Peter- Can you believe that I have now seen on 3 different sites that the O's have been MAJOR players in the attempts of signing Tex, AJ, AND DRUM ROLL PLEASE, MANNY!!
Could You Imagine if we could get Carmona for BROB and THEN AJ and TEX or MANNY? I assume we would dump HUff and keep Manny as DH, BUT.... COULD THE O's BE making that kind of SPLASH!!! I AM IN BABY. LETS SPEND SOME MONEY!!!!!

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Pete's reply: If the Orioles sign Manny Ramirez, I'll leave the country. Oh, wait, I'm going to do that anyway.

It was a genious move on the Dodgers part. They not only set the maximum market but at the same time they eliminate potential bidders. Tells them to go sniff somewhere else. It would be nice if Boras could get played for once instead of the opposite that usually happens!

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Pete's reply: Of course, even if Boras get's played, he ends up making untold millions in commissions. Nice work if you can get it.

Very interesting poison pill theory. You might not be as dumb as your taste is shirts implies.

Offer Tex $18.5 million for 10 years - $185 million and see what happens!

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Pete's reply: Where am I going to get that kind of money.

Pete -

I can't see Andy MacPhail making any move for Manny either. Goes totally against what he's been saying all along.

What do you think about a trade for Jack Wilson @ SS, and if the O's go that route, what would we have to give up?

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Pete's reply: I'm fine with that. Don't have a feel for what it would take, but I'll keep my ears open.

Pete,

Out of sight but certainly not out of mind. Hope the trip has been fun and eventful, but the O's rumors continue in your absence. I'm with you, the Dodgers did the O's a big service by establishing such a bar on Manny and it may wake our ownership up on what Tex may really cost and his value at his age versus Manny. I sure hope all the talk is more than just that as our expectations have been exasperated in the past only to get a couple of minor league free agents and an utility infielder! Keep the faith@

Enough with this home town hero stuff. Unless Angelos is prepared to ante up 160 mil for starters, Oriole fans should just cut the BS and go home. If they want power, they'll have a much better shot at Dunn. Put Huff on first and get back to reality.

I don't think I could watch the Orioles if they put Manny on the field ... I don't care how good a hitter he is. What would he do to Trembly's admonishment "Play hard and respect the game." Manny is the antithesis of that attitude.

Any word from your O's sources as to their interest in Brad Penny? He'd seem to be a good fit, at a fairly reasonable price, for one of the starting spots.

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Pete's reply: I've been on vacation, so I haven't been making a lot of calls, so I don't have a feel for Penny. I'll be out of it for awhile, but maybe one of my guest bloggers will have an answer to that.

even in good times the O's wouldn't fork out htis kind of money. Get realistic people, the O's aren't going to sign any big namers. there's no reason to when their pitching is still so awful. The recession will scare off lots of teams from high prices players,then they ger socked with collussion charges from the unions.

This free agent excess is all well and good, but I have not heard how the golf is going. Some of us live vicariously through others.

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Pete's reply: Let me sum it up this way. I played four rounds in Southern California and the weather was beautiful.

Chris in LV -- Pete's taste in shirts isn't stupid at all, rather, it's part of an ingenious ploy to convince the Sun to send him on assignment to cover the Hawaii Winter League.

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Pete's reply: Ken is 100 percent correct, but it seemed to work in reverse. I am headed the other direction and will be in Russia in a few days.

Pete, Jack Wilson is a good player, but also injury prone and not exactly what Dave and Andy have stated they want in a SS, which is power. I know Greene is either a FA after 2009 or eligible for arbitration, but would they really have to break the bank on him? It doesn't seem the Padres want him and I can't see him commanding big bucks due to his past injuries and inconsistency, but he is a great fielder and a guy that has a lot of potential to be a very good SS for years to come at the Yard which is a lot smaller than PetCo which would push his power #s up.

Pete, I am not sure what you think of the Sporting News or SI, but it seems they take teams that are weak (O's) and add them to a list of teams in the hunt for big ticket FAs like Manny (both Mags said the O's were interested), but in my opinion, they are taking teams that have money and a past for going after over aged FAs without any research. No way do the O's make a play for Manny, as it seems that Dave and Andy really have a made an effort to get rid of the Divas on the team. I think that if they go after a Vet, it would be a guy they can get for one year that slips through the cracks like potentially Giambi if Tex signs with the Jays which seemed to be the one team that wanted Jason. I know you weren't keen on Garret Anderson, but my point was that if you feel a guy like Lou needs more time at AAA to learn the LF position than you go after a Vet because regardless of the consensus on Jay Payton, he and Luke put up very good #s in LF and from everything I've read, he mentored Adam Jones which is what a Vet should do in any sport.

Pete, you are around the O's more than any of us so is it just me or does it seem like B Rob is just saying the right things because he loves Baltimore (city, not the team), as this is a guy that doesn't look like he wants to be here even if the money was the same. I am not saying he doesn't play all out because he does, but playing all out and wanting to be on the team are two different things.

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Pete's reply: Brian is also telling friends he wants to stay in Baltimore, but I still don't know what that means.

Pete - I can't get too excited over Jack Wilson at SS. Good glove, below average stick (.269 lifetime BA), no power (.375 SLG), no speed (averages 5 SB/yr). A below average SS who is due to make $7.25 million next year and has an $8.4 million option in 2010. Would you really trade a top prospect for him as a 2-year stopgap?

I think I'd rather re-sign Cintron, invest that money in pitching and trade a pitching prospect for a SS prospect who's 2 years away. We're building for 2010 and not 2009.

Your thoughts?

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Pete's reply: I don't think they'll stay with what they have after last year. They need a very good defensive SS to help develop the young pitching.

Didn't Texas offer Tex $175 million over 10 years (over a year ago), and he refused and was traded?

I don't think another $10 million is going to seal the deal. The bidding starts at $200 million over 10 years if the Orioles are even seriously considering Tex. Otherwise, they will be sitting on the sidelines again with their hands in their pockets while some fast-talking, slick, out-of-towner like the Yankees or Red Sox asks all the "pretty girls" to dance.

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Pete's reply: Don't recall the Texas offer. The only way the O's sign Teixeira is if he really, really wants to come home to play. I doubt that is the case.

Pete,

It wasn't hijacked, it was abandoned! We are sports junkies, just because you are out enjoying the other coast with sunshine and some frutti drinks doesn't mean the rest of us aren't dying over the O's and Ravens news or lack there of!

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Pete's reply: My apologies, but I must leave the country because I lost a bet on the election.

Pete -- You say you don't know what Brian Roberts means when he says he wants to stay in Baltimore. Well, if you read what else he says about wanting to play on a winning team, isn't it logical to put 2+2 together and conclude that his preference is to be on a winning Orioles team?

That seems to be the gist of it to me. My sense of it is that this is a Catch 22 of sorts that prevents the contract extension being concluded as quickly as the front office would like: On the one hand, he probably prefer to wait until the O's sign a free agent who'll be a difference maker; on the other, the team would probably prefer seeing if it can get him signed first to better determine how it will proceed in the rest of it's offseason rebuilding. Does this make sense to you?

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Pete's reply: I suppose, but there is no scenario in which the O's are a sure winner in the next couple of years. Even if they sign Teixeira and a No.1 pitcher, he won't know for sure that next year won't be losing season No. 12.