maybe they think he can help stabilize the lower minors.  Maybe they have some faith in a weird metric that means more to them than his age or poor contact performance.  I have no clue.

The take home here though is that this is an inconsequential deal for the most part.  Zoellner is not a big deal.  750k is not a big deal if the club sees nothing of great importance to buy with it and the club still has a ton of money left over to offer Mesa if Mesa wants money.

Keep your powder dry because, knowing this club, they will do something incredibly curious.  However, this event is not that. 

Call it what you want, but combined with things like... having the worst team in MLB, it does help make the organization look like they are completely clueless - particularly after they made a big deal about changing directions about being involved in the "international market" and then making multiple trades FOR international slot money.  The effects can change - if they sign VVM, but at this point, I would bet on that not happening.       

[Aglets]

9 minutes ago, Enjoy Terror said:

I wasn't under the impression he was going to waive his NTC period.

He made it clear it was mostly a career decision.   He is about to be a FA and wants to paint himself as a MLB starting OF still.  If a trade destination was going to offer him a starting spot (Philly made it clear it would be a reserve role there) I think he would have taken it.   I'm sure a starting OF makes millions more than a reserve.

[sevastras]

23 minutes ago, Ohfan67 said:

What are the Phillies going to do with 750K? All the lists I can find online suggests that all the top talent except V2 have been signed. Is there 750k of talent still out there after V2? In the end this may just be a PTBNL type of trade and folks like me getting ticked are off base. Will be interesting to see how it plays out, for sure. 

They are flipping the money to the Mets for Bautista. Not sure how much that would give the Mets, but their fan base also has visions of VVM. I would bet they end up with Gaston though. 

[jsbearr]

10 minutes ago, Ruzious said:

Call it what you want, but combined with things like... having the worst team in MLB, it does help make the organization look like they are completely clueless - particularly after they made a big deal about changing directions about being involved in the "international market" and then making multiple trades FOR international slot money.  The effects can change - if they sign VVM, but at this point, I would bet on that not happening.       

It makes the team looks clueless if you ignore how the business is run.

The got more signing bonus money and they still have a whole lot more than other teams have to offer.

This deal does absolutely nothing to impact any potential Mesa deal.

It simply is bad optics for people who are unfamiliar with this part of the industry.