Rodon to the Yankees - 6 years / $162MM

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, terpoh said:

You have anything to back up those "facts?"

Also you listed those cities and asked if they are "desirable" not if their crime rates are high. I'd venture more people vacation or seek trips to Tampa/St Pete than to Baltimore.

Probably, but not during the baseball season.  I’m making a trip there myself in early-mid March.  I spent a week there last March, too.   Drove past the Trop several times and walked around a popular area within walking distance a couple of times.   

People need to understand that the population in that area is pretty spread out and getting around isn’t that easy.  The Trop is in St. Pete, which only has a population of 260,000.   Tampa’s population is 400,000, and the drive from there to St. Pete during rush hour is pretty bad.   The entire Tampa Bay Area population is 4.3 mm, which is plenty, but it’s not that easy to get to the Trop.   And the ballpark experience, by all accounts, isn’t a good one.  
 

[Bemorewins]

3 hours ago, terpoh said:

You have anything to back up those "facts?"

Also you listed those cities and asked if they are "desirable" not if their crime rates are high. I'd venture more people vacation or seek trips to Tampa/St Pete than to Baltimore.

You can look it up if you like. The stats are very accessible.

And yes more people vacation to Tampa/St Petersburg than Baltimore. By you know where much more people go? …. Miami. And they are not a desired destination for free agents in baseball… I wonder why? Oh that’s right they are known to be cheap as well.

If the Orioles want go players to come and play for them, they are going to have to pay them what they what. It’s that simple.

[Just Regular]

Had a chuckle at this detail.

 

[HakunaSakata]

On 12/16/2022 at 1:06 PM, Stram said:

At some point though - we have to accept that certain players just don't want to live in Baltimore when they can live in NY or LA with all that money. The city needs to improve its reputation in order for the team to attract some of these guys in FA because some of the players will just cross it off immediately regardless. Nobody on this board knows what offers the O's put out there. 

This is such a cop out answer. If you want to make an argument for LA and NY because they have a better shot at a championship that's fine, but to paint a picture of Baltimore being some sort of warzone and that being the reason is just ridiculous. It's also pretty clear the Orioles weren't interested or linked to any of the major free agents so spare me the "nobody on this board knows what offers the O's put out there" rhetoric.  At the end of the day money talks. If the Orioles offer enough money then players will come here. If they don't then players won't. 

Side note, you don't have to actually live in the City to work in the City. OPACY is "barely" even in the City. 

 

[terpoh]

11 hours ago, Frobby said:

Probably, but not during the baseball season.  I’m making a trip there myself in early-mid March.  I spent a week there last March, too.   Drove past the Trop several times and walked around a popular area within walking distance a couple of times.   

People need to understand that the population in that area is pretty spread out and getting around isn’t that easy.  The Trop is in St. Pete, which only has a population of 260,000.   Tampa’s population is 400,000, and the drive from there to St. Pete during rush hour is pretty bad.   The entire Tampa Bay Area population is 4.3 mm, which is plenty, but it’s not that easy to get to the Trop.   And the ballpark experience, by all accounts, isn’t a good one.  
 

The ballpark is not nice, but the surrounding area, pier and downtown St. Pete are great. Just not a great place for a stadium for all the reasons you listed. Asking people to drive over a bridge 30-40 minutes to watch the "Tampa" team is not appealing, especially when you figure not just downtown Tampa but the Tampa metro area which stretches even further north and east and is even harder to get to St. Pete. 

I went to both the July and August series against the Rays. Really enjoyed St. Pete both times.