So, there's 4 remaining Type A free agents on the market...

[canonfaz]

Bottom line is that we are not going anywhere (FA signings or not) until we have a core group of All-Star level talent.

[centralpaosfan]

Bottom line is that we are not going anywhere (FA signings or not) until we have a core group of All-Star level talent.

You're correct. So I guess I'll just fall in line with the others and keep my fingers crossed that this organization somehow figures out how to draft the right players and builds a presence internationally. We haven't done it in a few decades, but I'm sure they will figure it out soon.

We have a weak farm system, virtually no presence internationally, no real prospects other than Britton in our farm system that we can dangle as trade bait but lets just ignore signing top notch FA. I realize a lot of FA don't want to come here. I know the Nationals are the laughing stock for the contract they gave Werth. However, they know they are also an undesirable location for FA and they bit the bullet and overpaid. I will take that any day over just sitting by and hoping our farm system somehow magically builds up overnight.

[GotNitro]

Go ahead and pick the worse name on the list. Ignoring the fact that a gold glove 3b who will hit at least 20-25 homers a year and one of the best relief pitchers in the majors is also available.

I agree, there are other ways to build a franchise than through free agency. For instance, building a franchise through the draft.....doh! Having a strong international scouting department.....doh! The fact of the matter is this organization has a very weak farm system and even worse international department. It's been 13 years. Shall we wait another 10 and see if they got their act together internally?

Earlier this offseason Beltre was number 1 on my wishlist. After the Reynolds addition though, it makes no sense. Third base is covered. No need to spend that much money. Look at what he already turned down from Oakland.

[Frobby]

The poll question wasn't Which of these free agents do you think we will sign. To have so many people not have even an interest in the Orioles persuing Beltre or Soriano is a joke.

The fact that a player openly states he doesn't want to play in B'more doesn't seem to deter the Lee supporters one bit.

First of all, please show me a quote where Lee has "openly state[d]" that he doesn't want to play in Baltimore.

I had a lot of interest in Beltre before we traded to get Reynolds. At the time we made that trade, Beltre was rumored to have rejected 5/$75 mm from the A's, and Boras reportedly had told the O's that Beltre wasn't interested in coming to Baltimore. So, MacPhail went in a different direction. I suppose he could shift gears now that Beltre may have overplayed his hand, but to me, that ship has sailed.

Soriano is a good closer but I have no interest in paying big money for yet another back-end bullpen guy.

[MrOrange82]

You're correct. So I guess I'll just fall in line with the others and keep my fingers crossed that this organization somehow figures out how to draft the right players and builds a presence internationally. We haven't done it in a few decades, but I'm sure they will figure it out soon.

We have a weak farm system, virtually no presence internationally, no real prospects other than Britton in our farm system that we can dangle as trade bait but lets just ignore signing top notch FA. I realize a lot of FA don't want to come here. I know the Nationals are the laughing stock for the contract they gave Werth. However, they know they are also an undesirable location for FA and they bit the bullet and overpaid. I will take that any day over just sitting by and hoping our farm system somehow magically builds up overnight.

Simple question: do you have even a shadow of a conception of how absurd it is to argue, vehemently and without demonstrating an internalization of counterarguments, that the Orioles FO (which, IYO, is incapable of putting together a good draft or adequately surveying international talent) should invest millions upon millions in a weak FA market?

Let me water it down for you: A is horrible, and will always be horrible (in your estimation) at "1" and "2." Therefore, A should invest in "3," because that course will obviously be more successful and afford A a greater chance of winning in the future.

[Sports Guy]

No, but saying that it would take Werth money is a stretch------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Yeah, about that long".

I do feel that 5/70 would do it, and still well within financial reason

Well, you are wrong..He could sign with Anaheim for 5/70.

It may not take 7/126 to get him here but I bet 6/100 or so needs to be on the table for him to think about it...He doesn't want to be here. You can scream all day long about how you think AM sucks and how you want Beltre here but if Beltre doesn't want to come here, then it doesn;t matter what you think.

Would you give Beltre 6/100?

[Sports Guy]

Chaos, care to provide the case for why signing Balfour and giving up a second round pick is a good idea?

[ShaneDawg85]

On principle, I am opposed to giving up draft picks to sign relievers, so that would eliminate Balfour and Soriano. Although, I have to admit that Soriano is tempting. Pavano doesn't do much for considering his history. I've never really been that high on Beltre, it is going to cost too much to acquire him, unless he just gets restless (which isn't going to happen), and while he's not perfect at 3rd, Reynolds has been making strides defensively each season, so moving him to 1st is something I would prefer not to do.

[ChaosLex]

Chaos, care to provide the case for why signing Balfour and giving up a second round pick is a good idea?

I didn't want him to feel lonely.

[gtown]

I keep hearing how deep the upcoming draft is. If that's the case, I would not give up a high second round pick for anyone that's left.

I'm starting to like the idea of one-year deals to Glaus + one of Thome/Vlad/Manny.

[Crazysilver03]

Giving the indication that Beltre could not be had, and that it's too far out the possibility to sign someone to a $13 million a year contract. We resigned Roberts and Markakis to nearly the same amount, and with Robert's back already breaking down combined with Markakis having a down year (in my opinion), I'd say if anyone has proven that they are a risk for the money invested, they would be tops on the list.

"and he would require a Werth like contract to come here, which is even dumber than a draft pick for Balfour or Pavano". What does this show ?

You keep mentioning that Robert's back is breaking down, but besides the one injury, he has said he is back to full strength. Is there potential for problems in the future, yes, but for the time being I am not worried.

And you can interpret a "Werth-like contract" in two ways: 1) literally 7/$126M or 2) most projections had Werth getting a Bay-like contract (4/$66M) and the Nationals overpaid hardcore in both years and money.

[QBsILLEST1]

You know alot more about the draft than I do. What kind of guys should be there with the 2nd pick. Where would they rank in our system?

Of course, we would like to hope that some of our guys take big steps forward this year, but if the draft were today, our 1st rounder would be in competition with Machado/Britton for #1 and our 2nd rounder would probably fall after Britton/Machado/1st rounder 2011 and probably before Avery/Hoes/Klein etc with a chance to be better depending on how well they perform......

For example, if we ended up with Purke at 1:4, I'd have to give him the nod at #1.

I know things suck right now for the MiL system, but with 1 good draft and some improvements from our current MiLers, we could make HUGE strides next year....look at the Nats 2010 draft and what it did for their system.....

[QBsILLEST1]

Bottom line is that we are not going anywhere (FA signings or not) until we have a core group of All-Star level talent.

I disagree. We just need our core to be better. I don't expect the entire core to be all stars, thats too lofty of expectations. Yes, I'd like to see 1 or 2 guys turn into allstar caliber players, but we don't need MW, Matusz, Arrieta, Tillman, Jones, Markakis and Reimold to all be 5 WAR players each. As a whole, we need improvements, then we can move on to working on our weak links......

[sangar]

Considering how many players on our current roster are home grown I don't agree with the assertion that our farm system and drafting isn't good.

Pretending for a moment it isn't good, coupled with our lack of effort in the international arena, how is this evidence that our FA selections would be equally unsuccessful?

Also, should past failure stop us from ever trying again? Nobody is successful 100% of the time and getting gun shy would do nothing more than assure failure. "It didn't work last time so it won't work next time" is failure of thought, not action.

[Bradysburns]

I have no idea why anyone would give up a draft pick for any of the guys not named Beltre and he would require a Werth like contract to come here, which is even dumber than a draft pick for Balfour or Pavano.

I hate eating crow on this board, but I have to here. I didn't realize Pavano was a type A. I have supported signing him elsewhere, without realizing the draft implications. I hereby formally withdraw my request that AM sign Pavano (AM, please call me if you need clarification). SG was right! I was wrong. Good bless America.

So... I see no one on this list I would sign at this point. I am not sure why Balfour is a type A?