Time for the O's to make their move:

- Sign John Lackey for four years, $60M

- Sign Matt Holliday for six years, $90M

- Sign Nick Johnson for two years, $16M

- Sign Adrian Beltre for two year, $16M

1. Payroll goes up by $46M, pushing it to about $85M, after modest arb raises for Luke Scott and Jeremy Guthrie.

2. Move Reimold to 1B/DH platoon with Johnson, so they both stay healthy.

3. Use Pie as the fourth outfielder.

4. Trade Scott for bullpen help.

5. Lineup:

1. Brian Roberts, 2B
2. Nick Johnson, 1B
3. Nick Markakis, RF
4. Matt Holliday, LF
5. Adam Jones, CF
6. Nolan Reimold, DH
7. Adrian Beltre, 3B
8. Matt Wieters, C
9. Cesar Izturis, SS

6. Rotation:

1. John Lackey
2. Jeremy Guthrie
3. Brian Matusz
4. Chris Tillman
5. Brad Bergesen

7. Bullpen:

- Koji
- Mark Hendrickson
- We'll see about the rest

8. And most importantly, BUTTS IN SEATS!

PS - Italics = Dream Sequence

Lol!

One thing we can surely count on - if the headline says 'Big Deal' you can bet it has NOTHING to do with the Orioles.

Hey Pete, you should still keep finding ways to include the O's in each blog/post somehow. I mean you still have to justify the expense of the trip.

The paint drying convention is still being held a couple states away. I'd get on the next bus if I were you. It'll be exciting compared to covering the O's pursuit of reaching new limits - in this case to be only the 4th worse team in baseball in 10'.

Hmm... My italics didn't work after the first line...

not brooks,

Have you been hitting the medical mary jane clinics?

Even if those players were interested in the O's, your numbers are off.

Both Lackey and Holliday will get more than $15mil/year, and I think both want more than 4 and 6 years respectively.

(i was joking...)

Yes Pete, in Bud Selig's world, the universe revolves around the Yankees...No salary cap structure needed..The System is working! They paid a steep fine last yr for being over the suggested level...BIG DEAL...Baseball is becoming a side note

Not brooks: I know you were joking about them coming to the O's...I wasn't sure if you thought those were serious salary numbers though

JohnA: last year was their first title in 9 years. I love watching them blow money and then lose in the playoffs, which they will far more often than not.

I think the Tigers - not the Yankees - will be the winner of this trade. Granderson needs a platoon player and I doubt Jackson will be any better in 2010 than Scherzer, who will cost a lot less and has a much higher upside. Jackson probably is the prize of the trade. Coke is an usuable reliever right now.

A Jackson and Scherzer are studs. Granderson will hit 40 bombs in that bandbox. Trade grades
Det:A
NY B
Ari:D

O's front office stinks worse than an infant's diaper......

christopher -

I do think that those are serious salary numbers.

- Lackey at 15M per makes all the sense in the world. The Yankees grossly overpaid for A.J. Burnett last winter and I can't see how Lackey is worth much more than Burnett, especially with his injury history.

- Holliday might make a bit more than $15M, but it really depends on who wants him.

You can never count out the Yankees, but after the Granderson trade, I see them devoting funds to bringing back Pettitte and adding another starter, and then bringing in a low cost DH to replace Matsui.

The Red Sox and Mets are the other big money possibilities for Holliday, but if the Sox resign Jason Bay, they're out, and I really don't see the Mets making a big splash this winter, as they have such a ridiculous amount of needs.

Past those three teams, you get into the mid market teams, where St. Louis sits at the top of the list. I really don't see them going higher than $15M per. Especially since they're going to have to extend Pujols sometime soon if they don't want to lose their entire fanbase.

Finally, while Scott Boras is comparing Holliday to Mark Teixeira, Tex is a switch hitter, he plays Gold Glove defense and he didn't have the whole "Coors Field/Protected by Albert Pujols" thing hanging over his head going into free agency.

Maybe $15M per wasn't a good number for Holliday, but I really don't think he'll make more than $18M annually.

- Finally, I think $8M per each for Beltre and Johnson is spot on.

Chris I get what your saying, but my problem is that this national pastime has become diminished by a system where two or three teams run the league like things are now...Sure every once in awhile a one season wonder pops up, but thats about it. In any other sport, most every team has a chance going into the season....Caps or salary structures have give most leagues parity..MLB...Not a chance....Boston, NY, Phil, LA...Sure a wild card team gets in..But wouldnt a league where premimum talent is spread throughout the league be better than this joke we have now...

IMO, here's where things will end up:

Lackey - 5/85.

Holliday - 6/108.

Beltre - 4/28.

Johnson - i don't care.

The obvious answer to the Orioles plight is realignment.

A new Division should be created and called the American League Dreggs. It would require that the Nationals and the Pirates move to the American League to create the Division which would also include the Royals.

The Orioles would instantly become competitive in the new Division and would have battled to the wire with the Royals last year, just being edged out by Kansas City's winning percenatge of .401 to our .395, followed by Pittsburgh at .385 and Washington at .364.

This realignment would surely spark fan interest for the Dreggs Division in that none of the teams are likely to be 20 games out of first place by July 4th as usual, and the Orioles would finally be playing meaningful games in September again.

JohnA -

Championships in the Big Four sports over the past 10 seasons:

NFL
- Rams: 1
- Ravens: 1
- Patriots: 3
- Bucs: 1
- Steelers: 2
- Colts: 1
- Giants: 1

Total Teams: 7
Multiple Winners: 2
Different Participants: 14

NBA
- Lakers: 4
- Spurs: 3
- Pistons: 1
- Heat: 1
- Celtics: 1

Total Teams: 5
Multiple Winners: 2
Total Participants: 11

MLB
- Yankees: 2
- Diamondbacks: 1
- Angels: 1
- Marlins: 1
- Red Sox: 2
- White Sox: 1
- Cardinals: 1
- Phillies: 1

Total Teams: 8
Multiple Winners: 2
Total Participants: 14

NHL
- No
- One
- Cares

So...

- MLB edges the NFL with 8 different winners.

- MLB ties the NFL with 14 different

- Each sport has just two multiple winners. And MLB is the only sport in which there wasn't a winner with more than two titles.

Hmmm...

* - MLB ties the NFL with 14 total participants

What's flawed with the analysis -- well, there was no analysis; just a recitation of stats -- is certain teams are ALWAYS in the playoffs with MLB and others are "battling" for scraps. The scraps could mean winning a weak sister division, or vying for a wild card.

EACH YEAR, the NFL has six new teams in the playoffs. By contrast, check the percentage of teams who have not been in the playoffs in the past ten years for the two major sports. That would be worth a hmmm, too.

And how many NFL teams hold a fire sale after their team makes the playoffs? None.

MLB? Arizona did. Florida did. Twice. Tampa Bay, 2008's runner-up, was within four games of the wild card in 2009 when they traded Scott Kazmir to start the mega-slide to the cellar (which was occupied already).

The Rams have hope. The Lions have hope. The Buccaneers have hope. Do the Pirates? The Royals? And they are in divisions not occupied by two-headed monsters spending their way to the playoffs every year.

waspman -

You're exactly right.

But there are two big differences between the NFL and every other sport:

1. They only play 16 games per season. So if a team just plays poorly for a few weeks or if a few linemen are hurt for a week or two, in the words of John Madden, "BOOM!", that's two losses and a missed chance at the Wild Card.

2. Each NFL team is entirely dependent on either a quarterback, a running back or both. If said quarterback or running back gets hurt, season over. See: Brady, Tom; Alexander, Shaun; many other examples

Just look at the Ravens. Everything went right for them last season and they made it to the Conference Championship. This year, things have been a bit rough, and they'll be lucky to make the playoffs.

For an even better example, look at the Bengals. Carson Palmer's healthy, Chad Johnson (I refuse to call him what he calls himself) is back and Cedric Benson is having the year of his life and they're 9-3 after going 4-11 last season.

Totally different game, my friend.

From 2000 to 2009, six MLB teams have not made the playoffs. That's 20% of the league. Another five teams have made the playoffs once.

All 32 NFL teams have been in the playoffs at least once since 1999-2000 to 2008-09. Six teams have made the playoffs only once in that span. However, two of those six went to the Super Bowl.

Hmmm? Hmmm, indeed.

The last two times the Orioles went to the playoffs were when they were at or near the top in salary.

The Yankees have been at or near the top. Consequently, they have been in the playoffs nine of the last ten years. (Yes, I know about their home-grown players. It takes money to do that, too, and to keep those players.)

The Red Sox have been in the playoffs six of the past seven years with The Evil Empire when they, too, became an Evil Empire.

Need I go on?

What else is different in the alternate dimension where the Houston Texans have made the playoffs?

Are the Orioles any good there?

As I said in my previous post, football and baseball are apples and oranges. Even if the NFL didn't have a cap, there would still probably be some pretty good parity.

Just a quick look: Here are the playoff teams from the two seasons before the NFL adopted its cap:

1991-92: Bills, Broncos, Oilers, Chiefs, Raiders, Jets, Redskins, Lions, Saints, Bears, Cowboys, Falcons

1992-93 (New teams italicized, I bet there's at least four)...: Steelers, Dolphins, Chargers, Bills, Oilers, Chiefs, 49ers, Cowboys, Vikings, Saints, Eagles, Redskins

Hey! What do you know! A cap-less NFL and there were still six new playoff teams from year to year! Keep looking back. From what I can see, the trend continues at least back into the 80's (that's as far as I looked). There may not be as many as six new teams, especially when you go further back and spots disappear, but there are at least three or four each year.

Finally, I never said that baseball shouldn't have a cap. All I did was point out that there's some pretty solid parity among the World Series winners when you compare to the capped leagues.

Obviously, something needs to change within the economics of baseball. I don't think a cap alone would do it though. I think that the New York market needs to be split by adding another team (moving the Rays or Marlins to the Meadowlands would be the easiest change) and then we can talk about a salary cap. Unfortunately, MLB owners and the Players Union have WAY too much power, so that will probably never happen.

In short, I don't know what should be done. But, as an A's fan as well, I do know that it's possible for well-run smaller market teams to compete year in and year out. The A's were there three years ago and, with the talent they have now, my guess is that they'll be back in 2010 or 2011.

Lackey wants to play for a winner. Have a feeling he ends up back in LA. 6 years, 100mil.

Matt Holliday will get $100/6 ish. Nowhere to put him either in Bmore seeing as how the O's have no plans to put Riemold, a righty on first base.

Beltre inexplicably thinks he can get $40/4 yrs. (Similar to Mark Derosa and his .254 avg wanting $27/3).

Nick Johnson sucks and he is goofy looking. We already have two Nick Johnsons named Michael Aubrey and Luke Scott.

Parity in the NFL is a myth. Sure a few different teams squeak in each year to get slaughtered by the Pats, Colts, or Steelers. Surprise teams make the playoffs every year and always have. Recently teams go on nice runs in the playoffs (AZ, PHI) and have even pulled out a win (NYG), but there have always been teams like this (ATL, BUF).

there is a larger disparity between the really good and really bad now than pre-salary cap. Not advocating ending the salary cap as that would create Dallas and Washington 250mil rosters, but the salary cap hasn't created parity.

As for Any Given Sunday? Read the article, there have really only been 3 big upsets, TB/GB and OAK/KC/Pitt. The bottom six to eight teams stand no chance vs. decent teams.

http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=tucson&sParam=36903996.story&

Shamrock -

Nick Johnson's career OBP is .402 and his career OPS is .849.

Scott may have a similar OPS, because he hits for more power, but I don't even have to look to know that Johnson's OBP is probably about 50 points higher than Scott's.

Aubrey is nothing. He hasn't proven a thing in the bigs. Again, I'm not going to look, but I would wager that Aubrey's minor league OPS is significantly lower than Johnson's big league mark.

At least look some things up before you make ridiculous, nonsensical comments.