Which winter meeting contracts would you have matched or beaten and why?

[Sanity Check]

From the message board posts last week around the winter meetings, I know there are a lot of Hangouters who are disappointed with the lack of Oriole's activity.  While we don't know any of the details around who we made offers to and the parameters of those offers, there were a lot of (in my opinion) eye-popping contracts given out.  Basically, a lot of "stupid money" contracts were being offered, and I mean that in both the slang and literal sense.  While it's easy to be disappointed with what we didn't do, it's also sometimes good to actually be HAPPY with what we DIDN'T do.

So, with  that in mind, and the frustration that many of you/us are feeling, would you have wanted the Orioles to match or beat any of the accepted offers to free agents last week, and if so, which of the contracts awarded would you have either wanted the O's to match or beat, both in terms of years and money, and why?  And also, taking our orange tinted glasses off, for any of the free agents that you would have wanted us to ante up for, do you think the Orioles would have had to offer more money and /or years to get that free agent and would you have done it?

Let's face it, the only real time that I can remember free agents wanting to come play in Baltimore is when Cal Ripken was here and was the face of the franchise.  I know we have some up and comers now, but they have not solidified their place in baseball lore (yet) to make Baltimore an overly attractive place to want to sign.  That day may come again soon, but it's not here now. (again, in my opinion).

While I would have loved to see some impactful moves last week, it was clear to me that we were not swimming in the deep end of the pool, which apparently was much deeper than any of us could have imagined.  And honestly, I found my jaw dropping at some of the contracts, and was thinking to myself, most of those contracts are not ones that we should have even considered doing without looking desperate.

So, which contracts would you have wanted us to match/beat, and why?  And how much, if any, would we have needed to beat the offer by in order to get your guy??  Or, are you grateful that the Orioles did not get involved with the craziness of the contracts that were being offered?

[Frobby]

Awesome first post!  Great screen name, too!

I’ll need to think some more, but I like the Senga deal and the Tyler Anderson deals.  Of course, the latter is more in hindsight, seeing where the rest of the market has gone since that deal happened.  

[Too Tall]

I can't think of one I'd match or top from last week given our needs. I second - .great post and welcome. You are a breath of resonablenesss. "Sanity" is always welcome in my little corner of the world.

[Sanity Check]

Thank you, both.  I've been lurking for years and really learn a lot from you guys with your analysis. and debates.  

 

[Just Regular]

Even though I like Correa better than Turner, Turner leaving perhaps marginal millions 301-350 on the table according to reports implies he's one some Clubs might enjoy having.    But Bryce and Dombrowski make their own center of gravity as I hope Adley will at some point, and doubt 11/300, 11/311 or 11/322 would have closed it for Elias.

I don't think it was by accident Boras' Xander chesspiece was the one to happily rebound Preller's missed attempts to spend mega-millions.    Xander got 25/27ths of Turner, ultimately.    Boras will want Correa above Xander in both years and AAV, I would guess.

I'm 99% sure Elias is going to find another Gibson or Gibson+ value match with someone, as this winter it is just the knight and bishop minor pieces getting put into place, unless Correa or Rodon shock the world.

Turner at his contract would be sort of nice right now though - he has the speed for CF as a Plan B like Adam Jones if you want to conserve his joints for the longer haul.

[Sports Guy]

None.  They were horrible outside of Abreu but the state tax difference likely means we had to go to a level I wouldn’t have wanted to go to.

[jrobb21613]

Carlos Santana - 1yr/6.75 mil.

Tyler Anderson - 3yrs/39 mil.

Mike Clevinger - 1yr/ 12mil.

Matt Boyd - 1yr/10mil.

 

 

 

[Aristotelian]

I think the question should be "beaten" because all things being equal most FA's are going to want to play in a bigger market, a team that is already playoff level, or both. No reason to choose Baltimore in most cases if all we do is match.

I have to say, I don't think there is a contract I have seen that I would have wanted the O's to beat with a wow offer. Maybe 2/28 for Quintana.

[Sports Guy]

5 minutes ago, jrobb21613 said:

Carlos Santana - 1yr/6.75 mil.

Tyler Anderson - 3yrs/39 mil.

Mike Clevinger - 1yr/ 12mil.

Matt Boyd - 1yr/10mil.

 

 

 

Was Boyd a FA?

[Orioles4Life21]

Quintana 2/$26

[Bahama O's Fan]

5 minutes ago, jrobb21613 said:

Carlos Santana - 1yr/6.75 mil.

Tyler Anderson - 3yrs/39 mil.

Mike Clevinger - 1yr/ 12mil.

Matt Boyd - 1yr/10mil.

 

 

 

Agreed, I would have very tempted to match Walker and Taillon and Kershaw

[Aristotelian]

5 minutes ago, jrobb21613 said:

Carlos Santana - 1yr/6.75 mil.

Tyler Anderson - 3yrs/39 mil.

Mike Clevinger - 1yr/ 12mil.

Matt Boyd - 1yr/10mil.

 

 

 

Gibson vs Clevinger will be interesting to track. I did not like that Clevinger prioritized partying over team safety and compliance. Not the worst thing but character matters to me and we have a very positive vibe going on with our young playerds. I am fine with passing on him but it won't be a great look if he outperforms Gibson by a lot.

[JR Oriole]

It is hard for me to envision a future where the offseason doesn't involve what we deem to be "insane" contracts.  Basically, I think this will just be the way it is going forward.  And in the same vein, I don't see us ever being able to participate because we just aren't rich enough and our risk profile doesn't align with what is needed in this business.  So it is like a country club we can never join.  

What the Orioles have amazingly managed to do is transfer their feelings of risk-aversion and budget management to their fanbase, such that our fans actually feel relief from not getting stuck in these contracts even though our own bank accounts are not directly impacted (unlike high gas prices or inflation, which we can't easily avoid).  Like any investment, there is always a justification for not making it.  So we are left rooting for these rich teams to regret these deals, probably knowing that even if those contracts hurt them in later years, they will still have enough money to stay in the club while we are perpetually looking in from the outside.  

To answer the original question, I have no idea what a good contract is versus one that is not good.  I can't say I care either.  All I care about is getting to the playoffs and winning when we get there.  Even if we don't sign anyone else all off-season, I don't care....as long as we make the playoffs and win.  

[jrobb21613]

8 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Was Boyd a FA?

Yes.

[owknows]

Some of these deals were more reasonable than others, but I didn't see any of them offering enough improvement over what we have coming to warrant signing at that price.