Jehrico

What could they offer them?

no doubt Angelos has the money. the question is will he spend it. he's gone out on limbs before. in the 90's the O's had the highest payroll for a couple years. but, he just lost a big chunk of his market. I don't think Angelos would want to take on that salary unless he stood a chance of winning. Manny is definitely worth the money he's paid, but Tejada's probably the better value and the addition of Manny would also come with the subtraction of Tejada. even with Cox I don't think the O's pitching staff is going anywhere . they don't stand a chance of competing in that division anyway before Manny's contract expires. the better option would probably be to rebuild. Angelos doesn't want to throw up a white flag with the Nats in his backyard now, but on the other hand, his market (and thus, revenue) has shrunk. I think he'll look for the best deal that saves him a bit of cash without taking a huge step backwards. I think the key to us making a deal is convincing him of the chances of Cedeno hitting .300 with an OBP of around .350 next year, minimizing the impact of the loss of Tejada, while saving 10 mil a year. Was Stockstill pretty high on Cedeno when he was over here? People questioned Hendry when he put Cedeno on the 40 man roster, as his chance of sticking with another team at that time was about nil. Someone else in the organization must have been touting Cedeno as well. If Stockstill was part of that and is still high in Cedeno, we might have a solid deal here.

It is pretty obvious that the best the Orioles are going to do this year is finish 4th in their division. It might be hard for Angelos to admit he needs to start over, but if he realizes that then this is a good deal for the Orioles. Of course, a lot depends on what their scouts have to say about all of these players, but I've written that I think Cedeno will match Furcal's numbers within 2 years. I think he will be getting a future all-star in CF, SS, and 2 middle of the rotation starters by 2008 and will have lots of money to fill in holes for the next few years. I don't think Angelos wants to throw the white flag up with the Nats in his back yard now...it'll kill his fan base to do that right now.

Well Bruce's report isn't the only thing talking abou it. It's on the Score, ESPN 1000, and XM Radio MLB Home Plate. Everyone is talking about it. Someone on another thread said someone who is close to Tejada said Tejada would be happy to come to the Cubs if a trade happened. Go to the Cardinals board.....4 threads about Tejada going to the Cardinals. I suspect that every message board for every team is currently chewing on why Tejada will end up with them in the near future. Dont get your hopes up. There's a big difference between speculation on message boards, and ESPN, XM Radio, and other media outlets talking about it.

Plus, the O's are reported to be hesitant to deal him within their own divisoin. If our offer is close to Boston's, I would think they would prefer ours.

Are you aware that the Cubs had a higher OBP last year than the 2 teams in the world series? Pitching wins. I wasn't aware of that, and I know pitching wins. However, if your obviously weak on OBP, that doesn't mean you shouldn't puruse improving it. What pitchers are on the market that could be had for something reasonable? There's not alot to go after what would improve our starting pitching, and we already improved the pen.

If we could just pry BWilk from TX for RF, Tejada at SS...I'd be happy with this offseason if we could go into next season with: CF Pierre .360 OBP 2B Walker/JHJR .350 OBP 1B DLee .400 OBP SS Tejada .350 OBP 3B Ramirez .370 OBP RF BWilk .360 OBP LF Murton .350 OBP C Barrett .350 OBP None of those OBPs are too unreasonable, maybe a little hopeful, but not unreasonable. I could go with that, that'd be a HUGE upgrade over last year. Pen is solid, bottom of the rotation is the only worry. Wood would need to be healthy if we don't bag another starter, or Rusch would have to have another season like he had in '04.

Who'd be at 2nd? I would guess Hairston. TWalks not staying here, whether we like it or not. If Jim is REALLY good, he could convince them to take Hairston instead of RonnyC, but I don't think there's a chance on earth we could pull that one off.

What about Kelton would have made him a nice fit? Nothing I have seem from him indicates he is capable of hitting ML pitching and coming off the bench in PH and spot duty is probably harder than with regular playing time. He hasn't established himself at any position so he isn't really valuable as a defensive replacement. His speed is average so he doesn't add much as a pinch runner. There have to be a ton of low cost options better than Kelton that will be available I would have taken Die Hard or Sing in that last bench slot over Kelton. Sing will be best served getting in a full year of AAA, but I think he'd be more valuable in the majors than Kelton.

They are not any closer to competing in that div. than the Fish are. Hill, Williams, Cedeno and a Single A prospect for Miggy and a bit of cash, please. There will plenty of teams that would be willing to offer more. Everyone needs starting pitching. Not everyone needs a shortstop. Which teams will offer more? Mets: Reyes,Benson,Diaz Blue Jays: Batista,Lilly,Hudson,A.Hill Angels: Lackey,Cabrera,Shields Diamindbacks: Vazquez,Aquino,Tracy Padres: Green,Eaton,Roberts Red Sox: Manny,Arroyo Mets easily could get involved, don't know if they'd trade Reyes though, and that'd probably be a dealbreaker for the Os. Pad's won't give that package up, plus they're set with Khalil Greene, who's only going to get better. O's don't want to trade within division, so no Red Sox or Blue Jays. We can beat the DBacks package easily if we wanted. We could also beat the Angels, but not as easily as AZs package. I would guess that would have to depend on how the O's feel about those guys vs our guys...

He also praised the Dodgers for signing Furcal below market value...I think that in and of itself is enough to discredit any garbage that Dayn Perry writes.

Not sure where you went to school, but did they teach reading? It say the ORIOLES are close to signing him. Don't tell me you've never missed something by reading over an article too quickly. I bet you have sometime in your life, and that would make you a hypocrite. I misread, it had marlins buy his name and I read over it. So sue me.

corey=laynce nix jmho Agreed. I'd rather do Corey and Jerome for BWilk, let them keep Nix and save the extra spot on the 40 man roster. edit: That is, rather than take Nix. Obviously, I'd like to get someone of value to the team for CPatt, if possible.

Huh? According to Rotoworld, Conine is close to signing a $1.5 mil deal with the Marlins. I don't understand this from either side...why would Conine stay with the Marlins for a one year deal when they're clearly going to stink next year. Why are the Marlins giving $1.5 mil to an over the hill player considering they're dumping as much payroll as possible for prospects and league minimum guys? They must want that veteran presence to mentor the new guys. Either that, or they figure someone will send a prospect or two for him midseason as a serviceable 4th OFer, and that's worth giving him $1.5 for.

Did they offer him arbitration? I didn't think they were going to, I guess they must have...

Best move of the offseason that DIDN'T happen: Soriano to the Cubs. Thank you Mr. Hendry for not taking TX up on any deal involving him.

Rule 5 was yesterday? Anyone got the results?

I think that means he's eligible to be picked up in the rule 5 draft though... Who wouldn't want a kid with a career OBP in the majors higher than Barry Bonds? Heck, he's about twice as high as bonds. :D

I'd love to see them bring Holla back for that, if only we had a manager with a clue that would use him as the 4th OF/1st bat off of the bench like he's best suited for.

Probably the same thing the see in Reyes.

The concept of "not blocking Murton" is one I want to avoid. If you put Murton out there and he flops, you're looking at 400+ John Mabry plate appearances. Can we please be a deep team? Maybe just try it once? I'd rather have Wilkerson and Rondell. I could go for that. If we get Huff and he doesn't rebound from last year, he'll stay out there. I don't think Dusty would give Rondell significant starts over Murton as long as Murton isn't absolutely imploding. If Dusty does decide to play Rondell everyday, it won't be long before he hits teh DL.

If we get BWilk, I don't want Huff. He's not good enough to justify blocking Murton.

link

In other words, he went for the money :wink:

I think they would find Pie + Cedeno + Williams worth considering. That's about my breaking point though, as I really like RonnyC. I'd do it, any more than that, I'd probably have to balk.