Prince Fielder or Bust

[24fps]

Throwing the bank at him may not be enough. Having the advantage of him being an Oriole for a year and playing with Markakis, Jones and Wieters etc, would really help us IMO.

Yes, this is the very advantage that has so many,many free agents clamoring to come to Baltimore.

[JTrea81]

Yes, this is the very advantage that has so many,many free agents clamoring to come to Baltimore.

How many players have wanted to leave Baltimore after their stay?

[lordbrook]

Yes, this is the very advantage that has so many,many free agents clamoring to come to Baltimore.

I would think that knowing the pitching they would face would be more of a detriment than the players we can put around them. I would guess that players are more reluctant to join us at this point because of the division rather than the hitting talent we have. I think our lineup could be very complimentary to a power hitter.

[Remember The Alomar]

I look at trading for Justin Morneau to start.

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[Remember The Alomar]

How many players have wanted to leave Baltimore after their stay?

Mussina.

[JTrea81]

Mussina.

No he wanted to stay, just not at a discount.

[24fps]

How many players have wanted to leave Baltimore after their stay?

Beats the hell out of me. BB Reference doesn't seem to keep track of that stat. While you're at it, you may as well ask how many players have watched their careers die in Baltimore over the last 13 years.

The suggestion that a year of chumminess with Nick, Matt, BRob and the gang will in any way affect Prince Fielder's decision about his biggest career payday simply has no basis in any reality I recognize.

For Fielder, 2011 in Baltimore would be a punishment to be borne, not an opportunity to be exploited. "Rebuilding" is a bug, not a feature for players of his calibre.

[Remember The Alomar]

No he wanted to stay, just not at a discount.

So I guess your question should be "How many players want to leave the Orioles after being offered the money they want?"

Of course he'd stay if we offer him a ton of dough. The thing is, wouldn't the money we spend be better spent elsewhere? That's not even mentioning all the players we'd save from not trading for him.

[JTrea81]

So I guess your question should be "How many players want to leave the Orioles after being offered the money they want?"

Of course he'd stay if we offer him a ton of dough. The thing is, wouldn't the money we spend be better spent elsewhere? That's not even mentioning all the players we'd save from not trading for him.

Where are you going to spend it exactly?

The free agent classes are getting worse.

Fielder is going to be the best free agent bat on the market next offseason and for several after that.

He's the last power bat under 30 that will be available literally for the next 5 years on the FA market.

These are your premium bats:

FA after 2012:

Josh Hamilton (32)

FA after 2013:

Joey Votto (30)

David Wright (31)

Justin Morneau (32)

FA after 2014:

Hanley Ramirez (31)

FA after 2015:

Miguel Cabrera (33)

Ryan Braun (32)

Teams are locking up their younger talent now so Fielder is the last chance for the Orioles to get a bat with mostly all of his best years still in front of him.

[Remember The Alomar]

Where are you going to spend it exactly?

The free agent classes are getting worse.

Fielder is going to be the best free agent bat on the market next offseason and for several after that.

He's the last power bat under 30 that will be available literally for the next 5 years.

These are your premium bats:

FA after 2012:

Josh Hamilton (32)

FA after 2013:

Joey Votto (30)

David Wright (31)

FA after 2014:

Hanley Ramirez (31)

FA after 2015:

Miguel Cabrera (33)

Ryan Braun (32)

Teams are locking up their younger talent now so Fielder is the last chance for the Orioles to get a bat with most all of his best years still in front of him.

The draft. International scouting. That's what I would do.

You want to trade for Fielder so bad this off season, but here you're talking about FA's.

You often say that the draft isn't a viable path for this current Orioles team because by the time we develop these drafted players the "core" will be older or gone. I entirely disagree, but for the sake of the argument let's just say you're right. Why don't we overspend in the draft, overspend in the international market, and create a stacked farm system in which we'd have depth that we are currently without. Much like the what the Sox did with A-Gon, we could use this organizational depth to our advantage to "buy" bat's that are under control for several years.

If you just look at upcoming FA classes, it's always going to look bleak. As of right now, I don't doubt we could put together a package to get Fielder, but we have no where near the minor league depth that the Sox have. It would kill us. On top of that, the money it would take to realistically extend him is crazy. If you're hellbent on getting a power bat, Fielder is no where near our last chance. Players you never expect will always be available to trade for down the road when we have a much stronger system that could survive such an exodus of young talent it would take to acquire them.

[JTrea81]

The draft. International scouting. That's what I would do.

You want to trade for Fielder so bad this off season, but here you're talking about FA's.

You often say that the draft isn't a viable path for this current Orioles team because by the time we develop these drafted players the "core" will be older or gone. I entirely disagree, but for the sake of the argument let's just say you're right. Why don't we overspend in the draft, overspend in the international market, and create a stacked farm system in which we'd have depth that we are currently without. Much like the what the Sox did with A-Gon, we could use this organizational depth to our advantage to "buy" bat's that are under control for several years.

If you just look at upcoming FA classes, it's always going to look bleak. As of right now, I don't doubt we could put together a package to get Fielder, but we have no where near the minor league depth that the Sox have. It would kill us. On top of that, the money it would take to realistically extend him is crazy. If you're hellbent on getting a power bat, Fielder is no where near our last chance. Players you never expect will always be available to trade for down the road when we have a much stronger system that could survive such an exodus of young talent it would take to acquire them.

As I've said by the time you create that depth to trade from, the window for the current core has expired. So if you want to go that route, you might as well blow the whole thing up and trade everybody with a contract or control that expires before 2015.

Our minor league development isn't strong, and it's going to take awhile to fix to produce the depth you are talking about. We can either compete during this time, or we can wait for it to produce talent. But if we are going to do the latter, there's no point in holding onto Markakis and Roberts etc. if you aren't going to win with them. You are just wasting money.

Trading for Fielder won't kill us IMO. Melvin is going to have to come down from his demands to move him. We can get him without sacrificing our core IMO. And with it being so vital that we land him next offseason, trading for him give us an advantage, the amount of which can be small or large depending on how you look at it, but an advantage nevertheless, and we need all the advantages we can get in the free agent market.

[Remember The Alomar]

As I've said by the time you create that depth to trade from, the window for the current core has expired. So if you want to go that route, you might as well blow the whole thing up and trade everybody with a contract or control that expires before 2015.

Our minor league development isn't strong, and it's going to take awhile to fix to produce the depth you are talking about. We can either compete during this time, or we can wait for it to produce talent. But if we are going to do the latter, there's no point in holding onto Markakis and Roberts etc. if you aren't going to win with them. You are just wasting money.

Trading for Fielder won't kill us IMO. Melvin is going to have to come down from his demands to move him. We can get him without sacrificing our core IMO. And with it being so vital that we land him next offseason, trading for him give us an advantage, the amount of which can be small or large depending on how you look at it, but an advantage nevertheless, and we need all the advantages we can get in the free agent market.

One or two good drafts in which we overspend could fix that depth, especially if we try to stock picks for the 2012 draft. During those two years we should shoot for a win total in the 80s. Offer short contracts to players that can help you, yet won't hamstring you. Coupled with the international market, we could have a much healthier system in less time then you realize. Trade for the bat that will push us over the edge once you're at that point.

Right now, by trading for Fielder, you're just bringing the Orioles to the brink of contention without having the financial flexibility to ever push us over during that window of time.

[BrunoCherrytown]

One or two good drafts in which we overspend could fix that depth, especially if we try to stock picks for the 2012 draft. During those two years we should shoot for a win total in the 80s.

You better wish for a new GM then. He hasn't overspent on a draft yet or signed a top international prospect. He's had plenty of time too though.

[incubus]

That is a great find. I have never seen that before. What's scary is the double has gone down in price. Makes me wonder what they put in it. :eektf:

But I still eat them so don't tell me!

Vegan aside, does it really surprise anyone that Prince and Cecil were in a commercial for McDonalds?

[Roll Tide]

The draft. International scouting. That's what I would do.

You want to trade for Fielder so bad this off season, but here you're talking about FA's.

You often say that the draft isn't a viable path for this current Orioles team because by the time we develop these drafted players the "core" will be older or gone. I entirely disagree, but for the sake of the argument let's just say you're right. Why don't we overspend in the draft, overspend in the international market, and create a stacked farm system in which we'd have depth that we are currently without. Much like the what the Sox did with A-Gon, we could use this organizational depth to our advantage to "buy" bat's that are under control for several years.

If you just look at upcoming FA classes, it's always going to look bleak. As of right now, I don't doubt we could put together a package to get Fielder, but we have no where near the minor league depth that the Sox have. It would kill us. On top of that, the money it would take to realistically extend him is crazy. If you're hellbent on getting a power bat, Fielder is no where near our last chance. Players you never expect will always be available to trade for down the road when we have a much stronger system that could survive such an exodus of young talent it would take to acquire them.

1st The Orioles suck at drafting position players other than their high 1st rounders (Wieters & Markakis). 2nd International scouting has produced nothing. 3rd The Orioles are too cheap to pay a posting fee. You can keep wishing & hoping for these to get better. But unless the Orioles are sold &/or they get rid of AM this stuff his just a dream.

The point is the Orioles can get a trade in place & throw a pile of money at Fielder. The market competition would be as heavy for Fielder. I dont think he will cost as much in players. Simply you won't be gutting our young pitching.

A Deal like Tillman/Guthrie , Pie,Pelzer, & Towsend/Bell/Snyder is probably pretty close.

If the Orioles are going to turn into a produce your own star system they will have to finish in the bottom 3-4 in MLB another 7-10 seasons.

And stop giving up your #2 pick for middling relief pitchers.

Why don't we overspend in the draft, overspend in the international market, and create a stacked farm system in which we'd have depth that we are currently without.

All I can say about this statement is have you've been watching the Orioles activity. They dont post for international players. They just downsized in the DR. They don't seem to be interested in getting in a bidding war for for any of the talent that doesn't require a posting fee.