Orioles after Adrian Gonzalez?

[JTrea81]

Do you do Jones, Arrieta/Britton, Snyder, and Joseph?

Jones, Erbe, Snyder, and Joseph is something I would do, but don't think it gets it done.

Seems like Jones is a real big "stick" to beat out Boston.

Boston's refusing to part with Ellsbury and they don't have another CFer to offer. The Orioles happen to have a spare one in Pie.

I don't think we need to include Jones to get a deal done.

[Guest BrettMeister86]

Tillman

Hernandez (SD native - generated lots of interest at winter meetings)

Pie

Joseph

And that is only WITH an extension. Jones, Matusz, Wieters are all untouchable. Only 1 of the big 4 (I now include Britton with the other 3 and think he will be a left handed Bergy). SD can't double up on a Tillman/Arrieta combo for example.

And people will say "oh but that isn't as good as the Sox some combo of Ellsbury, Bucholz, Kelly, Westmoreland, etc. Well guess what people, the Sox have balked at the deal and Gonzo isn't in Boston yet. I think the above mentioned offer would be taken as a serious offer.

[bluedog]

Tillman showed flashes of brilliance before his last 5 starts. He's young and never pitched that late into the season. That kind of regression so late in the year is somewhat to be expected, is it not?

Obviously Gonzalez is better than Jones, but I'd rather wait a year and sign another 1B to go with Jones than give up Jones to have Pie playing CF every day. Finding a quality 1B is a lot easier than finding a quality CF.

At this point, disrupting our future for a slugger just doesn't make sense, especially with free agent pitchers so wary to enter the AL East.

If the future is now, it makes sense. AM believes the team can contend in 2010 / 2011 or he wouldn't be signing closers, trading for guys like Millwood and exploring trades for guys like AGon.

I'm still not sold on Jones. I think he looked like he was regressing the last half of 2009 while Pie looked like he was improving. I'm concerned about Jones' lack of plate discipline and him possibly being prone to injuries. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like trading Jones for AGon would potentially be a case of "selling high" on Jones.

I just know that I see AGon as a perennial .900 OPS guy in OPACY, particularly in a lineup where he's hitting behind Roberts and Markakis and ahead of Wieters and Reimold.

[GoOrioles123]

You guys have to be kidding if you think we should move Jones or Tillman. This team isnt ready to contend right now. Pass if it involves trading away either of those guys.

[Lucky Jim]

Clearly an extension of AGon must be included in any deal. And you can't evaluate AGon vs. Jones & Tillman in a vacuum. If Tillman can be replaced (Britton, Arrieta, etc) then we're not necessarily losing anything by moving him. If Pie blossoms into an above average CF as a full time player, we haven't lost 100% of 5 years of Jones - we've lost some fraction of that.

AGon's value is increased by the O's long term need at 1b, where Tillman and Jones value is decreased by the fact the team has other viable options at those positions.

My car isn't worth less because I own two of them. Value is value. I'm not discounting Tillman and Jones because we have depth. We're clearly trading a certain number of years from both players for AG. To argue otherwise is simply incorrect.

Second, the odds of getting an extension with AG are very very slim. If you're requiring that, the conversation is likely over.

[crissfan172]

I guess I haven't given my fictional offer yet, so here goes.

Arrieta, Britton/(Hernandez and Erbe), Pie, and Joseph.

In other words, they can have 2 elite pitching prospects, or 1 elite and 2 secondary.

[Jeff Spicoli]

If contract is an issue, give the Padres a choice...

Send them Jones,Tillman,Joseph, and Erbe for A.Gonzalez and a 72 hour window to extend.

OR

Send them Pie, Tillman, Joseph, and Hernandez and take your chances in 2 years.

I hate to lose Jones, but I can live with losing Tillman and Erbe, since I think Arrieta and Britton will be the better duo. Jones' strikezone got worse and worse before he landed on the DL for the 2nd straight year at only 23. Pie on the other hand really matured and got better as the year went.

[bluedog]

Tillman

Hernandez (SD native - generated lots of interest at winter meetings)

Pie

Joseph

And that is only WITH an extension. Jones, Matusz, Wieters are all untouchable. Only 1 of the big 4 (I now include Britton with the other 3 and think he will be a left handed Bergy). SD can't double up on a Tillman/Arrieta combo for example.

And people will say "oh but that isn't as good as the Sox some combo of Ellsbury, Bucholz, Kelly, Westmoreland, etc. Well guess what people, the Sox have balked at the deal and Gonzo isn't in Boston yet. I think the above mentioned offer would be taken as a serious offer.

Maybe your right. I think we probably have to add a 5th player to that offer though if we're not sending a marquis player over in the trade. And not some scrub, but a solid prospect with major league potential.

Tillman, Pie, Erbe, Hernandez & Joseph?

[Lucky Jim]

If the future is now, it makes sense. AM believes the team can contend in 2010 / 2011 or he wouldn't be signing closers, trading for guys like Millwood and exploring trades for guys like AGon.

I'm still not sold on Jones. I think he looked like he was regressing the last half of 2009 while Pie looked like he was improving. I'm concerned about Jones' lack of plate discipline and him possibly being prone to injuries. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like trading Jones for AGon would potentially be a case of "selling high" on Jones.

I just know that I see AGon as a perennial .900 OPS guy in OPACY, particularly in a lineup where he's hitting behind Roberts and Markakis and ahead of Wieters and Reimold.

I think AM thinks we can contend in 2011. Millwood has nothing to do with contention, and Mike Gonzalez little to do with it in 2010.

I think AG is a likely .900 OPS guy in Camden, I agree.

[crissfan172]

If the future is now, it makes sense. AM believes the team can contend in 2010 / 2011 or he wouldn't be signing closers, trading for guys like Millwood and exploring trades for guys like AGon.

I'm still not sold on Jones. I think he looked like he was regressing the last half of 2009 while Pie looked like he was improving. I'm concerned about Jones' lack of plate discipline and him possibly being prone to injuries. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like trading Jones for AGon would potentially be a case of "selling high" on Jones.

I just know that I see AGon as a perennial .900 OPS guy in OPACY, particularly in a lineup where he's hitting behind Roberts and Markakis and ahead of Wieters and Reimold.

I agree that he thinks we can compete, which is why I'm so hesitant to trade away two guys that I think will be an integral part of making winning a possibility. I'd much rather give up 2 pitching prospects than a young pitcher who has gotten his feet wet in the majors. The less experienced our pitching staff, the longer it will be until we compete.

[Nite]

You guys keep forgetting something very valuable in these trade talks. That is what does SD think of our players? They might rate Pie better than Jones. Maybe they want Hernandez over Tillman. the point is we actually have no idea how they value our players. With that I'm going to read something else and hope to see some good news next week.

[crissfan172]

Maybe they want Hernandez over Tillman.

If they think this, then they should be fired.

[bluedog]

I guess I haven't given my fictional offer yet, so here goes.

Arrieta, Britton/(Hernandez and Erbe), Pie, and Joseph.

In other words, they can have 2 elite pitching prospects, or 1 elite and 2 secondary.

Personally, I think Britton may be the best pitcher in the O's organization right now, so I'd not want to lose him. Having ground ball pitchers like Bergesen and Britton in the AL East is going to be a huge advantage for the O's, particularly if we continue to gear towards high quality defensive players.

[Nite]

If they think this, then they should be fired.

Need I remind you the Bedard trade...

[Jeff Spicoli]

One more thing, where has it been written Gonzalez won't extend with the Orioles? In this day and age, I'd wager AGon would have a hard time saying no to a 6/100-110 million ext.