Zrebiec: O's Agree to Terms w/ Lee

[RevOlution]

One word ladies and gents! :clap3:

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GO O's! :mwahaha:

[Riggodrill44]

Lee didn't nix it, we did. PA IIRC.

Well, he didn't agree

[scOtt]

I have preferred Lee all along because he's right handed and he could pop 30-35 HR if he can stay healthy.

Good job by our much maligned GM.

I wanted Dunn going in, defense be damned. Was intrigued by Konerko for a few days. Liked LaRoche til I was convince. SG kept saying that one year of a great player declining is better than three years of a mediocre player, also declining. LaRoche's playing with us, and Lee being right handed and a better fit for our 3-hole sealed it.

Kinda wishy-washy, I know. But I'm happy tonight.

[byrdz]

Well, to be fair, SG was the original DLee supporter. He is going to be happy with this move, no doubt. IMO, it is not the moves that AM makes that SG is critical of. It is the lack of moves.

With the possible exception of wanting a trade for Furcall over Hardy, this is pretty much what he wanted IIRC...:scratchchinhmm:

Right! He didn't sign Laroche to a stupid "poor" deal and got Lee. So, he can stop all the AM hating, for something he was never likely to do anyway...

[olehippi]

I guess we all...or most of us.....can now REALLY celebrate the New Year!! We now have a legit 1B in Lee. Truthfully, I was actually leaning towards LaRoche hoping for a longer term solution, but it became pretty obvious that he was jerking the team around and didn't want to come here.

So....we have Lee for one year, and will have to go through all this again next off-season and pray that we can sign AGon, Fielder, or perhaps extend Lee. And doesn't MacPhail's contract expire at the end of 2011? If so, who will be negotiating?

[Dodobirds]

I'm thrilled with D.Lee for a year. He's a rock-solid 1B with one of the better bats in baseball when healthy. If this team pitches & plays hard for Buck the way they did at the end of last year, Wieters and Jones take a few steps forward offensively, and BROB stays healthy, I think it's a real possibility to see us in the hunt for a playoff spot this year.

Nice job Andy. Just make sure you follow it up with Fielder or AGon (or a D.Lee extension) next offseason.

[bluedog]

You expect him to improve on his numbers last year? Or would you be happy with the same production?

.260 avg

19 homers/80 rbi

No - but he's probably going to be significantly better than that given his announced full recovery from the injury that hampered him most of last year.

But that's not the point. This is a wonderful move because its hard to find a scenario where it could turn out to be a disaster;

Scenario 1: Worst Case

Lee falls flat on his face and pulls a Garrett Atkins or gets injured again and provides below replacement level production - the O's are not hooked into a multi-year contract, they aren't on the hook for huge amount of money and they retain both roster and financial flexibility to go after a long term solution via trade or free agency next year.

Scenario 2: Average Case

Lee provides 20 HRs / .260 like he did last year - the O's improve on their production at first base from last year and slightly overpay for it, but as above aren't locked into a long term contract or limited financially.

Scenario 3: Above Average Case

Lee provides between 25 - 30 HRs / .280 / 90ish RBIs - the O's would get more value out of Lee in the scenario than what they paid for him which is a perfect scenario for offering him arbitration and then grabbing a draft pick when he walks as a type B free agent (I can't imagine he takes less than market value to stay with the O's after a year like that).

Scenario 4: Best Case

Lee goes off and hits 40+ HRs / .300 / 100+ RBIs and plays stellar defense at first. The O's now have an asset they can easily move at the trade deadline in an attempt to find a long term, younger solution at 1b assuming they are out of the playoff race. If they are in contention (and a year like this from Lee wouldn't hurt those chances) then they can hang onto him and go the arbitration route with the likelihood he'll be a Type A and they'll get a high draft pick when he walks.

If the O's signed a player to a multi-year deal and they bombed, then they'd have a lot of problems with payroll and roster flexibility moving forward and still not have a long term solution at 1b. I don't see any downside to this move and I see quite a bit of upside.

[JDubs]

Where is oldfa...err...maybe2050? He should be able to type a mea culpa just fine with his foot in his mouth. Has he reached the 500 post limit already?

[El Gordo]

Right! He didn't sign Laroche to a stupid "poor" deal and got Lee. So, he can stop all the AM hating, for something he was never likely to do anyway...

No he'll still fault AM for not trading Guthrie and Scott for prospects to be named later.:laughlol:

[Remember The Alomar]

Where is oldfa...err...maybe2050? He should be able to type a mea culpa just fine with his foot in his mouth. Has he reached the 500 post limit already?

Dude's on a permanent vacation.

[jets4ever]

One word ladies and gents! :clap3:

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GO O's! :mwahaha:

Not to be picky.... :scratchchinhmm:

But, that's two words. :thumbsup1:

[JimDH]

not to be picky.... :scratchchinhmm:

But, that's two words. :thumbsup1:

r.e.s.p.e.c.t

[NCRaven]

Koji, Reynolds, Hardy, Lee and AM is the King! Until he signs Balfour, then his loyal subjects will proclaim - "He is an idiot and deserves to be fired!"

[Guest rochester]

Does it make me a bad person that I wanna laugh at LaRoche?

Welcome aboard, Lee. Thrilled to have you! :clap3:

IMO NO you are not a bad person...

[RevOlution]

r.e.s.p.e.c.t

Exactly!