Ok, so now what?

[osbaseball08]

He brings up Atlanta because there were rumors that Markakis will bolt for the Braves as soon as he gets a chance since he is from Georgia.

We know how well that worked out!

But seriously:

-We need to extend Markakis, 6/65 or 6/70. Let him know we are serious about him and build around him.

-Try to extend Roberts, something like 4/50, if that's a no go, shop him around.

-Stay away from Redding and Hendrickson, there is no point, they won't be a factor and if we really are just looking for innings eaters they can be found for cheaper and only 1-year deals.

-Sign one of the Japanese pitchers and give them a shot. What do we have to lose??

-Start the season with Wieters in AAA, and bring him up as soon as its past the deadline for a service year.

-Sign Zaun to mentor Wieters and to help with the staff.

-Look into suitors for Scott, if we can get some value from him great, if not he is a useful DH.

-Look into suitors for Sherill as well, but only if we get great value for him. He can be very useful going forward.

Take a serious look at our young pitchers, and if any of them are ready to bring up, give them a shot. If they aren't however, DO NOT rush them up to bigs this season, we don't need their clocks ticking before they are ready.

-Spend money to get the best prospects in the draft! This is unbelievably important to continue the rebuild effort. No slot money signings!!!

Keep the faith guys, we'll be alright.

[NoVaO]

I haven't read through this thread, but what do we do now?

For the rest of this offseason, trade Roberts, extend Nick, go out and find a couple stop-gaps, but don't overpay.

Hopefully some of our veterans, especially some of the guys in the bullpen, will have a strong first half so we can look to potentially deal them at the trade deadline.

As for the future, invest in Latin America...I don't know how many times people have called for this and I'm sure things are progressing, but I would like to see some results.

Invest in the draft...we have to take more chances with players who drop for signability or character issues and then shell out the money necessary to sign them.

I mean, what else are you going to do? If you're willing to spend $21 million a year for 7 years on a player and that doesn't get it done, take maybe $10 million and invest it in top rated prospects that fell for one reason or another or take some of that money and sign some premium Latin American talent.

Let's take the draft for example. Use the money on 6 or 7 of these prospects for the next 7 years. Or do it every other year. If you know that money is available and you know you likely won't be using it for the upcoming free agent classes, then we should look for different ways to invest it. That money will go on top of what is already budgeted for our first round pick and other selections.

If you aren't going to compete through free agency, you have to find another way. It won't work if the teams who spend all the money in free agency are also spending more than you during the draft.

Bottom line is we need a stacked farm system, but we need to speed up the process it takes to accomplish that.

[33rdst]

You extend Nick...6/65-7/85...Whatever in that range.

How about this happens though...AM DOESN'T TAKE 2 MONTHS TO GET STUFF DONE!

BRob should be dealt...AM needs to get moving on this...He should try and trade Scott, Sherrill, Mora, Huff, etc.....

You have just announced to MLB that you will never be seriously involved in a top flight FA, so you need to go cheap and build with young talent, extend your own and then let them walk when they are FAs.

Yep this is the only recourse for us.

[Pruke]

It doesn't appear Dunn is on our radar...Maybe he will be but I doubt it and even if he is, I am going to guess that DC or maybe even Boston outbid us for him anyway.

So, where does this team go now?

Do they trade BRob? Huff? Mora(if he allows it)?

I still say Nick gets extended...I still think the Orioles will sign 2 crappy starting pitchers just to appease the fans and say that they addressed pitching but beyond those things, I have no idea.

We were willing to give 20 million to Tex...So, obviously the money is there for us to do some big things.

Extend Markakis.

Trade BRob, Huff, Mora, Walker, Scott, Sherrill and anyone else who can bring about prospects that can't walk out the door in 2-3 years.

[OsandRavens787]

PAY KAKES! Period.

[Pruke]

9. Make sure you have any fans after all this if not buy some with the left over money.

There's at least a path to winning baked into it - versus investing in a series of automated wheelchairs chocked full of aging veterans who still make millions.

I, personally, have no interest in watching a 70 win team headlined by Mora, Huff and Roberts. Sorry - but it is what it is - an egg.

[obannon35]

Blow the whole thing up.

Roberts and Markakis to the Indians for LaPorta, Mills, ACab, Miller and Hodges

Luke Scott to the Mets for Nick Evans

And that's just for starters...

And I'd seriously put Arrieta in the rotation and give Tillman and Matusz a shot to make the rotation.

We are going to lose a ton of fans this season so we might as well get rid of all the name players and build around the Big Three, Jones and Wieters who I would try to extend ASAP...

Does somebody have this guy on suicide watch?? Seriously bro, he's one player, I wanted him BAD!! He's a Yank, he's hated, but the show must go on.....

[Sports Guy]

If we choose to get involved in the FA market a couple of years from now we'll be in fantastic shape to capitalize. All you have to do is look at market cycles to realize that we're at the end of a peak and about to head downwards until the next media deals are signed.

Jeter (190m) is to Tejada (72m) as Teix (180m) is to __________

There will be some great buying opportunities and we should hopefully have resources to capitalize if we choose to engage. You may not believe it now, but I think you'll find this non-move puts us in a great position down the line. We're going to have the opportunity to go after ___________ if we so choose at prices that are a fraction of the inflated contract Teix received.

Yea, you can continue to hold out hope on this one.

[WallyBunker]

Nothing they can realistically do (Sheets or Dunn are not realistic) will ease the pain from this Teixeira fiasco.

I would like to see a solid Roberts trade, a Markakis extension, and a trade of Huff if possible. We need to have as young a core as possible going into 2010.

I agree. The only way to compete with the Yanks and Sox is to do as Tampa did, sell out completely to player development. I think you immediately (probably should of been done last year) trade BRob, Sherrill, Huff, Scott, and Mora (if he will waive his no trade clause). We need to extend Markakis and Guthrie ASAP. Who cares about 09? It shoud be a year seeing who can play and who cannot. Forget signing these retread, low talent pitchers like Looper or Hendrickson and see if Liz, Olsen and others can get the job done. Would throwing them out there every 5th day really effect their record?

[emmett16]

It doesn't appear Dunn is on our radar...Maybe he will be but I doubt it and even if he is, I am going to guess that DC or maybe even Boston outbid us for him anyway.

So, where does this team go now?

Do they trade BRob? Huff? Mora(if he allows it)?

I still say Nick gets extended...I still think the Orioles will sign 2 crappy starting pitchers just to appease the fans and say that they addressed pitching but beyond those things, I have no idea.

We were willing to give 20 million to Tex...So, obviously the money is there for us to do some big things.[/QUOTE]

I disagree with the bold...Same as CC and Brewers. As McPhail said, this was a special circumstance. They put in a huge bid at 20mm for a 15mm player because he was from the area and is a fan favorite(why I don't know, for he has never played with us and has never shown a gram of allegiance). I don't think the O's have a lot of payroll flex(this is my opinion and I realize people have others). I agree Nick gets the extention, we should look to trade BRob, Huff I think stays and we try to collect on two draft picks - beyond that, there are not a lot of moves. This team was in pitiful shape when AM came om board...we have a ways to go, but he's sticking to the plan and is a proven winner.

[Elon Os Fan]

You extend Nick...6/65-7/85...Whatever in that range.

How about this happens though...AM DOESN'T TAKE 2 MONTHS TO GET STUFF DONE!

BRob should be dealt...AM needs to get moving on this...He should try and trade Scott, Sherrill, Mora, Huff, etc.....

You have just announced to MLB that you will never be seriously involved in a top flight FA, so you need to go cheap and build with young talent, extend your own and then let them walk when they are FAs.

What does BROB get you?

What does Huff get you?

What does Sherrill get you?

What does Scott get you?

[CrazyBird]

They need to trade for D,Cab now to headhunt when he faces the Yankees he can show TEX some love.

[JTrea81]

If you trade Markakis this offseason, good luck trying to draw more than 1.7 million fans.

They won't even draw that this year after this Tex mess, so where's the harm? You know you've pretty much lost the fanbase by dealing Roberts and not signing Tex, so you might as well deal Markakis and go all young like the Marlins and hope to get a winning season again down the road with the younger talent and hope the fans come back at some point.

But the way the Orioles have approached this offseason, there is going to be even more Camden green showing than last year. The Orioles had an opportunity to bring back the fanbase and possibly compete sooner and they chose to take another direction.

So now they have to suffer the consequences of lower gate reciepts, which they will as soon as Opening Day, which I doubt will be a sellout.

[tywright]

Clearly the O's can't outspend the MFY and Boston for any FA that is attractive to us. For that reason, we can not plan our strategy around signing big time FAs. With that said we can still spend, but in different ways. 1) We need to focus that $$ on signing international prospects and drafting high end guys (i.e. Boras clients). 2) Also we need to lock up our guys early, which means after Markakis is extended then Jones and Wieters need to be locked up. This goes for Guthrie too. 3) And lastly, we need to trade BRob, Huff, and Scott NOW when they are at their peaks in order to give us the greatest return. We need to be able to build a core of young players that will be cheap for the next 6-8 years, while also having a top 5 farm system EVERY year.

[ChaosLex]

They won't even draw that this year after this Tex mess, so where's the harm? You know you've pretty much lost the fanbase by dealing Roberts and not signing Tex, so you might as well deal Markakis and go all young like the Marlins and hope to get a winning season again down the road with the younger talent and hope the fans come back at some point.

But the way the Orioles have approached this offseason, there is going to be even more Camden green showing than last year. The Orioles had an opportunity to bring back the fanbase and possibly compete sooner and they chose to take another direction.

So now they have to suffer the consequences of lower gate reciepts, which they will as soon as Opening Day, which I doubt will be a sellout.

Think we'll beat this Marlins game from last season? lol