It looks like the Orioles could take a "serious run" at Victor Martinez when he hits free agency this offseason, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter). The Orioles have one of the game's most promising young catchers, Matt Wieters, but they would rotate Martinez between catcher, first base and designated hitter.
The Red Sox offered Martinez a two-year extension, but he turned it down and the sides have decided to resume talks after the season. The 31-year-old should have suitors to spare this offseason (though V-Mart probably won't be a fit on the Marlins).
Martinez has a .299/.347/.489 line this year with 18 home runs and he will almost certainly be a Type A free agent after the season. Though the Orioles are playing better, they still have one of the game's worst records and will therefore have a protected first rounder in next year's draft. That means they'd only have to surrender a second rounder to sign Martinez or another Type A free agent.
V-Mart would definitely add some much-needed slugging potential to the middle of the order. Baltimore also should make a serious offer to the Mets for Jose Reyes. He could hold down SS for a few years until Manny Machado is big-league ready, then one or the other could move to 2B as Roberts’ current contract is expiring.
The Mets aren’t going to buy out Reyes’ option for 2011, but I’m sure that at the very least, they’d be willing to entertain offers for him. I’d love him in Baltimore. Great stop gap until Machado is ready. Not sure if he could play second. Roberts’ replacement is probably L.J. Hoes. Love the kid, and plus can you imagine the chants? “O’s, Hoes, and Natty Bohs!” Just remember, I came up with it first!
The Mets aren’t going to buy out Reyes’ option for 2011, but I’m sure that at the very least, they’d be willing to entertain offers for him. I’d love him in Baltimore. Great stop gap until Machado is ready. Not sure if he could play second. Roberts’ replacement is probably L.J. Hoes. Love the kid, and plus can you imagine the chants? “O’s, Hoes, and Natty Bohs!” Just remember, I came up with it first!
Careful what you believe. This team reminds me of the A’s with decent young hitters. That rotation is going to be a MONSTER.
I’m sorry…is it 5 years in the future? This O’s team is going to be pretty damn bad for the next couple years at LEAST.
2 years and next year they will not finish last
So who’s going to finish last? you can’t expect them to suddenly be a force in the AL.
Tampa might get worse a bit, but not by much, yanks are the yanks, red sox shouldn’t have as many bad breaks next year and prob improve in the offseason and the jays rotation is leaps and bounds ahead of the orioles rotation, and certain the jays will improve in the offseason as well.
I wouldn’t say the Jays rotation is leaps and bounds better than the Os’. The Jays arms are certainly better in results right now. Though in terms of absolute regard and talent, you could say that the Os have the better arms. Keep in mind that the Jays’ young rotation averages 2-3 yrs older than the Orioles even younger rotation who are 22-23. The Jays pitchers are all about 25-26.
Its always nice when people argue with out an arguement..
Theres no one on the O’s staff that looks to fill the potential of Morrow or Drabek.
Matusz to me is their future ace, he’ll be very good don’t get me wrong, a mid 3’s era type of pitcher.. Jays have 3 of those already in marcum, cecil, romero.
Once you factor in future, where the jays are very deep in pitching prospects and the O’s are not, Stewart, Jenkins, Mcguire, alvarez, etc
The orioles troubles have been a result of poor drafting/development. Considering players to be great prospects and they only become average or good ones. Defining the future O’s Rotation as a MONSTER is a heavy exaggeration. and you’re point about the rotation is unfounded considering that the jays rotation isn’t old, 25-26 are when pitcher start to hit their prime, and some of the orioles 22-23 year olds will never be as good as romero or marcum in a few years.
So I take it that you’re a Jays fan.
I’m not going to bother. You obviously know the Jays very well and little about the Os.
Matusz Arrieta and Britton all were ranked within the top 10 in minor league prospects.. while Matusz and Arrieta have both made it to the majors and found some success, and Zach Britton was minor league pitcher of the year and most likely debut next season. “Poor drafting” If you call that bad drafting your just a Jays fan who is trying to pick on the only team in the division below you.. Manny Machado was the best SS in the nation and we drafted him. Matt Hobgood was the #1 highschool pitcher and we drafted him as well. Mark my words.. the O’s will see the post-season again before the Jays will. Better line-up, better manager, we will make better moves this off-season.. and the Jays will be the cellar dwellars next season.
Angelos hasn’t spent any money on a FA since he got fleeced by Bell. he’s been afraid and doing that with a catcher who is already having serious problems now would be just as bad.
Another problem is can’t see VMart wanting to sign with a team that has about -0- chance of making the playoffs for the next 3-5 years, even if the really good young core does develop. The Rays are so stacked, the Yanks will buy anything required to maintain mid 90 win seasons and Boston’s farm system will continue to produce, plus purchase whatever piece they need. Toronto can never be counted out either for the small spurt.
This would be disastrous if Martinez’s end, unless it’s a pure money grab, then once again Angelos has -0- history since Belle of spending large amounts on FA’s with the exception on the rumored amount on Tex.
Angelos really needs to butt out. The O’s could certainly use a bat like Vic’s, imagine their rotation panning out in 2012 and a couple of well timed free agent bats added to the team. Not such a done deal that they’d finish last then is it? Besides, if they’re going to operate their team based on what everyone else in the division is doing then they might as well quit now. Just because it LOOKS like they’ll finish last doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try to NOT finish last, right?
Oh yeah. No doubt Angelos is loaded. He also does not mind spending money on the Rule4 draft either.
if he could get over buyer’s remorse from the Bell fleecing and convince a couple of top tier FA’s to come to Baltimore there is no doubt this team to compete, not sure this team is just a couple of pieces away just yet though.
They still needs a couple of rotational pieces, including an Ace, that big power bat to go along with Luke Scot and Markakis and hope that Roberts can produce for a few more years and shake that injury.
Other than that, you put Adam Dunn, a top tier starter on this team and VMart and they might make some noise next year.
This Os team has the best stock of talent its ever had in terms of young players in a long time. Most people who don’t think so probably follows baseball casually
I for one wouldnt mind him leaving. The sox would get draft picks and i personally feel he is an overrated hitter, by no means bad but somewhat overrated and he will soon be on the decline. I think it would make sense sort of for the orioles and would allow the sox to spend money in other positions. We then could pursue Napoli for less money and an upgrade defensively behind the dish all while V-Mart is providing some offense and much needed leadership in a young clubhouse.
Well according to Spandemonium, me, their has to be mutual interest for a deal to occur. I’m not sure if V-Mart will want to be an Oriole, in fact I bet he wont, but obviously there will be numerous teams interested, so maybe he will go where the contender is, although I will say this, if he did a Chone Figgins and sign with the Orioles, it would be great for Baseball, the Orioles, and the city of Baltimore, and I’d love to see such a deal happen and I’m going to follow this.
Javy Lopez.
-wtk
Oh, he’ll play first base? Rafael Palmeiro.
-wtk
Orioles will be contenders maybe 3 or 4 years maybe,,,,,,,,
the key word in the title is the word “could”
Why bother even spending the money? Martinez isn’t going to push them through the glass ceiling. Spend that cash on the draft instead.
they do spend on the draft… Wieters and Machado both got huge bonuses, and we’ve signed our fair share of overslot lower-rounders, like Ryan Berry and Jake Arrieta. the place where they could improve is Latin American scouting.
That offer sounds like the type of offer that was made to Texieria, just to appease the Orioles fans. Martinez has stated that he’s not interested in being anything other than an everyday catcher, certainly not a 1B. Wieters is projected to be the team’s catcher for the future,according to Showalter. Why would they want to bring in V-Mart to compete for the position and slow down Wieters development? I’ll believe it when I see it
People fail to see that ANYTHING can happen. Just because “the yanks are the yanks and the red sox are the red sox” doesn’t mean that they need to lay down. Its all about performance. You may think that, on paper, any team may appear to not a hold a candle to the juggernauts but what if their superstars get injured? Remember, most of these players have yet to reach their potential. Ever hear of a breakout season? Yeah, that could happen but because its not 2013 or whatever, it won’t so they shouldn’t attempt to get a big free agent.
They tried their hand by getting Mike Gonzalez via free agency but the team really disappointed to start the season. Does that mean that they will fail again next year? No.
/end of rant
Yeah anything can happen…the world could end before opening day 2011. But we don’t work on that premise, we work on logic, and logic says Victor Martinez won’t sign with the Orioles and they won’t contend next year.
It would be a waste of money. I know they want to upgrade their offense, but at the price of their goldenboy stud catcher? Even if they rotate VMart. it still dampens the outlook for Weiters. Really, this is the kind of player the Orioles should have no interest in. Old, blocks a prospect, overrated offensively. It is borderline irresponsible.
It “dampens” a young catcher to save some wear-and-tear on his knees by DH’ing one extra time a week?
If I were Baltimore, I’d be annoyed every inning a hitter like Weiters is crouched down behind the plate in meaningless games and seasons.
I understand your point. But I still think it will dampen Weiters to have a high profile, high quality guy backing him up. Unless they expect VMart. to tutor Weiters in the art of being a switch hitting catcher.
Regardless, I don’t think V. MArt will sign somewhere where he isn’t the #1 catcher anyway. And he won’t want to DH much.
We don’t need V-Mart. He is a good hitter….for a catcher. We need to try to sign a clean up hitting corner infielder; Berkman, Konerko or Dunn. If we fail to make a big signing then try to trade for a blocked prospect like Yonder Alonso.
it’s not a foregone conclusion that Berkman or Konerko would hit better than V-Mart. Berkman is 34 years old and currently having the worst full season of his career. his BABIP is slightly low but his main problems are more groundballs, fewer flyballs leaving the park, and a lower contact rate. those look like signs of a decline to me. there’s also the NL -> AL adjustment you have to factor in – just look at Pat Burrell.
with Konerko, you’d be betting that he can keep up his numbers from the current season (the best of his career, again at age 34), because over his entire career his OPS is only 20 points higher than Martinez’s.
yonder alnso is a good call. Votto blocks him so maybe he could be pried loose for Pie or a pitcher. I remember a few years ago when the O’s were in talks with the reds over Votto and Bruce, and with KC over Billy Butler, when they were dumping Tejada, Bedard, and company the first time. Look how that could have turned out. I wont complain too much since Jones has been decent
Cliff Lee should be their main target.
Must be nice to know the future like some of you. Yanks are getting older, see Jeter, Derrick, among others. Same with the Sox. Rays have overspent and will be cutting payroll. Jays have some good pitchers, but their lineup has overachieved and is all or nothing. Yes, the O’s have been a mess for a while, but things are truly turning around. And they could spend much much more than they are now. So anything could happen. To say the O’s will NEVER get back to where they belong is just ignorant. Last time we were in the postseason, we were in the same division we are in now. And led wire to wire the whole season.
Isn’t Derek and Jeter the same person?
That’s a dirty rumor.
Oh, and V- mart is overrated and not a very good catcher. He has a decent avg. but we need a real 1st base/3rd base power hitter.
Orioles will compete next year I know it.
I don’t think one player will push Baltimore into being serious contenders next season but a winning season wouldn’t be so far fetched. Right now we are still a power and a clutch hitter away from being winners. Still need to work on getting maybe one more vet pitcher. My guess is they will probably attempt to trade one of the younger pitchers for that bat and shore up the bench.
PS- Hey Basemonkey hope life is well. Scout misses you. ;c)
Hi! How’s it going?
Not too bad buddy. People are always asking what happened with you. Hope we get to see you on there again sometimes!
I like VMart, but my gut tells me that he won’t be an Oriole.
Hes going to get offers. If anyone offers him the full-time Catcher job, he’ll take that no question. With the Orioles, there’s absolutely 0 chance he’ll be the #1 catcher. Matt Wieters is a big part of the future of this young team. It’s hard to imagine a career everyday starting catcher willingly choose a part-time role as a 1B/DH/C when he doesn’t have to, for a team that can’t entice him with a shot at the playoffs.
If you asked me, if the Os sign a big power bat (which they desperately need) it will be either a low risk gamble that pays off (e.g. Late career Frank Thomas, Reclamation project Josh Hamilton, Fluke wonder Jose Bautista, etc..), or, a one year deal from a veteran trying to either re-establish himself or reposition himself due to being caught in the Type-A free agent/salary demand limbo (e.g. Orlando Hudson, etc..).
I agree but it does make you wonder now that Showalter is running the “show” if he will bring the players in. There was a blurb somewhere that Martinez is actually friends with Showalter but don’t know how true that is. Another thing is what if the O’s decided to move Weiters to AAA again to regain his hitting and let Martinez take over at catching?
What happened to weiters? Napoli is avalible.
Two months does not a season make, but with young guys maturing it means more than it would on a team of veterans. Fact: Since Aug. 1, the O’s are in first in the AL East. And they still have a top LH prospect in Britton at AAA. Starter’s ERA since Aug 1? Also AL East leading. I hate absolute statements about future events, so let’s stick to the facts.
After the Atkins fiasco I would hope McPhail will get someone with a better track record. One thought might be Beltre, if they offered him close to what he is asking. I am not sold on Bell, I think he needs more time in AAA. No way do they get a catcher, Weiters will be fine. I feel next year his hitting will come back to where it belongs now that he is comfortable as an everyday catcher.
I like this idea if the Orioles can’t get Dunn or Konerko. V-Mart’s also a good guy to have in the clubhouse. The Orioles are definitely better under Buck, he’s got them playing at an entirely different level right now. Somebody’s going to be smart enough to realize that their future is very bright and will want to be a part of it.