Wieters

[geschinger]

MacPhail also probably has some extra pressure on him considering his background as a member of the ownership negotiation team that worked out the new draft rules to keep bonuses down.

From: New Agreement Includes Draft, Rule 5 Changes

The new system should decrease the growth of bonus payments to amateurs, as teams can walk away from negotiations with the reassurance of having a similar pick the next year. (Although that compensation pick, if unsigned, is not subject to compensation, which keeps clubs from using it over and over.) Clubs have for years wanted a system of prescribed, slotted bonuses for every high pick but learned early in the negotiations that the union would not accept it, so instead focused on stronger compensation rules.

"The concern with clubs was to get that club that was drafting as much leverage that they can have, so they can select the best player they possibly can," said former Cubs president Andy MacPhail, a member of ownership’s negotiation team. To the extent that bonus offers will probably either decrease or not grow as quickly because teams can walk away more comfortably, union executive director Donald Fehr said, "It will clearly have an effect. It will clearly not put (players) in the position that they would have been in had slotting been accepted. You have to find compromises."

[centralpaosfan]

Weiters hasn't signed an agent.

Has another year of eligibilty in college.

Will most likely be the #1 or #2 pick next year.

What is his motivation to come to Baltimore if they don't give him what he is asking for?

[RayFink1e]

If we dont sign him because of a 40 man roster problem, I will go absolutely nuts. Whatever is worse then not being a fan anymore, is what Ill do. Its not like we dont have any bums on our 40 man roster.

I will go crazy. It will be one of the dumbest moves in Orioles draft history, worse then Chris Smith.

[rolliefingers]

Now this I agree with, but there is a lot of panic in these threads.

Look, I know exactly how I'm going to feel if we lose Wieters: I'm going to want MacPhail's head on a stick. There is simply NO excuse for not giving Wieters an ML contract, a spot on the 40-man roster, and nearly any sum of money he wants.

No. Excuse. None.

But until that happens, there's nothing we can do but hope that sanity prevails.

[Moose Milligan]

Moose, you are far too intelligent to get sucked into the fear-mongering going on here, it is almost like you are a loyal Bushie.

I don't think I'm that intelligent

http://www.orioleshangout.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1012207&postcount=87

I made that post earlier this thread and I believe the two symbols that Wieters could be for this team are very legit...

IMO, this isn't just about signing a first round pick, this is about a franchise making a big leap and hopefully turning the corner.

I'm really not panicked, but looking back over my posts I can see why people would think that. I'm just pissed.

[24fps]

Even though I haven't hit full blown "panic mode" yet, we'd all be naive to be nonchalant about anything the Orioles are involved in. Yeah, letting Townsend go turned out to be alright, but IMO failing to sign a first round pick is just baffling. Can you imagine an NFL or NBA team failing to sign their first round pick?

Yes but drafting him sure wasn't. Wouldn't having Steven Drew waiting in the wings make our offseason decisions a lot easier?

I expect that Boras knows the Orioles situation as well as the front office, which means he knows the status of the postional players in our minor league system. He also know that it's unlikely that the free-agent market will fill all our needs. I suspect he's done the math and concluded that he holds the best cards.

I think he's right about that so I agree with those who feel that Weiters has nothing to gain by not waiting until the final minutes.

[rolliefingers]

If we dont sign him because of a 40 man roster problem, I will go absolutely nuts. Whatever is worse then not being a fan anymore, is what Ill do. Its not like we dont have any bums on our 40 man roster.

I will go crazy. It will be one of the dumbest moves in Orioles draft history, worse then Chris Smith.

One of the dumbest moves in the history of the franchise, period.

[geschinger]

Yes but drafting him sure wasn't. Wouldn't having Steven Drew waiting in the wings make our offseason decisions a lot easier?

Boras compromising w/Drew and Weaver made it possible for the Orioles to draft Wieters IMO. If either got anywhere near what they were demanding I don't think we'd of gotten anywhere near Wieters in the draft.

[RShack]

I think I can speak for sane people everywhere when I summarize the Weiters situation as follows:

1. "We Just Don't Know Yet, Do We?"

2. "And We Probably Won't Know Until Wednesday".

We now return you to your regularly-scheduled pre-deadline heart attack marathon...

I can't wait to see how it turns out. Not just the Weiters thing, but *this* whole thing.

So far:

* SG has decided that losing Weiters makes signing Tex impossible too.

* Moose has asked people to *prove* that it *might* get done.

* Several people say that Jordan's gonna be so steamed that he'll quit.

* A handful of folks are threatening to stop being Oriole fans.

Who will blow a gasket next? Any bets on who? Any predictions on how?

It's like a really, really slow train wreck... you have time to pull up a chair and swap notes on how it will turn out.

.

[SoCal]

This is just a bad situation all around. As much as we need to sign this guy, I'm sure that Boras is also being his completely unreasonable self.

[Moose Milligan]

* Moose has asked people to *prove* that it *might* get done.

*Ahem*

I simply asked why 119 felt cocksure about the chances of getting Wieters signed by Wednesday night. Other than pointing to the clock he had no sources that said anything similar to something like "The Orioles and Matt Wieters are finalizing a deal" or "The O's and Boras are ironing out the last items on a contract for Wieters."

Thats all I was looking for.

[rolliefingers]

2 things discourage me....The talk about MacPahil not being known for going the extra mile to sign guys, like stuff that davearm has said and the information in the paper about him being "fair" but not going nuts for guys...

Secondly, the notion that Weiters wouldnt' have been his pick? Why on earth not? We are in absolute desparate need of a young bat and he wouldn't have taken him why? Obviously it is speculation but that is not the kind of thinking we need from our head guy if we are going to turn this thing around.

If you can take a guy like Weiters simply in the draft, you DO IT!!!!!!!!!

Exactly, and this is what makes the "oh well, we'll just get someone else next year" argument so specious. Wieters could have been the best player in the draft, period. We got him at #5 because three teams (I'm assuming that Price wasn't a consolation pick) thought he'd be a tougher sign than he was worth.

We did not have a 2nd or 3rd round pick. We paid absurd amounts of money for mediocre veterans to bring about that end. We have MASN money. We need a catcher to take over for Ramon, and another good young bat in the system.

JUST GET IT DONE. That's it.

[centralpaosfan]

Moose- if you had to guess, what percentage of the time does someone with an "inside source" get it right?

[Guest oriofan8]

That is correct. But where he gets picked in the draft doesn't matter much since he'll looking for well above slot money. He very well could be drafted by a team who takes the approach that he's not going to sit out another year and could low-ball him. Unless the O's really do lowball him it'd be a terrible risk/reward decision for him to wait and try his luck next year.

And there is always the "major injury" factor.

[Mad Mark]

OK, people, here's what the Rosenthal column means:

We're getting down to nut-cutting time, and the two sides are beginning to try to leverage each other by negotiating through the press.

Given the stakes, I cannot imagine that PA is not involved, and that Wieters will not sign with the Orioles.

Does he really think the extra money he might make next year is worth spending his 20s with the Devil Rays? (Well, those new baby blue and gold unis they'll be wearing next season will be pretty and all... )