MacPhail's worst move for the Orioles

[helloharv]

Hello, Harv?

There are three ways to bring in talent. Pay for it. Trade for it. Grow it. Everyone of the players you mentioned, save for Pie, was brought in as a stopgap or as an extra player. In trades, you usually have to give something to get something, so that's usually a 50-50 proposition. Did you have someone in mind that we should have signed as a FA? This thread is bringing all of the old guard out. First we had Duke's guy (Bigbird) and now Flanny's (Harv). Correct me if I'm wrong.

Tex/Burnett/Dunn/Furcall/Lowe/Wolf you don't think any of those guys would have helped us this year AND in the future?

Heck Dunn is hitting better than every hitter combined we added during the winter ! Why would we want a guy that has 22 homers / 59 rbi / .403 on base % for our 10th out of 14 runs scoring offense.

What did Andy do this off-season with those 9 players that helps us win now or in the Future ?

Who is our starting 1b or 3b next year ?

[Art Wing]

Tex/Burnett/Dunn/Furcall/Lowe/Wolf you don't think any of those guys would have helped us this year AND in the future?

Heck Dunn is hitting better than every hitter combined we added during the winter ! Why would we want a guy that has 22 homers / 59 rbi / .403 on base % for our 10th out of 14 runs scoring offense.

What did Andy do this off-season with those 9 players that helps us win now or in the Future ?

Who is our starting 1b or 3b next year ?

I wanted Dunn too but he didn't want to DH. Where would you have put him?

[El Gordo]

1. Entering 2008 with Luis Hernandez as your starting SS.

2. Signing Eaton.

3. Re-signing Trachsel.

4. Trading Bradford away for nothing.

5. Signing Hendrickson.

I agree with all of these, in this order. But in the sceme of thigs what difference would any of them have made. We weren't winning any thing any way; we are taking about 2-3 wins in any of these cases at the most.

[Sports Guy]

Tex/Burnett/Dunn/Furcall/Lowe/Wolf you don't think any of those guys would have helped us this year AND in the future?

Heck Dunn is hitting better than every hitter combined we added during the winter ! Why would we want a guy that has 22 homers / 59 rbi / .403 on base % for our 10th out of 14 runs scoring offense.

What did Andy do this off-season with those 9 players that helps us win now or in the Future ?

Who is our starting 1b or 3b next year ?

What contract would you have given to each of those players?

[El Gordo]

Tex/Burnett/Dunn/Furcall/Lowe/Wolf you don't think any of those guys would have helped us this year AND in the future?

Heck Dunn is hitting better than every hitter combined we added during the winter ! Why would we want a guy that has 22 homers / 59 rbi / .403 on base % for our 10th out of 14 runs scoring offense.

What did Andy do this off-season with those 9 players that helps us win now or in the Future ?

Who is our starting 1b or 3b next year ?

You don't get it. None of these guys is making us contend this year. Only Tex is a long term option, and all of them would have been way over priced. Dunn didn't want to DH, Wolf didn't want to play here and did want to play in LA, as did Furcal, who isn't an upgrade over Izzy/Andino this season.

[Guest rochester]

Of course there was...There was always a chance that some contender would need a top of the order hitter like Roberts.

BRob, being an elite second baseman and an impending FA who was going to be worth 2 draft picks, would have likely been a sought after commodity.

And if he wasn't, you could still extend BRob because the Orioles are much more likely to offer him more money than any other team...and if he did decide to walk, then the Orioles end up with the 2 picks.

So, we either:

1) Trade him for a good package.

2) Extend him.

3) Lose him and get picks.

Win/win all around...Instead, by extending him early, you lose the chance at trading him or getting picks...In other words, you greatly limited your options. Now, you have an aging second baseman who, while he should be worth his contract, probably will be on a decline when we really need him the most and when we could have spent his money elsewhere.

SG: I understand the 2 picks thing and agree with at the back end of the contract he will be declining but, saying that, don't you think that 1/2 year of a BRob would get less than one that is signed? Especially with a team that is on the cusp and willing to forgo the picks to have BRob for a couple of good years at a decent price?

[helloharv]

What contract would you have given to each of those players?

Simple ...whatever it took to sign 2 of them. We are going to have to overpay in order to bring someone here .... why is our payroll going down since we added MASN ? That should allow us to INCREASE payroll.

Tex was one of the most important Free-Agents in the history of the Orioles...but yet we were at least 30 million under what he recieved

[helloharv]

You don't get it. None of these guys is making us contend this year. Only Tex is a long term option, and all of them would have been way over priced. Dunn didn't want to DH, Wolf didn't want to play here and did want to play in LA, as did Furcal, who isn't an upgrade over Izzy/Andino this season.

It is about adding talent. If we had added 2 of those players this year..then we don't have to do as much this off-season. Why do we need to be ready to contend in order to sign Elite Talent?

Who is our 1b or 3b next year?

Who is our Ace ?

[Sports Guy]

SG: I understand the 2 picks thing and agree with at the back end of the contract he will be declining but, saying that, don't you think that 1/2 year of a BRob would get less than one that is signed? Especially with a team that is on the cusp and willing to forgo the picks to have BRob for a couple of good years at a decent price?

No..He is owed 40 million into his declining years...Teams aren't likely to jump all over that.

[Sports Guy]

Simple ...whatever it took to sign 2 of them. We are going to have to overpay in order to bring someone here .... why is our payroll going down since we added MASN ? That should allow us to INCREASE payroll.

Tex was one of the most important Free-Agents in the history of the Orioles...but yet we were at least 30 million under what he recieved

So, your solution is to give a blank to players who already got overpaid and were going to be old and likely declining?

Much like you buddy Mike Flanagan, I am very happy you are not the GM because that is awful strategy.

[El Gordo]

It is about adding talent. If we had added 2 of those players this year..then we don't have to do as much this off-season. Why do we need to be ready to contend in order to sign Elite Talent?

Who is our 1b or 3b next year?

Who is our Ace ?

Only Tex would have made some sense if he had wanted to play here and he did not. He would have cost us upwards of $220 mil. Burnett is an overpriced injury risk, which you would not have wanted to over pay for beyond 2 years, Lowe is also not some one you would want beyond 2 years and wqy too expensive considering our MiL SP talent. There were no 3B options available IIRC. Dunn would not have been an option at 1B, he is a terrible fielder. I know that doesn't matter in fantasy land but it does in real baseball.:rolleyestf:

[Anonymous]

Simple ...whatever it took to sign 2 of them. We are going to have to overpay in order to bring someone here .... why is our payroll going down since we added MASN ? That should allow us to INCREASE payroll.

Tex was one of the most important Free-Agents in the history of the Orioles...but yet we were at least 30 million under what he recieved

jump the shark territory

[Tank]

Simple ...whatever it took to sign 2 of them. We are going to have to overpay in order to bring someone here .... why is our payroll going down since we added MASN ? That should allow us to INCREASE payroll.

Tex was one of the most important Free-Agents in the history of the Orioles...but yet we were at least 30 million under what he recieved

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25988

[RShack]

Simple ...whatever it took to sign 2 of them. We are going to have to overpay in order to bring someone here .... why is our payroll going down since we added MASN ? That should allow us to INCREASE payroll.

Tex was one of the most important Free-Agents in the history of the Orioles...but yet we were at least 30 million under what he recieved

Oh, dear...

[BaltimoreTerp]

You know, when the two main guys arguing against the present strategy are the two guys with connections to the previously failed GMs, it must mean we're doing something right.

I think at this point I would listen to Steve Phillips' opinion over those two or their front-office connections. And that's not a good thing.