Disappointed at all?

[Mackus]

Really. You would choose B'more over Boston for that dfference. Boston is a park where I have a better chance to put up the numbers I need for next year's FA, in a better lineup, on a team that has a shot at the WS. But no I throw that out the window for the chance to earn 3mil. more?

Its hysterical that you read all of his post except for the part underneath where he had written, in bold freaking letters no less, to please read the next part before responding.

[Lucky Jim]

I agree.

And I absolutely think there was not a deal here for BAL to make. I think he was happy with BOS for a year and that afforded Boras the opportunity to play hardball with the other teams. I'm definitely not blasting AM.

I just have trouble with some of the arguments people are putting forward here with regards to the "idea" of Beltre and the actual signing of Gonzalez. That's really all.

Well, we can rationalize anything. And sometimes our rations are kind of small.

[Stotle]

Not to de-rail, but can you go into a bit more on your love for Bell?

I think he's a pretty safe player from a value standpoint. There is risk that he won't be more than an average player, but I think it's highly likely that "average" is his floor. I think at minimum he's going to give good power production that will play at a corner infield spot. Reasonably good approach with a solid command of the strikezone (which has immproved through his MiL career). His split issues appear to be primarily mechanical, so I have no doubt he could improve on them if he gives-up hitting righty. He likely won't ever hit LHP as well as RHP, but he doesn't need to. I want him to log time at AAA to continue and progress as an all-around hitter against the next level of competition, but I'm surprised if he isn't ready to be a ML starter by the beginning of next year (and he could probably hold his own later this year -- though I would make him force a promotion).

He has more value at 3B, but if I thought I could add positive value at 3B and shift Bell to 1B if necessary, I'd do it without ever thinking about blocking Snyder. If Snyder hits at AAA, he'll have value. Whether it's as a future 1B/DH for BAL or via trade. I just don't see any reason to NOT make sensible moves because of having both Snyder and Bell in place (not saying that's what BAL is doing).

[El Gordo]

Its hysterical that you read all of his post except for the part underneath where he had written, in bold freaking letters no less, to please read the next part before responding.

I read that part. which didn't seem to qualify in anay way, this statement;

If Beltre wanted a one-year deal, and BAL was aware, there is no good argument for not getting him.

to which I was responding. If he didn't mean it why didn't he just delete it?

[Stotle]

I read that part. which didn't seem to qualify in anay way, this statement;

If Beltre wanted a one-year deal, and BAL was aware, there is no good argument for not getting him.

to which I was responding. If he didn't mean it why didn't he just delete it?

So you'd like to start a discussion about a hypothetical one-year deal that I expressly said (several times now) I don't think BAL ever had a chance to get? Whatever.

Let me clarify -- I won't bold as clearly that is ineffective:

BAL should have been willing to slightly overpay for a year of Beltre if they were somehow given that option.

[Mackus]

I read that part. which didn't seem to qualify in anay way, this statement;

If Beltre wanted a one-year deal, and BAL was aware, there is no good argument for not getting him.

to which I was responding. If he didn't mean it why didn't he just delete it?

Seriously?

He said that because there would be no good reason for the Orioles not beating the offer that the Red Sox made (say, $12M for one year). And he's right, we definitely should have been all over Beltre if he was willing to accept a 1-year deal here. He then added that he isn't blaming the Orioles for not signing Beltre, because he doesn't think Beltre would have accepted that type of offer from Baltimore, that he only would have taken a 1-year deal from Boston.

[El Gordo]

What has he done to address long term needs of this offseason?

How many more international scouts has he hired?

All he has done this offseason is bring in stop gaps and overpay for a closer that we didn't even need...and in the process, costing us a second round pick.

This is an offseason where teams with money should be taking advantage of teams that don't have money...What has he done to do this?

What has he done to trade his excess talent for positions of need?

I expected this to be a disappointing offseason because I just don't think AM is as willing to take advantage of some of his advantages.

Now, as I said, its early and he likes to do things in January, so maybe some good stuff will happen....The Markakis extension and the Hill and Pie deals were done last January and up until that point, i was disappointed with last year as well. So, hopefully he will surprise me.

As I see it, our long term needs are MI and SP. We could use depth at CI, but we have two decent ML ready priospects there, so I wouldn't say they are pressing needs. We need a SS, and a 2B to replace BRob, in a few years. Probably more than one. And we always need SP, cant have too much. I saw no trades involving Pie or Scott, for a MI prospect, particulary a SS. Maybe you can point them out. I don't think this is the time to trade young SP prospects for MI prosects. I don't think we have a deep enough inventory there. He could proabaly trade Scott or Pie for another SP prospect or two. Is that what you are disappointed about?:laughlol:

[Slappy]

I'm disappointed because he hasn't done the one thing he and Trembley both jabbered about last season - the impact bat. Atkins ain't it.

But, keep in mind that the Bedard trade was pulled off in February right before ST, so I'm not completely depressed, yet.

[MikeAD]

I'm disappointed because he hasn't done the one thing he and Trembley both jabbered about last season - the impact bat. Atkins ain't it.

But, keep in mind that the Bedard trade was pulled off in February right before ST, so I'm not completely depressed, yet.

Winner, winner Chicken Dinner!

This needs to be stressed: the majority (and the best) of AM's trades as a GM/President have been in the month of February.

I still don't think anything big happens but don't piss and moan until Feb. is over.

[El Gordo]

So you'd like to start a discussion about a hypothetical one-year deal that I expressly said (several times now) I don't think BAL ever had a chance to get? Whatever.

Let me clarify -- I won't bold as clearly that is ineffective:

BAL should have been willing to slightly overpay for a year of Beltre if they were somehow given that option.

This is not the same as the contention that if Beltre wanted a one-year deal, and BAL was aware, there are no good reasons not to get him. I was giving reasons why 12mil with a 6 year option, wouldn't be enough. Perhaps there are no good reasons not to make an offer. I don't think they are the same things.

[Stotle]

This is not the same as the contentiom that if Beltre wanted a one-year deal, and BAL was aware, there are no good reasons not to get him. I was giving reasons why 12mil with a 6 year option, wouldn't be enough. Perhaps there are no good reasons not to make an offer. I don't think they are the same things.

I didn't realize I had to disqualify horrible contracts. Regardless, I think you could actually debate as to whether or not Beltre would take a 33% increase to play his year in BAL -- I actually think he probably would, but it's irrelevant to the real point of the post (which I hope I clarified).

Clear?

[Sports Guy]

I didn't realize I had to disqualify horrible contracts. Regardless, I think you could actually debate as to whether or not Beltre would take a 33% increase to play his year in BAL -- I actually think he probably would, but it's irrelevant to the real point of the post (which I hope I clarified).

Clear?

Beltre obviously decided to take a one year deal in a down market to try and re-establish value.

Now, does that mean he had to do that for a winner? Maybe, maybe not.

What if the Orioles offered him a 1/12 deal with a mutual option for another 12 million? Who is to say he doesn't take that?

I mean, if all he cared about was upping his value, then he will likely want to go to where he can play in a good hitters park. No, obviously he is more in the spotlight in Boston but that could also be a problem..If he struggles early and the fans and media get on him, maybe he has a bad year?

Maybe the idea of Baltimore would be more appealing for those reasons?

[Stotle]

Beltre obviously decided to take a one year deal in a down market to try and re-establish value.

Now, does that mean he had to do that for a winner? Maybe, maybe not.

What if the Orioles offered him a 1/12 deal with a mutual option for another 12 million? Who is to say he doesn't take that?

I mean, if all he cared about was upping his value, then he will likely want to go to where he can play in a good hitters park. No, obviously he is more in the spotlight in Boston but that could also be a problem..If he struggles early and the fans and media get on him, maybe he has a bad year?

Maybe the idea of Baltimore would be more appealing for those reasons?

I have no trouble believing Beltre would have considered coming to BAL for more money over 1-year. But I'm more in the camp that Boras was using a BOS safety net to try and get longer-term deals from the other options. With no inside info, my read of the situation is that BAL never had an opportunity to give a 1-year deal -- it would make too much sense for it not to happen.

[Moose Milligan]

Beltre obviously decided to take a one year deal in a down market to try and re-establish value.

Now, does that mean he had to do that for a winner? Maybe, maybe not.

What if the Orioles offered him a 1/12 deal with a mutual option for another 12 million? Who is to say he doesn't take that?

I mean, if all he cared about was upping his value, then he will likely want to go to where he can play in a good hitters park. No, obviously he is more in the spotlight in Boston but that could also be a problem..If he struggles early and the fans and media get on him, maybe he has a bad year?

Maybe the idea of Baltimore would be more appealing for those reasons?

C'mon, SG. It's not like Fenway isn't a bad hitters park. I know it's unbelievable that he took less money and a 1 year deal to play for Boston but it's not like this doesn't confirm what we already know: Baltimore isn't a desirable place to play and in certain instances not even overpaying can help us land someone.

[El Gordo]

I didn't realize I had to disqualify horrible contracts. Regardless, I think you could actually debate as to whether or not Beltre would take a 33% increase to play his year in BAL -- I actually think he probably would, but it's irrelevant to the real point of the post (which I hope I clarified).

Clear?

At the risk of extending yet another tedious pissing contest let me just say that I think Beltre had two goals; one was a 4-5/50 mil. contract, and not getting that, the best 1 year deal in order to put up numbers for next years FA. B'more couldn't offer either. I suppose if they had offered a lot more than 10 mil one year, say 15 mil.+, he might have had to consider us as on option. But is that kind of money worth it for a stop gap?