The "they don't want to come here" excuse

[JTrea81]

It's getting really tiring to hear people continue to say we don't have a shot at Player X because "they don't want to come here."

I hear this about Beltre all the time over and over again, for example.

First of all, last offseason Beltre wasn't looking for a multi-year offer which is why he turned down Oakland. Second, he wanted a 1 year deal where he could maximize his output and get back on the market.

Was Baltimore really the best situation for him in that regard? Of course not, which is why he had no interest - last season.

This offseason he's looking for LT security. He may prefer the WC, but Tejada supposedly wanted to play on the WC as well.

Show him the money and make an aggressive recruiting effort and he'll be an Oriole IMO. I don't want to hear people say that he doesn't want to come here until it comes from his mouth.

Ditto for most free agents IMO. The atmosphere is different now in Baltimore. There is a winning attitude here as the culture of losing seems to be finally history. Buck has even said the players who are now FAs called him before the season ended telling him they want to play in Baltimore.

So it's time to end this "they don't want to come here" excuse, because it's really now a mask for "the Orioles don't want to do what it will take to get them," and there's no excuse for that.

The Orioles are the only ones standing in the way of acquiring the talent they need now. It's time to stop making excuses for them.

[Moose Milligan]

It's rare to flat out hear someone say "I don't want to go there."

But you've got to be pretty naive to not understand why players don't want to come here. We're not competitive and haven't been for a very, very long time. I don't want to say we're baseball's Siberia but we almost are.

Trea, we're not competitive...in the standings or in offering contracts. You're absolutely wrong, they don't want to come here. And they haven't wanted to for quite some time. Can you prove me wrong?

[My O's Face]

John Heyman was on Hot Stove (MLB Network) earlier, and he said "The Orioles are really gonna go hard" for Beltre. I'm one of the few on the Hangout that agrees with JTrea alot of the time. So I'm with ya buddy! Let's make it happen.

[Ofanslikepain]

I agree 100% make his agent say flat out do not bother. Just because there a lot of teams after him does not mean you cannot make every effort to get him. Money and not sitting on your hands. It does not guarantee anything but I feel anything short and they are not doing their jobs. At least make the man turn down an offer. I would rather overpay Beltre than more fill more gaps with marginal talent. Fill one hole at a time but make sure you use a quality plug.

[carolinaoriole]

It's getting really tiring to hear people continue to say we don't have a shot at Player X because "they don't want to come here."

I hear this about Beltre all the time over and over again, for example.

First of all, last offseason Beltre wasn't looking for a multi-year offer which is why he turned down Oakland. Second, he wanted a 1 year deal where he could maximize his output and get back on the market.

Was Baltimore really the best situation for him in that regard? Of course not, which is why he had no interest - last season.

This offseason he's looking for LT security. He may prefer the WC, but Tejada supposedly wanted to play on the WC as well.

Show him the money and make an aggressive recruiting effort and he'll be an Oriole IMO. I don't want to hear people say that he doesn't want to come here until it comes from his mouth.

Ditto for most free agents IMO. The atmosphere is different now in Baltimore. There is a winning attitude here as the culture of losing seems to be finally history. Buck has even said the players who are now FAs called him before the season ended telling him they want to play in Baltimore.

So it's time to end this "they don't want to come here" excuse, because it's really now a mask for "the Orioles don't want to do what it will take to get them," and there's no excuse for that.

The Orioles are the only ones standing in the way of acquiring the talent they need now. It's time to stop making excuses for them.

I have never believed that.

Why would anyone play in Seattle or Toronto if that were true.

[Singleton]

It's getting really tiring to hear people continue to say we don't have a shot at Player X because "they don't want to come here."

I hear this about Beltre all the time over and over again, for example.

First of all, last offseason Beltre wasn't looking for a multi-year offer which is why he turned down Oakland. Second, he wanted a 1 year deal where he could maximize his output and get back on the market.

Was Baltimore really the best situation for him in that regard? Of course not, which is why he had no interest - last season.

This offseason he's looking for LT security. He may prefer the WC, but Tejada supposedly wanted to play on the WC as well.

Show him the money and make an aggressive recruiting effort and he'll be an Oriole IMO. I don't want to hear people say that he doesn't want to come here until it comes from his mouth.

Ditto for most free agents IMO. The atmosphere is different now in Baltimore. There is a winning attitude here as the culture of losing seems to be finally history. Buck has even said the players who are now FAs called him before the season ended telling him they want to play in Baltimore.

So it's time to end this "they don't want to come here" excuse, because it's really now a mask for "the Orioles don't want to do what it will take to get them," and there's no excuse for that.

The Orioles are the only ones standing in the way of acquiring the talent they need now. It's time to stop making excuses for them.

How do you know this? How do you know how much winning means to him?

[Art Wing]

We all know we need to overpay with years and/or dollars to just about everybody for them to come here. It's a matter of being smart about overpaying... oh wait...:scratchchinhmm:

[sangar]

This offseason he's looking for LT security.

Didn't he just make ~60m in Seattle? That would secure me for a long time. Once most players have had that big contract, and he has, the main goal becomes winning. One or two extra million per year becomes secondary to competing for the Ring.

[Sports Guy]

It's rare to flat out hear someone say "I don't want to go there."

But you've got to be pretty naive to not understand why players don't want to come here. We're not competitive and haven't been for a very, very long time. I don't want to say we're baseball's Siberia but we almost are.

Trea, we're not competitive...in the standings or in offering contracts. You're absolutely wrong, they don't want to come here. And they haven't wanted to for quite some time. Can you prove me wrong?

Well, this kind of proves his point though, especially the not competitive in terms of offering contracts part.

His post isn't really incorrect but I also agree with you that he is being a little naive.

[SrMeowMeow]

It's not complicated. "They don't want to come here" is very simple shorthand for "It would take a drastic and stupid overpayment to get them to come here".

End of story, but sadly not of thread.

[mweb]

It's a fine excuse in some cases because while most players could be convinced to come here, the fact that they don't want to leads to having to offer them unwise contracts to get them here.

If someone wants to use that excuse while saying that there's nothing the O's could do to get a player, well that's generally wrong. But if you throw in reasonable after nothing, that's often right imo.

[mweb]

It's not complicated. "They don't want to come here" is very simple shorthand for "It would take a drastic and stupid overpayment to get them to come here".

End of story, but sadly not of thread.

Yeah, I guess I could have just said that.

[Moose Milligan]

Well, this kind of proves his point though, especially the not competitive in terms of offering contracts part.

His post isn't really incorrect but I also agree with you that he is being a little naive.

Of course he is.

I don't want to hear people say that he doesn't want to come here until it comes from his mouth.

You know and I know that he probably means this literally. When Beltre lands elsewhere and we don't hear him say "I didn't want to go to Baltimore" (because who really says that?) we're going to be inundated with post after post about how he wanted to come here but MacPhail botched the whole thing.

I don't see how anything I posted proves his point. They don't want to come here, IMO, for the reasons I posted. You can give a 101 different reasons why they haven't come here if it makes you feel better, but that doesn't change the facts...the Orioles are not a prime FA destination for good ballplayers and we all know that it won't be until they're competitive in the standings and in the front office when that will change.

Do the final two months of the 2010 season permanently erase the stench of losing that's been stagnant over OPACY for the past 13 years? I can't help but think "no".

His post isn't entirely incorrect, but the facts remain that "they don't want to come here" isn't an excuse. It's a fact. The past decade is the evidence.

[allsighs]

My disdain for Beltre is no secret, but in his case I agree with Trea that his choice of Boston was calculated to get to this point and get himself a payday. In my opinion, Beltre's big motivation is for the best contract. You don't sign in Seattle over the other half dozen options he had if it wasnt the best contract on the table.

However, it is that same reliablity that tells me we would have almost no chance of seeing anything close to a season he put up last year once he has his contract.

There are a lot of "Beltre's" out there looking for the best contract they can where the O's can swoop in with a sweeter deal, but we "are" the Orioles and every free agent is going to take the money under the assumption that they will be on a last place ballclub.

[Enjoy Terror]

We may be a last place ball club, but if MacPhail is smart, he'll play the role of educator; lots of young talent in Baltimore, chance to be a leader, hitting right in the heart of the lineup, playing everyday, face of the franchise, helping to mold young talent, pointing to the fantastic finish to 2010, nowhere to go but up, etc etc.

The team can be "sold" to players if the money is there.