What was the most exciting offseason move to you?

[Matt]

21 hours ago, atomic said:

I didn't even remember that Van Slyke was on the Orioles.  We got 2 out of 3 players from the Pirates vaunted outfield.  Too bad we didn't get the 3rd. 

Hah, I’d never thought about it like that before. Certainly would’ve changed our fan lives if we’d also managed to sign Bonds back then!

[Woody Held]

On 12/5/2018 at 6:46 PM, mdbdotcom said:

The Frank Robinson trade. I was 12. As soon as I heard about it I called my best friend and told him we were going to the World Series.

That was my last correct baseball prediction.

Me as well.  

[Jagwar]

On 12/5/2018 at 7:27 PM, TonySoprano said:

Man, you guys are old.   I was 4 when the Frank trade went down. Having said that, I realize the large majority of posters here weren't yet born.

Postseasons here are largely non-consequential, so there's not much to select from.  I'll go with December 21, 1995 when the Orioles signed Roberto Alomar.   That's also the offseason Davey Johnson was hired to manage.

And I seem to remember they came within a whisker of adding David Cone.

[weams]

1 hour ago, Jagwar said:

And I seem to remember they came within a whisker of adding David Cone.

I thought it was real close, but I don't think he was ever coming. 

[Jagwar]

3 hours ago, weams said:

I thought it was real close, but I don't think he was ever coming. 

I can remember hitting refresh on my Compuserve computer with a 33.6 dialup modem, waiting for news that Cone would be an Oriole. So disappointed when he signed with the Yankees. 

[TonySoprano]

17 hours ago, weams said:

I thought it was real close, but I don't think he was ever coming. 

Cone had been traded to NYY in 1995, and was a free agent after the season.  About 3 weeks after he resigned with NY, the Orioles traded to acquire David Wells.  The following season...

Quote

In the final two days before the deadline, sources say Gillick arranged a four-player trade with Cleveland: Wells and Jeffrey Hammonds to the Indians for outfielder Jeromy Burnitz and young left-hander Alan Embree (who is on the disabled list). Angelos said no

Those last two months, Wells had an ERA of 5.87 to go with a record of 4-4 in 13 GS.   After the season, Wells joined Cone on the Yankees' staff.
Peter wasn't done meddling, much to the dismay of Pat Gillick. 

Quote

The Orioles talked at length about swapping Bonilla to the Reds for a group of youngsters, the most prominent of whom was Triple-A outfielder Steve Gibralter. Like the other deals pursued by Gillick and assistant GM Kevin Malone, this trade would've given the Orioles at least one Triple-A prospect, the type of prospects the Orioles are lacking. Angelos didn't want to shop Bonilla for a player who couldn't help them immediately.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1996-08-04/sports/1996217139_1_gillick-angelos-orioles

[Palmoripken]

The 95-96 offseason as a whole. Alomar, Surhoff, trading for Wells, Randy Myers, Dave’s Johnson as manager, & Gillick at GM. I went to my first game at OPACY in ‘94 when I was 7 but ‘96 was the first year I religiously followed the team.

[bobmc]

On 12/5/2018 at 6:46 PM, mdbdotcom said:

The Frank Robinson trade. I was 12. As soon as I heard about it I called my best friend and told him we were going to the World Series.

That was my last correct baseball prediction.

He was past his "prime years" and produced favorably despite - but did his WAR exceed his price of contract?

btw - kudos on your final accurate prediction (to this date)!  Have any predictions on ME and Co.?

[mdbdotcom]

4 minutes ago, bobmc said:

He was past his "prime years" and produced favorably despite - but did his WAR exceed his price of contract?

30.5 fWAR as an Oriole for six year, for which he earned a total of less than 1/2 million dollars.. Since this was before free agency and cable TV, I'm not sure how much a single fWAR was worth back then, but I'm sure it wasn't a stat back then. Bill James maintains there is a bias in war that favors players from earlier eras because there was a much greater gap in ability separating the great players from everyone else.

[Ohfan67]

10 hours ago, mdbdotcom said:

30.5 fWAR as an Oriole for six year, for which he earned a total of less than 1/2 million dollars.. Since this was before free agency and cable TV, I'm not sure how much a single fWAR was worth back then, but I'm sure it wasn't a stat back then. Bill James maintains there is a bias in war that favors players from earlier eras because there was a much greater gap in ability separating the great players from everyone else.

I didn't know that. Neat. 

[DrungoHazewood]

November 13th, 2006.  The day they signed J.R. House.  I really thought that was a sign that someone in the Warehouse had the capacity for abstract thought.