"like Erik Bedard"

Do we really want to chance signing him? I liked Eric but I think he could be a cancer to the young pitchers, next thing you know all of them will be saying they can't pitch because they have a hangnail.

I would be fine with Bedard or Ben Sheets, on a big $ per year, 2 year deal. I don't know that either of guys signs for something short, but it would be worth asking.

Peter, let's be real. We have NO, repeat, NO shot at any free agent that will make a difference. We can probably pick up some middle to end of the road types for 3B (Joe Crede, Troy Glaus) to hold the spot until Josh Bell arrives (if he pans out); Maybe have a shot at Billy Wagner, but why spend money on a closer for a team that is still a year or two away (isn't that why we moved Sherrill?). Other then that, we're in the running for the Mark Hendrickson's of the world, hardly worth buring the calories it would take to read about it.

Until we start winning and stop tanking at the end of the season, Andy can throw all of Angelos' confederate money around and it won't matter. Our only hope is that some of the young guys can step up this year. Otherwise the O's are just treading water signing a bunch of D level free agents.

Can someone please explain why we would release Mora and not attempt to re-sign him for less money ... and then put Beltre as the top target to fill 3B? His offensive numbers are identical to Mora's and defensively, he is an unknown quantity.

What's the point of replacing a worn out tire with a retread tire (who earned $13.5 million last year)

i feel that any prominent free agent the orioles really want to persue. they will have to do more than sit in a office and talk to them over the phone.actually getting a prominent player is absolute dream land.

I'd prefer Sheets over Bedard, though I'll take either. What we really need is an innings eater to take away some innings from the back end of the bullpen. I'd take Lowe if Atlanta was willing to eat some of the contract.

Pete,

Don't worry about Kurkjian - you'll soon join the long list of guys who passed through town covering the O's to go on to bigger and better things (Kurkjian, Olney, Shaunnessy, Rosenthal - I'm sure there are others I'm omitting). Or will your love of crab cakes keep you here forever??

Last I checked, no one has signed Lackey so I guess all teams are off to a bad start. I'd be OK giving Mora a 1 year deal or using Wiggy at third if the FO feels Josh Bell should be ready at some point next season. I'd be OK giving Bedard an incentive laided deal. Don't expect him to be an innings eater, but he will win games if he stays healthy.

Chris T:

Defensively, Beltre is hardly "an unknown quantity". He is consistently one of the best. Go to http://fieldingbible.com/ and see for yourself.

As to why we would release Mora and go after him, he's just 31 years old. Mora is 38.

**I liked Eric but I think he could be a cancer to the young pitchers, next thing you know all of them will be saying they can't pitch because they have a hangnail.**

We know this, because he had the same effect on Adam Loewen, Daniel Cabrera, Garrett Olson, Brian Burres, Jim Hoey, Jim Johnson, Radhames Liz, and all the other younger pitchers that were on the team the last time Bedard was here, right?

If you don't like Bedard's attitude, just say you don't like his attitude. No need to go making stuff up.

Can you imagine if the O's sign Bedard and he has a good season? Mariners fans will be jumping off of bridges.

To recap what everyone already knows, the Bedard trade already netted...

CF Adam Jones,
LHP George Sherrill
LFP Tony Butler,
RHP Chris Tillman
RHP Kam Mickolio

And then Sherrill was flipped for:

3B Josh Bell
RHP Steve Johnson

To have all that talent in the system and then to get back the same guy who is only two seasons removed from being on the roster, wow, that's a killer. By "same guy" I mean the guy who the Mariners thought they were getting.

I'll be glad if they get Bedard back and even gladder if he returns to his form of old.

But only because it makes the Orioles better. I see no reason to dance in the streets at the unintentional fleecing of another club's fans.

Sign Sheets. Sign Bedard. Sign Lackey. Sign any Major League starter we can. Between Sheets Bedard and Uehara we may get a 1 good full season of starting pitching.

For anyone who cares about type A and B free agents.

Explaining Type A, B free agents

Tuesday, November 28, 2006 | Feedback | Print Entry

Some top free agents bring a small amount of compensation back to their former clubs when they sign with new teams in the form of extra picks in the subsequent Rule 4 draft. Although this rule was ostensibly designed to give clubs some kind of compensation for losing good players, especially lower-payroll clubs who couldn't or wouldn't retain those top free agents, it was also put in place to produce a slight drag on free-agent salaries. Not only has it clearly failed on both of those goals, but it has slightly distorted the market for free agents, making certain players more or less appealing than they otherwise would be.

The compensation rules were simplified in the most recent collective bargaining agreement, so that now there are only three types of players:

• Type A players, ranked in the top 30 percent of players at their positions. A team that signs a Type A player gives its top draft pick to the club that the player is leaving. The "losing" club also receives a supplemental pick in the "sandwich" round between the first and second rounds.

• Type B players, ranked below the top 30 percent but in the top 50 percent of players at their positions. A team that loses a Type B player receives a supplemental pick, but the signing team does not lose any picks.

• All other players, who carry no compensation at all. There had previously been a third class of "Type C" players, but that was eliminated in the new CBA.

The two compensation classes will shrink beginning in the winter after the 2007 season; the Type A pool will only comprise players in the top 20 percent of their positions, and the Type B pool will only comprise players in the second quintile (21-40 percent). The rankings come from a formula that MLB and the players' union agreed on in the early 1990s, entrusting Elias with the task of generating the statistical rating for each player. The formula -- the specific components of which no one seems to know -- looks at player statistics from the preceding two seasons, combining both bulk statistics (that is, ones that increase with playing time) and simple rate statistics (such as batting average). It then ranks players in each of those categories and then assigns each player a points value inversely related to his ranking. In this respect, the formula is based on where a player ranks in relation to his peers in each category -- not how the player actually performed. If you led all players at your position in home runs over the past two years, it wouldn't matter if you hit 40 or 80 -- you'd get the same number of points.

If a team has a draft pick in the first half of the first round (that is, in the top 15 picks), its first-round pick is protected from the compensation process, meaning that the highest pick it can lose for signing a Type A free agent is its second-round pick. This has already affected three clubs -- the Cubs (for Alfonso Soriano), Orioles (for Danys Baez) and Indians (for David Dellucci) all signed Type A free agents, but lost their second-round picks rather than their first-round picks. Given the rapidly expanding sandwich round and the weak college crop in the 2007 draft, it's likely that one or more of those clubs was more willing to surrender that second-round pick knowing that its value this year is low.

If a team signs more than one Type A free agent, its picks are parceled out to the "losing" clubs in an order determined by the ratings of the free agents the team signed. For example, Baltimore signed Baez, whose rating was 69.810, and Chad Bradford, whose rating was 62.890. Since Baltimore's first-round pick was protected, the Orioles lost their second-round pick to Atlanta (for Baez) and then their third-round pick to the Mets (for Bradford). If, however, the Orioles were to sign a Type A free agent with a rating higher than Baez's rating, then that player's former club would get Baltimore's second-round pick and Atlanta and the Mets would get the O's third- and fourth-round picks respectively.

The picks in the sandwich round follow the normal draft order, meaning that it takes place in reverse order of finish (but only includes teams that have received extra picks). However, a team that has received two sandwich picks must wait until every team that picks in the round has selected once before it makes its second pick; a team that has received three picks must wait until all teams with two or more picks have selected twice; and so on.

There is also a set of quotas governing how many Type A and B players one club may sign as free agents in one winter, with that number determined by the total number of Type A and B players who elect free agency in that offseason.

• If fewer than 14 Type A or B players elect free agency, no club may sign more than one such player.

• If 15-38 Type A or B players elect free agency, no club may sign more than two such players.

• If 39-62 Type A or B players elect free agency, no club may sign more than three such players.

• If 63 or more Type A or B players elect free agency, "the Club quotas shall be increased accordingly," according to the basic agreement.

Since 93 Type A or B free agents filed for free agency this winter, the per-club quota this offseason is eight. However, each team may sign as many Type A or B free agents as it loses in any particular winter, even if those signings would put it over the quota for that winter. At this writing, only Baltimore has signed three such free agents (Baez, Bradford, and Jamie Walker, who was a Type B).

The rating system groups players into five categories -- catchers, starting pitchers, relief pitchers, infielders other than first basemen, and first basemen/outfielders/designated hitters. Players are ranked in five to seven statistical categories, with the specific categories varying by their position grouping (e.g., there are no fielding stats used in the 1B/OF/DH group, but the catcher and infielder groups each include two defensive stats). Cumulative statistics may be adjusted for players who spent time on the disabled list, restoring stats for up to 60 days of missed playing time.

Each player is then given a point total for each statistical category that is inversely related to his actual ranking. For example, if there are 100 starting pitchers in the ranking, then the pitcher with the lowest ERA gets 100 points, the pitcher with the second-lowest ERA gets 99 points, and so on, until it reaches the pitcher with the highest ERA, who gets one point just for writing his name. This system has an obvious flaw, of course, as it gives no weight to the distance between any two players: If the top pitcher's ERA is 0.1 or 0.01 or 1.0 runs better than the ERA of the next-best pitcher, it doesn't matter, as he still only gets one extra point. Point totals within each position are then scaled to make 100 a perfect score.

ADAM LAROCHE ADAM LAROCHE ADAM LAROCHE! This guy is massively undervalued--he's 29 and has hit something like .270-25-90 for the last five years. Lock him in for 4 years--when Brandon Snyder gets here LaRoche can become a pure cleanup hitter. Come ON ANDY MAC-P!

While I would love for the team to improve, this is an awful group of FAs. They should not sign a mediocre guy to anything substantial. We've had enough David Seguis around here. If this means another year of struggling so be it....

Bedard has a torn labrum, he wont be ready to pitch for quite awhile. Plus he's a major jerk. He has disaster written all over him.

Pete, There's every reason to think the Orioles will go after Bedard, right? And why not as he's be a great guy to have as front of rotation pitcher. (I'm thinking Bedard, Bergesen, Matusz, Guthrie and Tillman could win its share of games and be the best rotation the O's have had in years.)

What I'm wondering, though, is how much interest there's going to be from other teams. I would think a huge amount given his talent, and here I'm even thinking big market teams like the Yankees. In fact, who wouldn't be interested in him? (Frankly, if he's healthy and on his game, he's at least as good as Lackey, maybe better.)

There's always been the perception that given his personality, he might shy away from the limelight of places like New York, but you've got to think if Cashman calls Erik and says the Yankees will sign him to a very handsome contract and give him a chance to help defend their World Championship, Bedard's at least going to listen and listen pretty closely

That said, even if it turns out that the O's offer Bedard a more lucrative deal than anyone else, he really doesn't want to deal with big town media and wants to come back to Baltimore, I'm guessing that he may cost a bit more than people are thinking. Agree?

Dave, Erik a clubhouse cancer? Please, quit buying into the urban legend that he didn't/doesn't want to pitch. This is absolutely untrue. You don't win 15 and 13 games in two season in relentless AL East if you don't want to pitch. The real reason Bedard often came out of games early had much more to do with pitch counts than malingering. This was probably a result of him nibbling with his pitches, because he has the kind of stuff that will put batters away without any problem (as his 221 strikeouts in 2007 clearly attests).

AtomicDog, Your assessment is way too pessimistic. While it's unlikely that the Orioles are going to sign any huge star, that doesn't mean that all they can get is end-of-the-line guys. Keep in mind that before the 2004 season the O's signed three above average free agents in Miguel Tejada, Javy Lopez and Rafael Palmeiro and that was to a team that had less going for it than the 2010 O's.

Fang Guy, Barring complications from his surgery, there's absolutely no reason to think that Bedard won't be a dominant pitcher. In two abbreviated seasons for the Mariners he went 11-7 with an ERA in the low 3s, while averaging a strikeout an inning. Sounds like the old Erik to me. (Incidentally, not "old" in calendar years as he'll only be 31 to start the season.)

Fang Guy:

Has there ever been a baseball GM that hasn't tried to fleece the other team in a trade. If there is, I don't want him running the Os. Thank God AM fleeced Seattle. How thin would our talent pool be if he hadn't.

I hope AM skins a few more this offseason. After all, that's what every body else is trying to do and it will get us to the promised land that much quicker if he can do it again.

The comments beginning "Pete, There's every reason to think the Orioles will go after Bedard, right?" are from me. I had no intention of being mysterious, I simply forgot to enter my screen name.

Dr. Schmuck -

Looks like a team may be able to get Lowe from the Braves for a few low-mid level prospects. Lowe's contract is expensive, but we've got cash to burn, and we may be able to get the Braves to pick up some of the salary if we give up someone decent. Lowe is a hard-worker, has playoff experience, and we could use a sinker-baller on the staff. What are the odds Andy tries to get him to mentor the young studs and set a good example? He is probably a better fit than Bedard at this point.

Anonymous:

While Bedard had a good ERA over 2 seasons in Seattle, he averaged barely over 5 innings a start. That is truely awful and puts a huge strain on a bullpen.

The most worrisome thing about Bedard's injury is that it is to his shoulder. I'd be far more confident of a successful recovery if he had a problem with his elbow. Shoulder injuries can be, and often are, career enders.

Not that I wouldn't take a flyer on Bedard, but it would have to be at a low base salary with performance bonuses.

I gotta say I was glad to see Bedard leave and I'm not anxious to get him back. He has no track record at all of giving us the kind of innings we need out of whoever we get. If we sign him again I bet we'll regret it.

I see that fans are already beginning to fall for the same hype again. Already talking about Bedard and Sheets as if the Os have a snowballs chance at getting either of them. Don't be so gullible people. When all the teams have acquired the players they want we will go through what ever is left and hope 1 or 2 of them will come to Bmore for no more than 2 mil for 2 years.

Peter Angelos & George Steinbrenner have the same
Net Worth. (1.3 - 1.5 billion)
Why is NY so far ahead of the Os?

I am not too concerned which of these jokers we sign, it is who it is. I am trying to figure out why the O's didn't draft Tim Lincecum in '06 with the #9 pick, instead they took Billy Rowell and the Giants took him with the #10 pick. Wouldn't he look fantastic at the front end of the rotation.

I hate to say it, but I don't really care any more.

Until there is a real salary cap in baseball, the Yankees will just go out and plunder the free agent market year after year, along with those pigs up in Boston.

So what?

That's right. So what?

So what if the Orioles are "being used" to secure a better deal? If the Orioles are really, truly, mean it this time, I swear, I really mean it this time, cross my heart, swear on my asbestos and MASN millions, and hope to die mean it about signing Lackey, make an offer. Make a real offer. Negotiate that offer and their counter-offer. You know, like real teams do.

Then and only then if Lackey goes to the BosAngelos Yankubs of Anaheim, can we say we tried and failed. Is that the worst case scenario? Is driving up somebody else's paying price really a negative to us?

I did get a good chuckle reading the proposed co-number one starter of Sheets/Uehara/Bedard.

How about Albert Puljols? I know he's under contract but how about offering a package of our "can't miss" players for him with the proviso we can sign him to an extension he would like and St. Louis says it can't afford. Or is 30 (in January) too old?

The Orioles do know prospects can be used in a trade, don't they? They do know it's not illegal to have a clean-up hitter batting clean-up, don't they?

This one may startle them but getting a top-drawer player may make them vulnerable to other players wanting to come here.

Sorry. Got carried away daydreaming. I'll go back to waiting for MLB to expand to Baltimore.

Grumpy Old Man -

Even if there was a salary cap, what would stop the Yankees from having the highest payroll, and, theoretically, the best team, in the game? Regardless of what a cap would be set to, the Yanks would be one of the only teams pushing the limit (unless the cap is $100M or lower, which would never happen).

Really, the only thing that is going to stop the Yankees from outspending every other team by $50M is adding another team to the New York market. Think about it. The New York market is probably twice as big as the LA market, and they've both got two teams. How does that make any sense? So, to end the Yankees payroll dominance, all you've got to do is move one of the Florida teams to the Meadowlands. Suddenly, there's another well run team in the New York market and a new generation of New Jersey baseball fans don't have to travel to the Bronx and pay insane ticket prices to watch a baseball game.

Sure, the Yankees will still be one of the top spenders, as they always will be, but they won't be spending so much more than every other team.

waspman -

If the Cardinals trade Albert Pujols for prospects, their fans would burn Busch Stadium to the ground.

Seriously.

The O's would have to offer Nick Markakis and Matt Wieters to even get those talks started.

Tim K., Buster Olney, Ken Rosenthal, that Peter Schmuck guy, maybe you should do a story of the proud tradition of Baltimore Sun baseball writers blowing up to national prominence.

Seriously, what's the story?

Bedard is tempting, but i loved Dave Johnson's comment on TV last Saturday: why would you want Bedard coaching the young starters to go 5 innings??

Not Brooks,

Interesting idea about a third team in NY, but what about the 1950s? NY had the Yanks, Dodgers, and Giants, yet no team in history has dominated a decade like the Yanks dominated the 50s. Still, the economics of the sport are very different today so that may be something Bud should consider.

Fire Bedard

The Orioles would be foolish to spend over $15 million per season on Lackey, a guy who can only help the team every fifth day (not even every fourth day, as rotations should be.) With pitching, they should look for lightning in a bottle, a pitcher with a deceiving W-L record but good ERA and WHIP, or a guy coming off injury. This is a lousy free agent market. MacPhail and Angelos should not spend money just to make some fans happy they're throwing money around. Save it for next offseason.

One goal this season should be to improve the offense of the players we have. That means teaching them plate discipline, the importance of accepting walks (OBP) rather than flailing at borderline and bad pitches (especially with less than two strikes) and using the whole field. That's the secret to the Yankees, Red Sox, and Angels' offensive success, and there is no reason (save for Crowley's promoting an aggressive approach at the plate) that Orioles hitters up and down the lineup can't make pitchers work to get them out. Roberts had a fine season WRT to doubles and homers, but his OBP was close to or lower than the Yankees TEAM OBP, and he's our usual leadoff hitter. Plate discipline is the reason a Yankee game is never over until the last out is recorded, whereas with the Orioles, the game feels over if the O's are down or tied after six innings. The Yankees annually post a team OBP around .360, while the O's are in the low .330s. Putting more runners on base puts more pressure on pitchers, and usually leads to scoring more runs.

Speaking of free agents, here's an in-depth look at Aroldis Chapman. A few interesting points:

- Touted as a "100 mph arm" Chapman only hits 100 on the gun "every once in a while". He's usually in the 93-96 range (occasionally touching 97-99) and, on some days, drops down to 90-93.

- Baseball Intellect predicts that Chapman is better suited to be a bullpen power arm.

http://www.baseball-intellect.com/aroldis-chapman-everything-you-need-to-know/

not brooks:

Good point you made in the first paragraph of your reply to Grumpy Old Man. I'd go one further, that even if an economic system could be put in place that ensured the Yankees couldn't spend so much as one thin dime more than anyone else, they'd still attract the better players simply because it is New York.

That's not an insult to Baltimore. It is just a simple fact of life that New York is the big stage, the place with the prestige and history. It will always outdraw small and middle market teams even if the money was the same.

Jonathan -

You're right that the economics of the sport were different back in the 50's, but the structure of acquiring players was vastly different as well.

Prior to 1965 there was no MLB Draft. And I bet, by the 50's, signing with the Yankees is what ever amateur free agent wanted to do.

Also, prior to the start of free agency in the mid 70's, the Yanks couldn't throw their money around at every free agent on the market because, well, there weren't any free agents on the market.

Pete, any idea why they used up a roster slot for a back up catcher? Esp. if Moeller is sure to be coming back.

O's should open their arms and go for Erik Bedard. Clas guy, great stuff when healthy.

Only question is what number will Bedard wear - I expect Dennis Sarfate (#45) to have a big year.

Why do you all think they will sign anyone? oh please!
Andy Mcphail will be sitting at the mic a few weeks from now saying.. well we tried to get this guy and that guy but just couldn't pull it off... same as the years before hand..
this club will continue to tread water... again if you were a FA would you come to this organization? UMMMM NO! none of them will either!
get real people.. if the redsox or yankees don't grab all of them up.. the rest will go to teams other then the Orioles! end of story!

The point made about Peter Angelos' and Steinbrenner's net worth have absolutely nothing to due with the economic situations of their baseball clubs.

If you want to know why the Yankees can afford a $200mil+ payroll and why the Orioles can not, just simply look up their revenue streams.

Putz44:

No disrespect intended, but if you really think there is no hope, why do you waste your time following the Os and reading and posting comments. That's masochism.

Not Brooks

I agree with your point about moving another team into the New York market.

I knew at the time that moving the Montreal franchise to DC was going to be a bust. Everybody should have seen it coming. Washington has always been a flop of a sports town -- at least until Joe Gibbs showed up and proved to be the big exception. The Senators? Exiled twice, and for good reason. The Wizards? What a joke. Ice hockey? Minor league sport, although Ovechkin is awesome.

The Expos should have gone to New York and become the third team up there and provided some way to divide up all of that booty of the media money. Maybe they should put a fourth team up there ... Give Brooklyn a team to call their own again, although the Mets basically play there.

The Yankees in the 1950s used the Kansas City Athletics as their farm team and bought up all their young talent like Roger Maris and a lot of others. So what if there were 3 teams in the New York market in the 1950s that were really strong? -- Big deal. Two of them left at the end of the decade and went to California.

The Yankees have always been the big money team. Don't fool yourself.

Look at the New York Giants football team. I don't begrudge them winning any championships because they have to play by the same standards as everybody else. If they win, then congratulations.

But the Yankees?

And the Yankee fans?? I heard some of them call in to the Baltimore radio talk shows after they won the Series this year to gloat, but they had no sense of the disgusting fact that it was paved by the 3 free agents that they signed by paying the equivalent of the total annual income of ten African nations. And that does not include what they are already paying for A Rod, Jeter, Pettitte, and the others already on the team.

What free agent are they going to swoop in on this year? They always get first dibs. I suspect that Matt Wieters will eventually end up with them after his contract with the O's expires.

And the Yankee fans are so disconnected from reality that they think that it is all fair. But they haven't won the Series since, what, 2000? That is a drought by their standards.

Yankee fans seem to have the attitude that the World Series crown is their own personal trophy and that no one else deserves it but themselves.

I wish that they would turn into the Chicago Cubs, and be doomed to a century of frustration.

They deserve it.

There is little that is more disgusting than a Yankees fan. Especially one that is not from New York.

Except for a Red Sox fan after they won their first series. At least before then they had a little humility.

Rodrigo, I was reading an article that said the Braves are looking to pretty much trade Lowe for low level prospects for financial reasons. I've always been a fan of Lowe. He's not flashy, but he's tough, durable, pitches a lot of innings and he's had success in the AL East before. This is the type of guy that you want because he will give you innings and quality starts and no doubt that will have a positive impact on both the young starting pitchers and the BP.

The O's are smart to sit back and see what shakes out, as Bay is a good player, but he wants 4 years at 80 mil! He's not that good. The best fit is Figgins, but since he's not coming here, I think if the O's can get Beltre and an aging DH or 1B with power like Thome or Delgado on the cheap, it's better than what was here before plus neither Thome or Delgado are going to be looking for long term deals so you aren't blocking anyone.

The most amazing thing besides the losing streak for the O's is that we can't get quality guys for the pen. Every winter, the O's are in desperate need of BP help. I don't know why guys like Berken and Hernandez aren't used in the pen, as a lot of teams will use their young guys in the BP till they get settled.

dspedden,

Income of the Yanks vs income of the Orioles is why.

Steinbrenner can wipe his "you know what" with what the Orioles make in a year. Basically A-Rod, Texeira, CC & AJ each make annually what MASN makes the O's in a year.

So, umm that's probably a good place as any to start as to why.

Do we really need to go into merchandising, luxury boxes, luxury seating, advertising revenue, etc.?

Angelos made his money in the courtroom.

It's time to "sign the bats" and the O's will not spend. MacPhail is just another pawn in Angelos' plan of maximizing profit by minimizing payroll. I wonder if MacPhail realizes when push comes to shove, Angelos won't spend what it takes to develop a competitive team or is MacPhail part of the subterfuge to created false hopes while maximizing another year's profits.

Wake up O's fans!

Angelos has no intention of spending amy money to field a competitive team. Remember the MASN revenue will allow us to compete? MASN is here and the payroll has trended lower instead of higher. Then it was develop the pitchers and buy the bats. But we're not going to buy any bats. Angelos is clueless how to successfully manage a team where revenue is maximized to fund good players and good players maximize revenue.

I'm still between laughing and crying over the minor league field dump Angelos ran in Florida where other organizations refued to risk their players on that field.

The O's exist for Angelos to count his cashflow and not to field a competitve team.

But still I hope even knowing there is no hope as long as Angelos and his sons own the team.

James C -
Angelos made his money in the courtroom, but he makes significant profit from the Orioles.

MLB guaranteed a selling price for the Orioles franchise of at least $365 M if Angelos decides to sell the team. Therefore, if the team accepts an offer for less than $365 M, MLB will have to pay the difference. Additionally, the Orioles have a majority control of MASN. Furthermore, if yearly gross revenues fall below $130 M, MLB will have to pay the Orioles the difference.

The payroll has been deminished to under 50% of 10 years ago. He used all the profits to pay off the debt on the team and not on players.

Roy, Your memory doesn't serve you if you think Bedard didn't give the Orioles quality innings. In his last two seasons with the club he averaged around 190 innings and 30 starts. And he won a total of 28 games in those years. He'd be a great addition to the staff.

While Erik Bedard might not be the friendliest guy, calling him a clubhouse cancer is a little ridiculous. He sticks to him self and a certain #8 did that as well. Does it make them bad guys? No, everyone is different. A lot of fans say Jones is cocky, but why does every player have to be the same? Every clubhouse is filled with different personalities, but that doesn't make them bad guys. My fear with Erik is that a power pitcher with his type of pitches and the arm problems he's had, isn't going to get better with age. I was under the impression that he might not pitch in 2010 so I am more concerned about guys that can contribute now. This team needs a guy that can give them 200 innings.

I am not a P.A. fan, but this is BS about how cheap he is. Why no blame for Flanny spending 41 mil on the BP or the crazy contracts that past GMs gave to David Segui or the big time deals given to Ramon, Javey, Miggy, Raffy and Ponson? The O's aren't cheap, they just aren't smart with their signings.

I believe in AM just like Gotham believed in Harvey Dent. I will be will the rest of the haters if AM sits on his butt and does nothing this winter, but AM says what he means and means what he says so if he was intending this winter to be a quiet one, he would try to quiet the masses by saying we will wait till 2011, but he hasn't so let's have some patience.

Buh

Dard

the guys i think (like anybody's listening) the O's should target as real possibilities are Chan Ho Park (it takes almost double the pitchers in a system to get through a year as it does to fill a roster lateley.)
Ben Sheets or Erik Bedard
Mike Gonzalez
Brad Penny
Justin Duscherer
and consideration should be given to Miguel Tejada at 3B. but I would press hard to sign Chone Figgens, losing Melvins glove at the corner is going to show this year.

EC,

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/33/07mlb_The-Business-Of-Baseball_Rank.html

The Yankees are worth $1.2 billion and made over $300 million in revenue.

Apples and oranges to the Orioles on both fronts.

Grumpy -

It's true that the Yankees acquired a lot of players from the KC A's, but saying that New York "bought up all [of KC's] young talent" is a bit ignorant.

Every move the Yanks made with the KC A's was a trade, a Rule Five pick or a waiver claim. Completely and entirely different from, say, the current A's who actually lose all of their star players to free agency.

The Yankees got a ton of young talent from Kansas City, and the Athletics got little in return. I remember Wayne Causey in there somewhere, probably in the Maris trade.

It wasn't until the mid-1960s that the Kansas City A's started holding on to their young talent. Lew Krause, Blue Moon Odom, Reggie Jackson, Bert Campaneris, Sal Bando, Catfish Hunter, Jim Nash. Unfortunately for Kansas City, they didn't really come into their own until after they had moved to Oakland. And they had that string of winning three World Series in a row 1972-74, even knocking aside those great Orioles teams. The Orioles were forced to re-tool and they never got back to the Series until 1979.

And don't even get me started about how Reggie Jackson left the Orioles as a free agent and went to -- who else -- the Yankees. And then the Yankees started winning all of those Series in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Even more reason to hate them.

John from Kensington, While I enjoy Dave Johnson as a pre/post game analyst and appreciate that he's coming from the angle of being a former Oriole pitcher, I've got to say you picked one of his worst comments to love, because it perpetuates two false perceptions about Bedard. First, it is categorically wrong to suggest that Bedard struggled to get out of the fifth inning. In 2006 and 2007, his two breakout seasons with O's, which suddenly made him attractive trade bait, Erik started a total of 61 games (33 and 28, respectively), in which he had 378.1 innings pitched (196.1 and 182--both figures top Johnson's highest total, which was 180 in 1990). That calculates out to 6.2 innings pitched per game (6.198 per game to be exact) . So throw out the "Bedard can't get out of the fifth" nonsense; he did so consistently when he was healthy.

Worse by far, however, is Dave Johnson's sly insinuation (assuming you've presented what he said accurately) that Erik would somehow influence young starters to beg out of games after five innings. This goes in the direction of damaging Bedard's character and I'm sorry to see Dave stoop that low. I'm sure he really believes it and has just bought into all the adverse publicity that Bedard had when in town.

This is crazy when you consider that Erik had back-to-back seasons winning 15 and 13 for the O's. Any guesses how many Orioles have won 15 games since then? Or just 13 games? Try zero. Jeremy Guthrie's won 10 twice in a row to go with 29 loses.

I really hope Dave rethinks what he said and apologizes on TV in an effort to undo the false image that he's helping perpetuate. He certainly isn't alone in the media when it comes to dishing out disinformation about Bedard, but being an ex-Oriole pitcher, his comments have a certain aura of authority about them that some of his colleagues may not have. Since he comes across as someone who is fair and doesn't take pot shots at players just to be shooting at them, I'm sure if he looks into this a little closer he'll do the right thing and correct his error.

Justin Duscherer---great ERA---2x All-Star ----free agent--Why Not?

To say "no big free agent will ever sign with the O's" is an absurd generalization. Every player can't sign with NYY. Not every player WANTS to play there (see: Johnson, Randy). Even Steinbrenner can't afford EVERYBODY. It's not that long ago that Pudge Rodriguez, a premium FA, shocked the baseball world and signed with the pitiful Detroit Tigers, a team (at that time) and a town (then and now) far inferior to what the Orioles and Baltimore are heading into 2010.

It can happen. Probably won't this winter, and, really, is there an instant difference maker out there, anyway?

I've been a die-hard Oriole fan since 1958, will turn 62 during Spring Training this year, and I'm not the most patient person (ask my wife). But lavishing million$$ on barely above average players now is silly.

The youngsters will develop. The future is pretty darned bright, I'd say.

Grumpy -

You can't blame the Yankees for acquiring talent from KC without giving up much. That's definitely a fault of KC management and has nothing to do with the Yankees (unless you believe there was collusion involved).

Howie -

I'm with you on Duchscherer. If he's ready to pitch, I would expect he'd go for the best one-year, incentive-laden deal he can find.

There is a lot of risk with the Duke though, with his extensive history of back issues to go along with a hip surgery after the 2007 season and an elbow surgery in March of 2009. Also, Duke's going through clinical depression right now and no one knows if/when he's going to rebound from that.

But, again, if he's ready to pitch, I'd take him in a heartbeat.

James C- You are missing the point. The Yankees spend 70% of their revenue on payroll. They lost money according to the article. The Orioles spend 43%!!!! The Orioles are making money despite their horrendous performance for a decade.

The Orioles outdrew teams like the Red Sox until 2002. They drew 1.2 million more than them for a few years in the late 90's. Red Sox tickets were not as expensive as they are now either as when new ownership came to Boston, they turned the team and marketing around. It's supply and demand.

At a conservative estimate of $17 a ticket (excluding concession and parking revenue), they could generate $17M more then then they do now if they drew what they could (2.9M is realistic for this market for a competitive team that has a positive marketing strategy). That is every year!! The Orioles have dug their own hole. They may not be able to spend with the Yankees, but they can be much more competetive if run properly.

No to Bedard as a returning free agent. We saw his best stuff and sold him high. He will never return to that caliber of a starting pitcher again.

Really like the thread about the Yankees and economics going on here. Isn't MLB renegotiating the player's union agreement next year? Will be interesting to see how they revise the revenue sharing agreement. Also will be nice to see them close the loop holes with Cuban defector and Asian "Rookies" that can skip the draft and go into a FA pool that only the elite can bid on.

Moving a team to NY - Not going to ever happen. It was interesting to see when the Expos moved how MLB has carved up and defined regional territories. Angelos put up a heck of a fight over a city he's not even in. No way MLB is going to jeopardize their crown jewel Yankees. And the Yankees would have a much stronger legal argument than Angelos had.

Salary cap - Makes sense. Works for every other professional sport. Unfortunately, MLB has anti-trust exemption that all the other sports do not. MLB as a sum makes far more money where the Yankees are loved internationally and everyone else hates them, than in a system where everyone has a more or less fair shot.

Are the details of revenue sharing posted anywhere? Does the public know what teams have to pony up and how much, and who is on the take?

Matt -

http://www.bnet.com/2403-13502_23-210897.html

Now that the Ravens season is over, let's talk baseball! Pitchers and catcher report in 11 weeks!