AS per request from Jim66

Here is a list of teams that outpent the Os last yr

1. New York Yankees $201,449,289 $7,748,050
2. New York Mets $135,773,988 $4,849,071
3. Chicago Cubs $135,050,000 $5,402,000
4. Boston Red Sox $122,696,000 $4,089,867
5. Detroit Tigers $115,085,145 $4,110,184
6. Los Angeles Angels $113,709,000 $4,061,036
7. Philadelphia Phillies $113,004,048 $4,185,335
8. Houston Astros $102,996,415 $3,814,682
9. Los Angeles Dodgers $100,458,101 $4,018,324
10. Seattle Mariners $98,904,167 $3,532,292
11. Atlanta Braves $96,726,167 $3,335,385
12. Chicago White Sox $96,068,500 $3,694,942
13. St. Louis Cardinals $88,528,411 $3,278,830
14. San Francisco Giants $82,161,450 $3,043,017
15. Cleveland Indians $81,625,567 $3,023,169
16. Toronto Blue Jays $80,993,657 $2,892,631
17. Milwaukee Brewers $79,857,502 $3,194,300
18. Colorado Rockies $75,201,000 $2,785,222
19. Arizona Diamondbacks $73,571,667 $2,724,877
20. Cincinnati Reds $70,968,500 $2,957,021
21. Kansas City Royals $70,908,333 $2,727,244
22. Texas Rangers $68,646,023 $2,367,104

We finished at 23rd barely passing Minnesota (we wont outspend MN this yr)

22 teams outspent the O'S last yr.

It looks like 25 teams will outspend us this yr with MN and Oak passing us in the payroll standings (and the real standings as per usual)

WE always hear the apologists crying about how we cant spend with the skanks and Sux but we cant outspend the A's, Royals, and Twins ?!?!?!?! Cmon apologists tell us why

If MN and Oak pass us as expected, THE ORIOLES WILL HAVE THE LOWEST PAYROLL IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE

Mcpohail is here to trim payroll under the guise of "rebuilding". Mcaphail wasnt very successful on the field in CHI (he admitted it himself), but he was succesful on the balance sheet. It looks like macfail is cotinuing the tradition in Baltimre, bad news for the fans, good news for the shareholders

When Dennis gets called up this summer, he sure will be glad he went to FanFest.

This actually could work out very well. If I'm Sarfate, I've recovered from surgery, my fastball's 97, and I've got a bit of an attitude after getting cut. I'd rather we have him on the roster than Bass or Baez. If he doesn't have a year like 2008, then put another young arm in there.

Trade to Det for LHP Bobby Seay?

PeteyPab -

A return to 2008 for Sarfate would be awesome, because SEVEN walks per nine is awesome, right?

Sarfate's a right-handed Brad Pennington. He's got no control, a high velocity fastball with no movement and no other pitches.

How is he ever going to succeed at the big league level?

Please bear with me as I do my best talk radio caller imitaion:

"Instead of simply releasing Sarfate, why didn't they trade him to the Cards for Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter?"

No Brooks -

He was fine until the all-star break in 08 - low era, low whip. He was injured the 2nd half - nearly double the era - and ultimately put on DL. If he's truly healthy now, I'll take him over Bass, Baez, or Albers.

Pennington gave up more walks and hits, and he was healthy! Career era of 7.00+ to 4.25? I know what you're arguing, but comparison is way off on the numbers.

Sarfate has thrown his last pitch as an Oriole, His demotion surprises nobody on this board.

Reminds me of a quote by Earl Weaver after he finally gave up on Mike Cuellar. Cuellar was a notorious slow starter especially in cold weather. By the time Earl finally yanked him from the rotation it was July and Cuellar was something like 1 and 10.

A member of the press asked Earl if Cuellar would get another chance. Earl replied " I gave him more chances than I gave my first wife."

Same with Sarfate.

PeteyPablo -

I checked Sarfate's splits for '08. His WHIP for the 1st Half - 1.45. 2nd Half - 1.62. So we're looking at mediocre to below average.

But in Sarfate's defense, his second half numbers in '08 is effected by being used as a starter. Therefore, misusage plays an effect.

But he's not dependable. As a reliever in '08 in a game late-and-close, hitters had a .424 OBP on him. In a tie game, hitters had a .435 OBP. In a 1 run game, a .431 OBP. And the lesser the situation, the better his numbers get. If he came in with a 4 run margin, hitters had only a .284 OBP on him.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?n1=sarfade01&year=2008&t=p

Hey Peter--Is there an update on when the Hendrickson signing becomes final?

Jason C...

While I make no excuse for the Orioles unwillingness to spend money in most of the previous 13 seasons, your stats don't necessarily mean much THIS year.

Who would you have had the Orioles go spend money on this season? I mean, I suppose we could have shelled out for Ben Sheets or Mark Mulder. Or maybe spent a few bucks on getting Aubrey Huff back.

But not spending money this season (or last season) is not a complete picture. I mean, we could easily spend 100m on some pretty pathetic players (something tells me Mora would have resigned for 10m a year if we asked). But salaries alone do not a solid team make.

Again, this is no excuse for the issues of the last 13 seasons overall. But it is something to consider when you simply put the numbers up and say that's the whole story. That's not the whole story.

But if you want to argue that we could have afforded Mark Teixeira or CC Sabathia last season, you won't get an argument from me. Though, I'm sure you'll get some different reasons for why those signings were unlikely.

The Orioles have in the last few seasons locked down Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis for a significant amount of time. Regardless of price, those are not moves you can simply ignore. (Unless, of course, you want to argue they were somehow bad for the team).

I want Sherrill back.

Let's make the Dodgers an offer they can't refuse:
Sarfate, Hernandez, Johnson, and Albers for Sherrill.

We rid ourselves of guys who have proven time and again to be non-dependable major league hurlers in exchange for a guy who can lead the bullpen and really wants to be an Oriole.

We took the first step when we traded Ray and non-tendered Bass and Baez.

Now let's finish the clean-up and revamp.

I'll second what someone else said.

he can throw 97.

but he has the straightest fastball I've ever seen.

dead-still.

sad. probably seen the last of him for a couple of years.

It's fine with me if we have the lowest AL payroll this year as long as we are banking the money for a big splurge. See Pujols, Albert.

Win 82+ this year, then offer Prince Albert $200 million to play 1st base. If he'll leave St. Louis we just need to outbid the Red Sox (the Yanks already wed themselves to Turncoat Texiera)

Pete, Good article on Melvin. He certainly deserves better from some of the fans, that's for sure. During most of his seasons with the Orioles, he along with Brian were the consistent bright lights for the team in an otherwise gloomy decade. (Yes, other players have had good years during that stretch for the Birds, but those two were the constants.) I'm one of his well-wishers who hopes he can bounce back in 2010. (Hey Melvin. Yeah, I know you wanted to get $10M a year from the O's and deserved it, but that $8M a season still bought a lot of food for the quintuplets, right?! LOL)
...................
jason c in south florida - Nice research, but sad to contemplate. On the other hand, one consolation is this: If the O's are wise with their money and draft picks, they could become another Twins and be in contention every year with a relatively small payroll.

That holds true only up to a degree, however, because the Twins don't play in the AL East. At some point the Orioles will need to loosen the purse strings a bit if they want to compete with the big boys. While they could get by spending less than the Yankees and Red Sox, they're definitely going to need to climb into the upper portion of teams in what they are paying out for players.

Peter Angelos should not lose sight of the old business adage: In order to make money you have to spend money.

jason c,

what if the O's give a 10% raise to all players? would that solve the money issue?

sorry, but seriously.

we agree that money "should" and must be spent to acquire the talent needed to over take Division Rivals, and thus enter the post season.

however, the talent available in this off season was not the spend max-dollar-max-year types. Would you beat the Cardinals offer for Holliday? Would you beat the Mariners for Figgins or the Red Sox for Lackey?

I'll assume your not suggesting spending rashly on players like Delgado.

As it stands the O's are "projected" to win more games than the Mariners and look at their spending spree. The O's are projected to go 80-82. I call that a step forward. Progress.

let the Adrian Gonzalez talk go bonkers again...

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Get-ready-for-non-stop-Adrian-Gonzalez-trade-tal;_ylt=AqpQgsdqh9g_DdiczsbD8KQRvLYF?urn=mlb,217416

...if they say Wieters, hang up.

the Padres sure want a lot of good prospects for A-Gon. It makes me hope the O's kids can really step forward. Don't wanna watch "development of prospects" anymore...well pray they pan out better than others and this is the prize.

for all the blah-blah talk about the prospects being "prospects" and them being over-rated.... that's exactly the currency of deals like this. Some fans may not value them, but GM's sure do.

Fang Guy's post is perfect...my friends and I have been imitating talk show callers the same way for years....they are so out of touch.

Paulie,, after that, it's time for you to wind down and get ready for bed. Talk to you tomorrow.

Pete,

Melvin became a sour individual. Losing will do that.

As far as the payroll goes, no one wanted to see the O's spend money this year than me.

The FACT is that premier players do not want to come to a team mired in last place. Until they start to win it's going to be that way. Remember the phrase "Confederate money?"

Pitchers do not want to come here because of the perception that Camden Yards is a hitters ballpark. Agents warn their clients that if they come to Baltimore, the next time they are free agents, their stats will be inflated and they will be worth less money at the negotiation table.

The notion that Albert Pujols will be in an Oriole uniform next year is not possible. He ain't commin'. Guys like that want the money but want to win. The Red Sox and Yankees do.

paulie,

So you've caught his 'dead still' fastball?

You've stood in the box to witness 'the straightest fastball you've ever seen'?

Can't be due to his lack of command, or inability to nip the corners....

Gotta be that dag on straight heater......

Thanks resident scout!

Wayne: I'm not so sure Paulie ever caught Sarfate's "dead straight fastball"...but, a heck of alot of major league hitters have...on the rare occasion its been within 36" of home plate.
Jay...have you ever been known as captain obvious?

14 Days........

.....til the official start of losing season #13!

Don't smack me when I tap you on the shoulder to introduce myself down in sota Pete.....

wayne,

of course I'm a pro-scout. like laroch hits lefties.

please dude, relax. i'm not trying to offend you. it's my opinion, no apology needed.

It really saddens me to see people continue to bemoan the fact that the O's don't spend money just for the sake of spending. Have you all forgotten the $40+ million overhaul of the bullpen a few years back? No, you haven't. You just wanna continue whining for the sake of complaining. The O's have been as active as I think they should or could have been given the quality of F/A's available. Time will tell, but ANY improvement will be positive. If ya don't like what they are doing I have 2 suggestions for you. Don't go to the Yard, and find another team to root for, 'cause if this is rooting, I don't wanna hear you when the winning starts........ and it will.

Go O's!

and i wasn't Refuting anything about his inability to hit a strike-zone. the numbers tell the story.

I was commenting that in addition his fastball seemed noticeably straight with no break. i'm just a fan...paid by the O's.

242 days remaining

oh my......

more 'find another team to root for' and 'it's not about this year' post

It's Groundhog Day, and I'm Bill Murray

Wayne,

If it's Groundhog Day and you're Bill Murray, then you must be damn happy. Don't you wind up with Andie MacDowell?

ml

"They kind of woke me up a little bit. Now it is time to kick it in and get ready to go," Sarfate said. "I'm lucky to be here and still have the opportunity to show what I can do. I have to suck up my pride. … If I don't [make the Orioles] this spring, I'll put up numbers at Triple-A and work my way back."

Hard to complain about the attitude ... at least give him props for not playing the spoiled kid role. Wish him all the luck - and hope he develops that slider to offset his "dead straight" fastball.

"They kind of woke me up a little bit. Now it is time to kick it in and get ready to go," Sarfate said. "I'm lucky to be here and still have the opportunity to show what I can do. I have to suck up my pride. … If I don't [make the Orioles] this spring, I'll put up numbers at Triple-A and work my way back."

Hard to complain about the attitude ... at least give him props for not playing the spoiled kid role. Wish him all the luck - and hope he develops that slider to offset his "dead straight" fastball.

mark,

Only problem is she's now 17 years older. I am as well of course, but.... you know.....

Rumor has it that Bedard is returning to Seattle.

http://jimstreet.mlblogs.com/archives/2010/02/bedard_on_verge_of_returning_t.html

PAYROLL,

Warehousers..... Please come up with new ways of justifying the O's pathetic payroll.

Listen, I know that the sheet the O's pass out when having to address this issue has long been overused, but try to come up with something original, on your own.

I mean some of the post are so laughable, I think most of you must even be embarrassed to press send.

Instead of me listing all of your rationalizations and comebacks when it comes to payroll, please just do some homework yourselves. Go back, write em all down, then TRY to come up with something NEW.

It's one thing that the O's will be losers again this year, but at least their employee's could put forth a better effort.

YOU'RE BORING! DO BETTER!

Apologizing for the payroll?

Taking the opposite approach.

Might be tough to beat FLA for lowest payroll, but I'm all about giving it a fair shot.

I won't be happy until low payroll warning shots are fired over the bow.

If jcisfl is right, and AM was brought in here to maximize profits, then damn AM, let's get a move on and start the slashing! No excuses. C'mon Andy, show me!! Don't disappoint.

Go Os$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!

jim66,

I'm with you.. PA needs the extra money to make the world a safer place to live for ex smokers, asbestos workers and former patients at Saint Joseph's Hospital.

I agree with those who say spending money on this years mediocre crop of free agants would be foolish. I would have preferred LaRouche to Atkins but perhaps AM wanted to add a possible right handed hitter than another lefty. Who knows? He's the one who has to make the decisions and thank goodness he's not inclined to spend money for the sake of adding to the payroll. Does anyone get that they have proven they will spend money to keep their best players? (see Roberts/Markakis). Don't you see that they will have to spend lots more money to keep Weiters, Matusz, Bergesen, Tillman, Reimold if they pan out as expected?

Why do apolgists keep asking me who Id spend it on Ive said it ad nauseam

Last yr Dunn or Tex

This yr Bay or Holliday and Sheets or Lackey

IF we signed 2 from this yr or Tex last yr our payroll would still be approx the ssame as it was in 07 when we the 3d most profitbale team in baseball

Y would a fan rather save money on payroll than put better players on the field ?

I guess the apologists are mad that they cant just use the old we cant spend with the yanks and sux when we're not even outspending Kansas City

They cannot defend it becuase its indefensible

I never gave much thought to waynes theory about Oriole employees posting, but I was born and raised in baltimore and no one I know would rather the Orioles save money than win

WHo are these people??

Oh thats right there is no one available that would improve a 98 loss team or a team that hasnt won in 12 yrs--Silly me, LOL

DO apologists even take themselves seriously ?

There is no direct correlation between wins/payroll.

1. New York Yankees $201 103W WS
2. New York Mets $135 70W 4th place missed the playoffs
3. Chicago Cubs $135 83W 2nd missed playoffs
4. Boston Red Sox $122 95W 2nd place
5. Detroit Tigers $115 86W missed playoffs (to yes, your lowly and cheap Twins)
6. Los Angeles Angels $113 97W 1st
7. Philadelphia Phillies $113 93W 1st
8. Houston Astros $102 72W 5th place missed playoffs
9. Los Angeles Dodgers $100 95W 1st
10. Seattle Mariners $98 85 W 3rd

11. Atlanta Braves $96 86W 3rd
12. Chicago White Sox $96 79W 3rd
13. St. Louis Cardinals $88 91W 1st PLAYOFFS
14. San Francisco Giants $82 88W 3rd
15. Cleveland Indians $81 65W, 4th
16. Toronto Blue Jays $80 75W 4th
17. Milwaukee Brewers $79 80W 3rd
18. Colorado Rockies $75 92W 2nd PLAYOFFS
19. Arizona Diamondbacks $73W 5th
20. Cincinnati Reds $70 78 W 4th

21. Kansas City Royals $70 65W 5th
22. Texas Rangers $68 87 W 2nd

You left these guys off your list too:
24. Minnesota $65 87 W 1st place PLAYOFFS
25. Tampa Bay $63 84 W 3rd place
30. Florida $36 87W 2nd place

So... since there weren't any top notch players coming here this off season, much less any top notch FAs available, who do you suggest they spend $60 mil on to get to the $100mil level?

Or whatever... blow a bunch of money like they did in the mid 90's on a big lineup and awful bullpen and fizzle out in 2 years.

jason -

You're not going to get anywhere by telling your "apologists" that you would have signed Dunn, Tex, Bay, Holliday, Sheets or Lackey.

Not sure what the issue is with Dunn or Bay, but...

Tex never wanted to play here, Holliday was too expensive, Sheets was too expensive considering the fact that he didn't pitch last year and Lackey was too expensive considering length of contract and injuries.

I'll buy into the excuse for Lackey, but not any of the others.

And what are the excuses for Dunn and Bay? I haven't heard them yet...

2001 4th 63-98 12th Payroll
2000 4th 74-88 3rd Payroll
1999 4th 78-84 8th Payroll
1998 4th 79-83 1st IN THE MAJORS
1997 1st 98-64 2nd Payroll
1996 2nd 88-74 2nd Payroll
1995 3rd 71-73 (144 games) 4th Payroll
1994 2nd 63-49 (strike) 9th Payroll
1993 3rd 85-77 19th Payroll
1992 3rd 89-73 24th Payroll

Its not how much you spend... its how wisely you spend it. This isn't XBox Baseball...

I think the the signing of Atkins was designed to get another Right handed power bat in the lineup. At the time Atkins was signed I think Tejada was considered a reach.

Together they give the O's a little better righty/ lefty balance in the order. In the end I think it really came down to more of a LaRouche vs. Tejada decision since the O's seemed lazored in on Atkins early.

When it comes down to that, I think Tejada's going to be the more productive bat this year. I'd be willing to bet Miggy has a big year with the stick this year.

Shamrock -

Why did you ignore...

2002 - 16th
2003 - 15th
2004 - 20th
2005 - 14th
2006 - 15th
2007 - 10th - Thanks to Flanny and the Relievers
2008 - 22nd
2009 - 23rd?

Obviously, you need to spend money wisely. But the Orioles have either spent unwisely or not at all. Some people are just looking for the team to make a serious commitment to a marquee free agent. And most of those people don't see that happening under this regime.

Do you really think that Andy's going to spend huge dollars on a Josh Beckett or a Prince Fielder when he wasn't even willing to spend hardly anything on Adam LaRoche or Jon Garland?

Here are the Top Five Reasons why Andy Macphail won't sign or trade for a marquee free agent...

NUMBER FIVE...
They might block the Kids

NUMBER FOUR....
They are not worth the money and they want more than a one year contract, the greedy bastards.

NUMBER THREE.....
They won't come here anyway

NUMBER TWO....
The other teams always ask for some of our best prospects when we talk trade

AND THE REASON NUMBER ONE REASON WHY ANDY MACPHAIL WON'T GO AFTER A MARQUEE FREE AGENT....
The Orioles tried it before and it didn't work

BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!

The only one's being creative about the payroll are those knowing this club must spend more to compete.

The rest are giving the same ole generic reasonings......

Seriously, we never said you won't find teams who have spent having poor years. And we never said spending buys a world series.... no need for your continued research!

We're talking about middle of the pack spending combined with developing players so that this team can play MEANINGFUL games.

Warehousers, do you care about MEANINGFUL games?

If a team was 10th in payroll. yet just missed the playoffs, GUESS WHAT? That means that teams fans witnessed MEANINGFUL games into September.

Come on warehousers...... we're begging for you to be more creative.

DO BETTER!

Jason,

I'm not saying we should be 26th or whatever, but in the land of reality, who was there to grab to move up the list this winter?

Don't give me guys like LaRoche or whoever else signed late either. There were 4 guys who signed to legit money. Out of 30 teams, there were 4 guys. Only one of which was an impact player and he wasn't leaving St. Louis just like Texeira wasn't going anywhere other than New York last year. Lackey going to Boston and Figgins to Seattle were two of the worst kept secrets in baseball. So that leaves Jason Bay.

Jason Bay? Sure the Orioles could have moved up the payroll list, but how far does Jason Bay move you up in the standings when you keep in mind the stats of who he replaces (Reimold)?

It's been all winter long with this stuff. I'm frustrated and it sucks that there was no one signed worth plastering on every billboard in Baltimore too. I've done analogies for this before, but let's test out another one.

Look at it like a strip club. It's Tuesday during lunch and your gift to yourself for a tough week at work is $100 at a strip club. Do you go ahead and go right away just because you have the time and money now even though it's not the same caliber women that will be working on Friday night? Keeping in mind that once your money is spent, it's spent. So you can either spend it all on 2nd tier women during the day or you can wait when more 1st tier women work. Maybe I'm wrong and this is a lunchtime kind of crowd, but I'd be waiting to get my money's worth.

Wayne
Groundhog Day and Bill Murray ? LOL , I hope you got more humor for us while O's keep chasing Pirates for consectutive losing seasons .

If we gonna lose , we might as well share a good laugh , right ?

Not Brooks

you said ' Holliday was too expensive ' ? I agree with you , but let me ask you this :

When AGonz , Prince , Mauer , Linecum , Pujol , to name a few , hit the market , are they gonna be any cheaper than what Holliday raked in ?

If $ 120 million deals scare Greedy Petey and Andy MaCheap too much , they might as well not bother calling any of these premium free agents from now on......

allen,

well if we don't laugh about the continued dysfunction, what's left?

How can we debate the right thing to spend money on when the Os arent spending any money (comparatively)

we are getting outspent by the KC friggin Royals--- gimme a break, its not like we have any holes in our roster or anything to spend it on

and Shamrock, my list was teams that outspent us so y would i list the few teams that we outspent ?

not brooks,

right now it looks like we'll be 25th or 26 depedning on the last month of activity and more importantly, we might be looking like we will have the LOWEST PAYROLL IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE

Apologists; Of course I want them to spend intelligently. IS there anyone out there who wants to have a bonfire in CF, Seriously, at least try to make sense. I know u cant bank on FA but u cant bank on prospects either, thts y u dont throw out the baby with the bathwater

But the apologists are right, if we spent any more money we might not have the LOWEST PAYTOLL IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE

Comioal

James C.,

I like your ananlogy and it gave me some ideas.

First I'm going to take the entire afternoon off. Then I'm going to a nearby bar and spend $30 of my $100 getting sh**faced. I'll then proceed to the club with $70 and all of them will look like Beyonce.

In a sense that's how Macphail operates. He takes so much time to make a decision that he gets a delay of game penalty.Then he waits for someone else to sign the player he wanted and rationalizes using one of the five reasons why it wasn't a good idea anyhow.Now he doesn't need the $100 so he takes his $70 and goes after sloppy seconds that nobody else wanted.

By this time, they all look good to him.

If I'm giving you a headache I'll stop.

fielder is gonna resign with the crew in PBR-ville.

the red sox spent the offseason prepping for AGon(letting 30+/130 walk, signing Lackey with a budding superstar in Bucholtz, signing Cameron)then were forced to move poor ellsbury to LF-like the guy needs a 38 foot wall behind him to play a good LF and Beltre- as their former asst-to-wonder-boy himself screwed up what looked like a great and pretty much done deal. I believe agon's price just went up.

pujols will be dealt to the As for 22 prospects and Coco Crisp,
then Beane will turn and trade him to anyone offering him 22 prospects and Willy Tavares because he had no intention of keeping him anyway, and loves to DFA Tavares every chance he gets. Beane will also be remembered for once trying to trade Tavares for a 30k claimer at Santa Anita.

Does that just about wrap up first base?

Jim66,

Jim, I can tell that you are tired of reading the same posts over and over. I think James C. said something to that effect earlier.

Do you remember Camilio Pasqual, the Cuban righthander who pitched for the old Washington Senators?
When I was about 10 my Dad took me over to Old Griffith Stadium to watch a late season doubleheader betweeen the Senators and the Yankees.
The game was not well atended{Duh} and we got a box seat right behind home plate. Pasqual had an overhand curve ball better than Bert Blyleven, I swear. I had never seen a baseball do what it did when he threw it.

That was real history because the Senators had Harmon Killebrew, Roy Sievers, Jim Lemon and Bob Allison in the lineup and the Yankees had Mantle, Skowron, Howard, et al. Mantle hit one off pete Ramos in the second game that nearly went over the left field bleachers. He was probably hung over as sadly I learned years later.

Just thought I would change the conversation a little.

"Do you really think that Andy's going to spend huge dollars on a Josh Beckett or a Prince Fielder when he wasn't even willing to spend hardly anything on Adam LaRoche or Jon Garland?"

Jon Garland is an a-hole and he sucks. Nobody likes him. Why else do you think it took him so long to sign?. Laroche sucks. Why else do you think it took him so long to sign?

By not signing those two piles of crap you mentioned, he can go after the other two talented ones.

Side note- the great thing about Prince Fielder is that the Yankees already have Tex, so unless they convert one of them to play LF, I don't think they will be bidding.

happy to see this....give Dennis one last chance with the O's.

James C-

Thats some dangerous thinkin'... clearly where MCFAIL failed was by not signing Beckett, Crawford, Berkman, Mauer, Webb and Rivera to a Lay-a-way plan. You can do it at KMart, why can't you do it in the MLB?

and try not to ask Jason follow-up questions. He doesn't pay attention, just angrily yammers that THEY WILL HAVE THE LOWEST PAYROLL SINCE THE 1946 WHITE SOX! THEY HAVE THE HIGHEST PROFITS SINCE EXXON IN 2007!!!!

"we are getting outspent by the KC friggin Royals--- gimme a break, its not like we have any holes in our roster or anything to spend it on... and Shamrock, my list was teams that outspent us so y would i list the few teams that we outspent ?"

I was debating the point of your list. Its like global warming, Just because A is present, doesn't mean it is causing B.

The three below the O's I mentioned had better records than the Mets (who spent the second most). And how far did all that spending get the Royals? my point exactly...

Its not a money spending contest... If it was, the Mets at just under $2 mil per win takes the prize.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Can you imagine Fielder AND Sabathia sitting on the same end of the Yankee bench ?

You'd have to have five guys on the other end to keep it from teetering upward.

Sure, they're both young and can play for now.
But fat slobs like that have a limited time before they begin to physically break down.

As regards trading for, or signing such obese specimens, I would avoid them like the proverbial plague.
They will only cost the team money and embarassment in the long run.

allan, Holliday at 7/$120 is way overpaying. If you can get fielder, a-gon, or pujols for 7/$120 that's a steal, which means they'll get at least $7/140-$155 which i'd pay (its not my money) if i was the Os...it'll probably take more than that and again, if i'm the Os, i take the shot.

For the record, I'm on the andy wagon and don't see who he should have thrown big bucks at this year (would've liked to see him make a run at figgins) but if the Os don't get after it next year, i'll be pissed.

Wayne, you're boring too.

Clearing Sarfate through waviers is good for Sarfate, good for the team and good for Andy and the front office. Now, the Orioles have Tejeda re-signed for less than they previously signed him. Plus they still keep all the players they obtained in the trade for him. Is Mguel's teamate, Mike Hampton also available?

Hi Cush,

I'm beginning to see a lot of "Macphail better get after it next year" talk on the board even from the Macphail Hosanna singers.

I know that Wayne pisses a lot of people off but you have got to give him credit because soon after last season ended he predicted that people would start saying it never was about 2010 anyhow.

Macphail is not going to bring in any marquee players between the 2010 and 2011 seasons, either Cush. That's simply not his style. Stop kidding yourself. You, Not Brooks and many others are great fans and you are going to be deeply disappointed if you think that way.

Cush
If I am O's or MacCheap ,I would definitely try sign one of these Mauer , Pujol , Prince or other 'premiur ' free agents. Maybe I could be wrong if next offseason arrives , and MacCheap actually pulls such a feat . But I also keep seeing signs that MacCheap is too old school and too conservative to sign a superstar game changing free agent .

Wayne
Point Taken !
Like quote Joe Gargolia ' Baseball is a funny game '

Orioles Fans

We will see in the next 5 to 6 years how this accumulated "WARCHEST" of savings will affect the current players who become superstars or good players.

If the Orioles allow most of the young talents once they are proven to be top major league players go to other teams and are left with more unproven prospective players, we will all know to begin rooting for a franchise that wants to win on the field and not just on the Spreadsheet!!

Frustrated fan

Ageorge, Harrisburg