O's trade International Signing Bonus Slots to Blue Jays for OF Dwight Smith Jr

[sportsfan8703]

I think DD acquired the extra slots just for this very purpose. To trade them for players like Smith. Just like he did in the past. 

If Mesa or Gaston would have happened within the last two months, I think we would’ve seen Elias he active. Not necessarily signing them, but trading slot money for players. Unfortunately, Elias was either not signed yet, or he was trying to fill out a staff. 

I think we could’ve gotten a pretty nice “prospect” if another team wanted to jump in on Gaston or Mesa, and Elias was settled in. 

[Jammer7]

10 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

So did Dan when he was hired.

If teams are only planning on spending 150K why did the O's agree to send them 750?  Why not stop at one 250K slot?  Unless maybe the O's want to lower the slots they have on hand so at the end of the period they don't have as much left unspent?

 

 

Duquette did say that when he hired Fred Ferreira, I believe. But ownership clearly was not on board with that. Buck got the ML roster to outperform expectations and money had to be spent on payroll that Dan wanted to spend internationally, IMHO. Dan had a history of doing what he said he would, but he got overruled by Buck and Peter. Look back at what Dan did early in his tenure, he was a good executive when he was allowed to do what he wanted to do. 

And sending them 750K, who knows. Maybe the BJ’s wanted that to sign 8-10 more kids. Who knows. I will trust Elias at his word, since he has a track record of doing just as he has said he would. And ownership has come out and said that he is THE MAN in charge. Signing Koby Perez is absolutely huge and backs up what he said. This is the real deal. It’s going to happen, absent some massive shift in ownership philosophy. 

[Frobby]

What I expect to see in Latin America is year over year progress.    I accept the fact that essentially all the top prospects for the 2018-19 period (except a couple of guys from Cuba or Mexico) were signed last July 2 or shortly thereafter, that most of the top prospects for 2019-20 already have had verbal agreements in place for some time that will be confirmed on July 2 or so, and that even a good portion of the 2020-21 class already have commitments.    But that doesn’t mean that opportunities won’t increase each year.    Not every talented player reveals himself by age 14, and there will be “late” bloomers for us to identify and sign, and more guys each year who aren’t already committed.   I think the progress will be tangible and noticeable from one year to the next, including this year.    And I do think Duquette already got the ball rolling with some of the guys we signed before Elias came on board.   Some patience is going to be required but I’m expecting steady progress that will be visible enough.     

[Can_of_corn]

4 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

I think DD acquired the extra slots just for this very purpose. To trade them for players like Smith. Just like he did in the past. 

If Mesa or Gaston would have happened within the last two months, I think we would’ve seen Elias he active. Not necessarily signing them, but trading slot money for players. Unfortunately, Elias was either not signed yet, or he was trying to fill out a staff. 

I think we could’ve gotten a pretty nice “prospect” if another team wanted to jump in on Gaston or Mesa, and Elias was settled in. 

I think DD acquired them to make the trade look less like a salary dump.

[Can_of_corn]

45 minutes ago, Jammer7 said:

Duquette did say that when he hired Fred Ferreira, I believe. But ownership clearly was not on board with that. Buck got the ML roster to outperform expectations and money had to be spent on payroll that Dan wanted to spend internationally, IMHO. Dan had a history of doing what he said he would, but he got overruled by Buck and Peter. Look back at what Dan did early in his tenure, he was a good executive when he was allowed to do what he wanted to do. 

And sending them 750K, who knows. Maybe the BJ’s wanted that to sign 8-10 more kids. Who knows. I will trust Elias at his word, since he has a track record of doing just as he has said he would. And ownership has come out and said that he is THE MAN in charge. Signing Koby Perez is absolutely huge and backs up what he said. This is the real deal. It’s going to happen, absent some massive shift in ownership philosophy. 

8-10 "filling out DSL" kids would cost what 50K max?

I'd love to believe but until the money starts flowing from ownership to premium International players I'm going to stay skeptical.

[atomic]

12 hours ago, LTO's said:

The brothers wanted to play in Florida from the beginning and they got paid more than they would be worth if they signed in the next period. I will ask you pointedly, how much more money would you have given them than the 6 million they got from Miami? Give me names of players that you would sign that are available right now and for how much. It is insane you are critiquing Elias for not doing anything (That's not even true anyway, they are signing players) when he was handed the reins VERY late in a process that literally takes years to get ahead of. Take these reactionary posts to Facebook.

Did you even read the article?  I get you are attacking me for any criticism of what the team is doing and not making any sense in your posts.  Maybe you should self-reflect and think before you post.

I am not criticizing him for not signing anyone now.  Although that shortstop from Cuba should have been attempted a signing.  The thing is he says he most likely is going to sign anyone of significance next year or perhaps even in 2020-2021 period.  

I am guessing most of the non-spending is from ownership and Elias is making excuses already so you don't get disappointed when we don't do anything internationally once again.

Also why do you think that the Marlins had to get so much extra cash to sign the Mesa brothers if they wanted to play so badly in Florida? And what evidence do you have that they wanted to play so badly in Florida.  From all reports the Orioles were several million dollars off in their offer to the Mesa brothers.  As they had more money than the Marlins having such a low bid had nothing to then wanting to play in Florida.  This Florida thing just doesn't make any sense. And I don't know where you guys got it from but making excuses from ownership that are illogical isn't a very good argument. 

[interloper]

4 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I think DD acquired them to make the trade look less like a salary dump.

I think that's probably somewhat true. But also it's more than just appearances. DD knows he had some decent success with these slot trades (Bleier, others), and I suspect Elias will too. It's free players. You can think of them as additional players included in last season's trades. 

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, interloper said:

I think that's probably somewhat true. But also it's more than just appearances. DD knows he had some decent success with these slot trades (Bleier, others), and I suspect Elias will too. It's free players. You can think of them as additional players included in last season's trades. 

Hypothetical-

We trade 750K in international slots to the Jays.  Jays use that money to sign a player that ends up a winning lottery ticket.  Said player beats the O's heads in for six years.

Was Dwight Smith Jr a free player?

 

Now is that a likely scenario?  Of course not, but if you are giving another team an asset you can't say it's free. 

It is conceivably better for the O's to let the slots dissipate unused instead of allowing other teams to use them.

[interloper]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

Hypothetical-

We trade 750K in international slots to the Jays.  Jays use that money to sign a player that ends up a winning lottery ticket.  Said player beats the O's heads in for six years.

Was Dwight Smith Jr a free player?

 

Now is that a likely scenario?  Of course not, but if you are giving another team an asset you can't say it's free. 

It is conceivably better for the O's to let the slots dissipate unused instead of allowing other teams to use them.

Fair, but I'd argue not when you're the O's with your sucky talent base. 

[atomic]

6 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Hypothetical-

We trade 750K in international slots to the Jays.  Jays use that money to sign a player that ends up a winning lottery ticket.  Said player beats the O's heads in for six years.

 Was Dwight Smith Jr a free player?

  

Now is that a likely scenario?  Of course not, but if you are giving another team an asset you can't say it's free. 

It is conceivably better for the O's to let the slots dissipate unused instead of allowing other teams to use them.

I agree on that.  

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, interloper said:

Fair, but I'd argue not when you're the O's with your sucky talent base. 

I don't think Smith improves the team going forward.

[interloper]

4 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I don't think Smith improves the team going forward.

With his option remaining, I think he allows you to call up a decent outfielder from AAA if someone gets hurt so you don't have to go to Diaz. And he's going to be better than Yaz or even potentially Stewart if you want to continue to develop him in AAA. I know Tony says he IS Yaz, but I think his left-side hit tool is maybe better than what Yaz is bringing to the plate.

I think Elias is in full-on "is this guy improving the quality of talent depth in the organization Y/N" mode. And of course the answer more often than not is "Y". 

But I hear you. 

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, interloper said:

With his option remaining, I think he allows you to call up a decent outfielder from AAA if someone gets hurt so you don't have to go to Diaz. And he's going to be better than Yaz or even potentially Stewart if you want to continue to develop him in AAA. I know Tony says he IS Yaz, but I think his left-side hit tool is maybe better than what Yaz is bringing to the plate.

But I hear you. 

Just my opinion, I could easily be wrong, I'm not a scout.

I'd rather see what Stewart could do.

[interloper]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

Just my opinion, I could easily be wrong, I'm not a scout.

I'd rather see what Stewart could do.

Nor I. And I probably would too. 

Smith could also be an eventual replacement for Rickard. Or insurance for Mullins since he can play CF. He's a little more useful than Stewart at the moment, at least until Mancini can finally get out of LF. 

[Number5]

12 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Hypothetical-

We trade 750K in international slots to the Jays.  Jays use that money to sign a player that ends up a winning lottery ticket.  Said player beats the O's heads in for six years.

Was Dwight Smith Jr a free player?

 

Now is that a likely scenario?  Of course not, but if you are giving another team an asset you can't say it's free. 

It is conceivably better for the O's to let the slots dissipate unused instead of allowing other teams to use them.

Of course it is conceivable.  It is conceivable that every trade in history works out better for the other team.  I'd prefer that the Orioles' GM, however, make deals based on what he believes to be likely, rather than never make a trade for fear that it won't work out.