O's, Mora To Announce Three-Year Contract

[nyco]

We "overpay" either way:

a.) Overpay for Melvin Mora (and everything he brings to the community and team).

b.) Overpay for Mr. Undetermined Questionmark.

Who would you rather overpay next year?

[MP]

We've been beaten over the head with the Angelos stick for too long.

Other fanbases focus on the players that their team has, while everything here is squabbling over small amounts. Nobody's really worth it, you can't overpay, you gotta be careful, try to nickle and dime people, etc... The focus is on the dollar sign, which has very little effect on the field.

We need to get the focus back on the field, where our games are being lost. Keeping Melvin is a good thing. This is about Melvin, a good guy and a good player who wants to be here. It's not about $6 million or $9 million or some figure in between, because whatever that figure is it doesn't change a thing come gametime. I wish we could focus on the players more around here.

[osfan83]

Remember Mel was utitity player... has the ability to play almost anywhere. So in the last year or two of his contract, if his numbers decline, and a better option presents it's self at 3rd, he has the ability to move to another position.

Good teams over pay at times for the last year of a multi year deal, to get good production for the first couple of years. Plus I would not be suprised if Mels contract looks like a real bargin for a top 10 AL 3rd baseman two years from now.

Good for Mel.. the guys loves Baltimore, lives in Baltimore, and cares about Baltimore... we need more talented guys who feel the same way.

[Dipper9]

I'll have to say, even though I have been against the contract the whole time, I am really glad this got done and Mora can retire an O.

.

I have heard this several times now from various people. Do you guys REALLY think Mora is going to retire at age 37 or 38?

[fitz2]

This is GREAT news! The most important thing, IMO, about Mora is that he's a star player and is willing to do what the club needs him to do. He switched to third base and became one of the top defensive third baseman in the league. He can bat effectively in a number of spots in the lineup. Also, he's obviously very happy here, which you can't necessarily say about too many players (at least star players, not trying to take a shot at Tejada here).

On top of that, I don't see 3/26 or so as overpaying, especially playing in the AL East. If the Yanks needed a third basemen (we can just imagine a situation where ARod get's a debilitating injury ), they would pay Mora over 30 mill for sure; they'd probably give him 5/45-50 just to screw us. Regardless, Mora is worth every penny.

I'm also happy because it means we'll be able to continue to see all his kids sitting in the stands, which are so cute.

[mweb]

We "overpay" either way:

a.) Overpay for Melvin Mora (and everything he brings to the community and team).

b.) Overpay for Mr. Undetermined Questionmark.

Who would you rather overpay next year?

Or we sign some retread to play third and don't pay much to anyone. So I'll take option A.

[AgentOrange]

I have heard this several times now from various people. Do you guys REALLY think Mora is going to retire at age 37 or 38?

IMO, Yes.

We will never know for sure, but I think he will retire an O, no matter what age.

[Max Power]

If the payroll is upped another 10-20 million, this contract will be ok.

But if he is making 1/7 or 1/8 of the payroll in 2008 and 2009, it could hinder us from from doing other things.

If Mora's making 1/7th or 1/8th of the team payroll than the Orioles should be contracted. From a baseball perspective, this isnt a great signing but revenue sharing has significantly decreased the free agent pool so I'm not that against it. Hopefully Mora is happy now and we see some improvements from him in the field.

I also really hope they put in a clause preventing him from bunting with runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out but I'm not keeping my fingers crossed on that.

[Sports Guy]

If Mora's making 1/7th or 1/8th of the team payroll than the Orioles should be contracted. From a baseball perspective, this isnt a great signing but revenue sharing has significantly decreased the free agent pool so I'm not that against it. Hopefully Mora is happy now and we see some improvements from him in the field.

I also really hope they put in a clause preventing him from bunting with runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out but I'm not keeping my fingers crossed on that.

As of today, 8 million a year would be 1/9 of our payroll. It is very likely that the contract will be backloaded somewhat, so if PA does not up the payroll more than it is now, 1/7-1/8 is highly likely.

[FourRunJack]

I hope this is true. We need to keep him here.

And Melvin's not being overpaid, he's being paid. He deserves it.

Really! What kind of contract do you think other team would have thrown at him. His numbers are very impressive if you compare him to other 3b over the last few years. I think they are top three. Some team probably would have given him a 10 mill a year contract.

[olehippi]

I have heard this several times now from various people. Do you guys REALLY think Mora is going to retire at age 37 or 38?

Whether he retires then or not will be determined by whether he is still a productive player. If so, I'm sure the O's would open to offering a one-year contract if they want to keep him.

[erb8472]

I also really hope they put in a clause preventing him from bunting with runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out but I'm not keeping my fingers crossed on that.

I'm hoping for that clause myself. I was furious when Melvin laid one down against the Yanks with no outs. I think it was around the 4th or 5th inning, but Chacon had just walked Roberts and Markakis. He couldn't throw a ball over, and Melvin comes up there and bails him out by bunting.

[TonySoprano]

If Mora's making 1/7th or 1/8th of the team payroll than the Orioles should be contracted.

How do you feel about Tejada making 1/6 of the 2006 payroll?

[nyco]

For those into stats…

Projecting what he does in the next three years, does he nail any significant milestones, worth getting excited about?

And if so, isn't that yet another reason to keep him (on top of being a great guy, great player, great Marylander, etc…)?

[Max Power]

How do you feel about Tejada making 1/6 of the 2006 payroll?

I wish it closer to 1/8th or 1/9th but at least Tejada is the best SS in baseball. Mora is a very good player but I can think of almost 10 players I'd rather have at 3rd base instead of him.