Greene on the way to Baltimore? No.

[markpolis]

Seeing that we didn't want Greene due to his salary leads me to believe we can forget about signing Tex, Burnett, or any other high-ticket free agent this year.

Time to BLOW IT UP!

Or perhaps we want to spend our money more wisely on players such as Tex and Burnett.

[anselmO]

Seeing that we didn't want Greene due to his salary leads me to believe we can forget about signing Tex, Burnett, or any other high-ticket free agent this year.

Time to BLOW IT UP!

That is the first thing I thought when I read this. If we're so ready to spend big and upgrade the team, then why did we just "balk" at couple million dollars for a major upgrade at a serious position of need?

Just doesn't seem like a team thats getting ready to pony up 10/200 for Tex and 4/64 for Burnett.

[Mackus]

Seeing that we didn't want Greene due to his salary leads me to believe we can forget about signing Tex, Burnett, or any other high-ticket free agent this year.

Time to BLOW IT UP!

That's certainly not a very safe logical jump there.

They didn't feel Greene was worth hit $6.5M he'd make and giving up a C-level prospect. You can debate whether or not their analysis of his value was accurate, but its pretty obvious that they didn't feel he was worth that type of money.

Just because they won't spend extra on mediocre guys who you don't feel is worth the money in no way signifies that they won't spend what it takes to land guys that they do feel are worth the money.

[murrayfan420]

For a team that very may well have been cash flow negative for 2008, $6.5 million is a lot of money just to take a flyer for a SS who hit .213 last year.

[Enjoy Terror]

Does anyone have revenue and profit figures for the Orioles organization? I simply can't imagine a ballclub that attracts 10-15K people per game all year can afford to spend $100M on payroll, on top of a souring economy. Why does everyone assume that MacPhail and Angelos are cheap and nobody ever thinks "Where is all that money actually going to come from?"

[waroriole]

Izturis will just be another lazy move made by this organization over the past 12 years.

Izturis, Garland, Byrd...70 wins here we come!

You know I really don't get why some people continue to use this term. Does anyone think that MacPhail & Co. just say "I don't want to think about who we can acquire through trade, or sign, to play SS. Just give me Izturis, I'm tired of thinking about it." It's lazy on your part to not come up with another word to describe how you feel about MacPhail's actions towards our SS situation.

[Mackus]

I disagree because you would be right back in this situation in 2010 because odds are he wouldn't stay here. If he rebounds from his injury he is gone, if he doesn't we are stuck with the drek we have now MINUS players and money.

I would rather have two years of Izturis for the same price as one year of Greene. I feel he is a bad risk.

Izturis for 2 years would be a terrible move. Sign him for 1 year only, maybe throw in an option you have no intentions of picking up. In no way do I want to commit to having a far below average player here in 2010. Thats why extending Greene after trading for him would have been a bad move as well. Guaranteeing 2010 to Izturis would be a poor move, IMO.

[tvdoc]

Seeing that we didn't want Greene due to his salary leads me to believe we can forget about signing Tex, Burnett, or any other high-ticket free agent this year.

Time to BLOW IT UP!

I agree with you 100%

[davearm]

That's certainly not a very safe logical jump there.

They didn't feel Greene was worth hit $6.5M he'd make and giving up a C-level prospect. You can debate whether or not their analysis of his value was accurate, but its pretty obvious that they didn't feel he was worth that type of money.

Just because they won't spend extra on mediocre guys who you don't feel is worth the money in no way signifies that they won't spend what it takes to land guys that they do feel are worth the money.

Agree with Mackus here.

Just because a person balks at spending $5 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks doesn't mean the same person wouldn't spend $200K on a Ferrari.

[davearm]

That is the first thing I thought when I read this. If we're so ready to spend big and upgrade the team, then why did we just "balk" at couple million dollars for a major upgrade at a serious position of need?

Just doesn't seem like a team thats getting ready to pony up 10/200 for Tex and 4/64 for Burnett.

Seems to me that MacPhail simply didn't think Greene at $6.5M was a very attractive value proposition.

[clapdiddy]

Agree with Mackus here.

Just because a person balks at spending $5 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks doesn't mean the same person wouldn't spend $200K on a Ferrari.

Yeah...you guys could be right. I also look at the whole Bradford situation, which appeared to be a salary dump as well.

I'm not heart-broken about Greene. I'm just concerned that the money issues are such a huge concern. Greene was probably only a one year rental, so I'm not sure why that salary would be too much for us to take on, that's all.

[TonySoprano]

Seems to me that MacPhail simply didn't think Greene at $6.5M was a very attractive value proposition.

...Nor do I.

[SilentJames]

Izturis for 2 years would be a terrible move. Sign him for 1 year only, maybe throw in an option you have no intentions of picking up. In no way do I want to commit to having a far below average player here in 2010. Thats why extending Greene after trading for him would have been a bad move as well. Guaranteeing 2010 to Izturis would be a poor move, IMO.

But you can't guarantee that he WILL extend or will be WORTH extending.

That is the rub. We have no idea how Greene will come back from injury, we aren't going anywhere in 2009 and so long as we get better D and more consistent production from the SS hole that is all we need.

We don't have anyone that can fill it now

And I would rather not be in this situation again in 2010 when Greene leaves.

Again, I will quote someone from earlier in this thread: Greene will either save or ruin his career in 2009. Is that going to be worth 7 million and a couple prospects to take that risk?

Right now the Orioles don't have a strong hand, we need cards x, y and z. Is it going to be worth the bet to see the flop? With Greene I say no.

Besides, there reluctance to give Greene money is in no way related to their pursuit of AJ and Tex. Three completely different situations.

[tvdoc]

Agree with Mackus here.

Just because a person balks at spending $5 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks doesn't mean the same person wouldn't spend $200K on a Ferrari.

Good point!

[nadecir]

Agree with Mackus here.

Just because a person balks at spending $5 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks doesn't mean the same person wouldn't spend $200K on a Ferrari.

Maybe so, but if you are one of the people balking at a $5 dollar cup of coffee at Starbucks, you are a lot less likely to spend $200k on a Ferrari. Doesn't mean it won't happen. But it is quite possible that if you you are balking at spending $5 for a cup of coffee, it is because you don't have a lot of spare change laying around.

On the other hand, someone who has no problem paying $5 for a cup of coffee is a lot more likely to pay for a Ferrari than one who won't pay for expensive coffee.