Red Sox Working Hard for A-Gon. Why Not Us?

[WiredinBmore]

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If the Red Sox make this happen, I am done with baseball.

[MemorialStadKid]

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If the Red Sox make this happen, I am done with baseball.

Of course they are working hard on this.

Functional baseball teams that plan on becoming winners go out and get the best talent available.

A package of two prospects and cash considerations could get the deal done here IF we were working towards getting the guy, but we're not obviously in the mix for any quality free agents.

Once again, we take a back seat to better run organizations.

"I'll have a table scrap salad please." - Andy MacPhail

MSK

[Hank Scorpio]

Right here, boss.

[Sports Guy]

Why don't people understand that us trading 4-5 top level young players is just not what we should be doing right now...unless that player is a true long term option.

Also, why is it people want to pay top dollar and top package for a player coming off of a career year?

People really just don't get it and I think that is all it boils down to.

[OrioleMagic]

The only way I will be upset is if Boston gets to extend AGon for 5+ years at a rate we could afford. The chances of that happening are fairly slim.

Let Boston give up their farm and fight NYY for the AL Crown in 2010 and 2011.

Then when AGon hits the FA market and we have further developed our core... we can talk about giving up on baseball.

[Woody Held]

Many people don't have a memory 12 years long and don't realize that jumping at free agents is what got us in this mess in the first place. Albert Belle looked real good back then , maybe better than AGon right now.

Stay on the plan and spend when its time. It's not time now

[tom smith]

Why don't people understand that us trading 4-5 top level young players is just not what we should be doing right now...unless that player is a true long term option.

Also, why is it people want to pay top dollar and top package for a player coming off of a career year?

People really just don't get it and I think that is all it boils down to.

SG your wrong if we are going to get better we need players like AGon and we have the players to make that happen and it WILLNOT set us back. Again we over value are young guys who have yet to do anything on the major league level. AGon may have had a career year or maybe not he is only 27 years old and has been very productive for 3 or 4 years now. So we should be talking with SD.

[bird watcher]

Why don't people understand that us trading 4-5 top level young players is just not what we should be doing right now...unless that player is a true long term option.

Also, why is it people want to pay top dollar and top package for a player coming off of a career year?

People really just don't get it and I think that is all it boils down to.

I can understand the reluctance to trade a bunch of prospects but that doesn't make it any less frustrating to know that this will most probably delay our ability to compete.

Even if a fair amount of our guys break out we will more than likely still play second fiddle because of Boston and New York's ability to constantly acquire talent like that.

It is just so in our face every offseason. Tex, Sabathia, Burnett, Lackey, Beckett, Pettite, Agon, ect. ect......... Isn't it disgusting to anyone else?

[MarCakes21]

SG your wrong if we are going to get better we need players like AGon and we have the players to make that happen and it WILLNOT set us back. Again we over value are young guys who have yet to do anything on the major league level. AGon may have had a career year or maybe not he is only 27 years old and has been very productive for 3 or 4 years now. So we should be talking with SD.

We should be talking to SD. But if it takes one of the pieces that we consider and integral part of the future, then it should be eliminated. You talk to them and tell them this is who is available, pick 4-5:

Guthrie, Scott, Pie, Hernandez, Berken, Snyder, Erbe, Waring, Joseph, and other lower level prospects.

Everyone else is a piece you NEED if you acquire AGon to make the leap. They need to be here along with him for the push. Because 1, maybe 2 or 3 of Arrieta, Britton, Matusz, and Tillman will not live up to their potential and reach their ceiling.

[ChaosLex]

Right here, boss.

I like Hank's thread better.

[Sports Guy]

SG your wrong if we are going to get better we need players like AGon and we have the players to make that happen and it WILLNOT set us back. Again we over value are young guys who have yet to do anything on the major league level. AGon may have had a career year or maybe not he is only 27 years old and has been very productive for 3 or 4 years now. So we should be talking with SD.

You telling me I am wrong really doesn;t change anything.

Trading a package of Matusz or Tillman, Snyder, Erbe, Pie/Reimold and Britton is not smart....And then, on top of that, if you can convince him to sign an extension, you are paying him close to Tex money...Money that he isn't worth.

So, you trade a ridiculous package AND you sign him to a stupid contract...That isn't smart...That isn't the proper way to run things.

[JTrea81]

Many people don't have a memory 12 years long and don't realize that jumping at free agents is what got us in this mess in the first place. Albert Belle looked real good back then , maybe better than AGon right now.

Stay on the plan and spend when its time. It's not time now

Ah but Gonzalez is supposedly available now, and the Orioles have a lot of payroll room now.

If you acquire Gonzalez and extend him now, you don't have to go get him when it is time because you already have him.

If not now, we are delaying competing until 2012 IMO and more and more teams are dropping payroll over the next few seasons. Our competition is going to increase for talent and Boston and NY are always going to look more attractive than the Orioles as long as they are winning.

If anything the Orioles need to get involved to make sure Hoyer grabs every drop of talent from Boston that he can, and the Orioles IMO have more ML ready talent that can help the Padres than the Red Sox so they should be able to bid him up even if they can't land him.

[Dr. Andrews]

Don't your understand the difference between where the Red Sox are as compared to us? The Red Sox made the playoffs last year. They have grown/accumulated talent such that they are solid at pretty much every position. They are dealing Mike Lowell which opens up a spot at corner infield and AGonz is an obvious upgrade. With a rotation that consists of Beckett/Lester/Lackey/Daisuke/Wakefield, Buchholz is the odd man out and able to be traded.

We don't have the luxury to structure a package around Matusz. We have far too many holes in our lineup/rotation to jump in and do a 5 for 1 trade right now.

[OrioleMagic]

SG your wrong if we are going to get better we need players like AGon and we have the players to make that happen and it WILLNOT set us back. Again we over value are young guys who have yet to do anything on the major league level. AGon may have had a career year or maybe not he is only 27 years old and has been very productive for 3 or 4 years now. So we should be talking with SD.

It WILL set us back if we only get him for 2010 and 2011!!!

I can understand the reluctance to trade a bunch of prospects but that doesn't make it any less frustrating to know that this will most probably delay our ability to compete.

Even if a fair amount of our guys break out we will more than likely still play second fiddle because of Boston and New York's ability to constantly acquire talent like that.

It is just so in our face every offseason. Tex, Sabathia, Burnett, Lackey, Beckett, Pettite, Agon, ect. ect......... Isn't it disgusting to anyone else?

We need to build a dynasty... a team that can compete for several years. This is going to take timing as many players as possible playing at their peak.

To buy now just for the sake of keeping up with NYY and BOS is franchise suicide.

I would have liked to sign Tex as he would have been here for awhile. If we could trade for AGon and get a 6-7 year extension at 20MM per... maybe it would be worth it, but it would be better to hang on to our prospects at this point and BUY an offseason or two from now.

[Sports Guy]

I can understand the reluctance to trade a bunch of prospects but that doesn't make it any less frustrating to know that this will most probably delay our ability to compete.

Even if a fair amount of our guys break out we will more than likely still play second fiddle because of Boston and New York's ability to constantly acquire talent like that.

It is just so in our face every offseason. Tex, Sabathia, Burnett, Lackey, Beckett, Pettite, Agon, ect. ect......... Isn't it disgusting to anyone else?

Well, I don't disagree with this post.

It does suck but the argument can be made that we are actually better off with the Red Sox getting AGon and getting rid of Buchholz and whatever 3-4 other prospects will be in the deal....If AGon goes back to being the 3-4 WAR player he has been his whole career up until last year, they really wouldn't have improved the team all that much.