Tex or AJ

[dslats715]

We need pitching desperately...you can never have too much! AJ!!!

Agreed, but I think age wise and overall importance. Tex outweighs AJ

[Sports Guy]

Agreed, but I think age wise and overall importance. Tex outweighs AJ....

......by a mile!!

[JTrea81]

Agreed, but I think age wise and overall importance. Tex outweighs AJ

Especially because we may have a pitcher that can be better or equal to Burnett in our system.

We don't have a Mark Teixeira...

[dslats715]

Especially because we may have a pitcher that can be better or equal to Burnett in our system.

We don't have a Mark Teixeira...

Definitely agree with you and Sports Guy

Theres nothing close in our farm system to Tex

[Mike B]

......by a mile!!

Don't get me wrong I would love to see Tex wearing our new look uniform next year but we could sign Tex/Dunn/Furcal and if we do not add pitching we can not win or IMO break .500.

If you can not pitch you can not compete. Pitching over Tex (multiple pitchers).......by miles.

[Sports Guy]

Don't get me wrong I would love to see Tex wearing our new look uniform next year but we could sign Tex/Dunn/Furcal and if we do not add pitching we can not win or IMO break .500.

If you can not pitch you can not compete. Pitching over Tex (multiple pitchers).......by miles.

We have the pitching long term, not the hitting.

This isn't even a debate. Tex is the most obvious and clear winner here.

[LuckyHorseshoe]

The only justification for choosing AJ is impatience. Angelos hates paying pitchers for more than 3 years, hates pitchers with injury histories and will cream his briefs over the local boy makes good headlines. AJ is higher risk at any price, is less valuable long term because of the pitching in the minors and only makes sense for a discount and for no more than three years. Tex, whether elite or merely very good, fills one hole in the system at 1B and another in the batting order at cleanup. His average year is roughly Huff's career year and Huff was our best hitter last year. He will still be in his prime when our kid pitchers come up. His only drawback is his pricetag and as pointed out elsewhere, we will be starting from scratch on this roster and so be able to control costs around him over next three years.

[bird watcher]

We have the pitching long term, not the hitting.

This isn't even a debate. Tex is the most obvious and clear winner here.

I know WHY you say this, but I wouldn't be so certain myself. We actually don't KNOW that any of the pitchers adorning our top 10 list will even be as good as Burnett is. We need some certainty in the rotation for the young guys to step in and not have to be Josh Beckett (bad example given his latest shelling) from the get go.

I refuse to answer the question based on this...

The Orioles, in my mind, have no justification to not sign both of them!

[Sports Guy]

I know WHY you say this, but I wouldn't be so certain myself. We actually don't KNOW that any of the pitchers adorning our top 10 list will even be as good as Burnett is. We need some certainty in the rotation for the young guys to step in and not have to be Josh Beckett (bad example given his latest shelling) from the get go.

I refuse to answer the question based on this...

The Orioles, in my mind, have no justification to not sign both of them!

If AJ gets the 5/80 deal he is hoping for, that is plenty of justification not to sign him.

[DrungoHazewood]

If AJ gets the 5/80 deal he is hoping for, that is plenty of justification not to sign him.

$80M is about the market value of 1000 innings at 4.0 WAR per 200 innings. Or close enough for government work.

So I expect him to get somewhere in that neighborhood.

[Sports Guy]

$80M is about the market value of 1000 innings at 4.0 WAR per 200 innings. Or close enough for government work.

So I expect him to get somewhere in that neighborhood.

I think you may be right because of the lack of pitching this offseason.

The only thing is the perception of his health but there are some big spenders in desperate need of pitching, so I expect him to get at least 5/70 and maybe more than that.

[Mike B]

We have the pitching long term, not the hitting.

This isn't even a debate. Tex is the most obvious and clear winner here.

We may have the pitching long term. I think you need a solid veteran starter (not a Steve Traschel) to help young pitchers develop. I would take two solid 15 game/200 IP solid veteran starters over Tex. Signing two veteran types would more than likely cost a great deal less than Tex and improve the team more. Again, I would be thrilled and more than a little surprised if Tex is an Oriole next year but IMO pitching should be the top priority. I do get a kick out of how you get to decide what is debatable or not.

[Satyr3206]

$80M is about the market value of 1000 innings at 4.0 WAR per 200 innings. Or close enough for government work.

So I expect him to get somewhere in that neighborhood.

If he gets that deal or anything close to it I say forget signing him. I would rather overpay draft picks and sign some international talent than give a pitcher that deal.

[Anonymous]

We may have the pitching long term. I think you need a solid veteran starter (not a Steve Traschel) to help young pitchers develop. I would take two solid 15 game/200 IP solid veteran starters over Tex. Signing two veteran types would more than likely cost a great deal less than Tex and improve the team more.

There are 3 reasons I see to make a strong bid for a guy of AJ's caliber, if the price stays within a range that Andy finds reasonable. Mike basically covers 2 of them:

1. Yes, we MAY have the pitching long-term. As Mike implies, we MAY NOT. If the young talent doesn't blossom as expected, AJ is an obvious need.

2. As Mike says directly, a solid veteran starter would help young pitchers develop. AJ may be overkill for this purpose, if that's the main motivation for getting him. But he obviously would fill that need.

3. Perhaps the most enticing thing for me, though, is the vision of what our rotation would look like if the young guys DO develop along the lines of something close to a best-case scenario. Just imagine a 2010-12 rotation of AJ, Guthrie, Matusz, Tillman, and Arrieta, in whatever order you wish to place them. Barring injuries or developmental hiccups, that quintet is championship material.

[Old#5fan]

If we could only sign one of these guys, which one would you want??

AJ by a mile. This is a total no brainer as the Orioles are so much in dire need of starting pitching that it isn't funny. AJ would be one in the fold, and they need at least two more before worrying about upgrading the offense. Wasting money Tex at this point would be beyond idiotic without attaining a complete new set of starting pitchers (other than Guthrie).