2:48pm: Guerrero is not excited about the Orioles' offer, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com (on Twitter). The offer was for about $2MM and now the Rangers "return to the race" for Vlad.
12:23pm: The Orioles have made Vladimir Guerrero an offer, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The team hopes he accepts their offer, which could be for one year and $3-5MM, but they’re prepared for him to turn it down.
Earlier today, ESPN.com's Buster Olney reported that the Orioles could have interest in Guerrero on a one-year deal worth $2MM or so. At this point, Vlad wants a two-year deal, according to Olney (Twitter link). Guerrero is not going to sit out the season, according to Rosenthal, who suggests that a deal with the Orioles makes sense for both sides.
Guerrero’s suitors are limited, as I explained this morning. The Rangers, Angels and Blue Jays are the only logical destinations outside of Baltimore, but Guerrero isn’t a perfect fit for those clubs. Rosenthal reports that Toronto would prefer a DH who can play the field to provide insurance for Adam Lind, who is transitioning to first base.
It is hilarious/awesome that the O’s have a real shot at having Vlad AND Derek Lee next year given that they were prime targets of the team a few years back and both rejected the O’s offers.
Go get him Os.
vlad, derek lee, and brian roberts this is like the 06 all star team..
Do the Yankees and O’s have a time machine that they’re going to take all these guys back in time and then have some unbeatable teams this year?
How would bringing them back in time in a time machine make them younger? Haven’t you seen back to the future? haha
I think the GM’s for the yankees and O’s have been playing too much MLB 06 the show…back then a combination of Lee and Vlad would alone win me 100 games and a full sweep of the post season…the only competition would be the arod-jeter-tex-posada-mo-sabathia-burnett of the yankees(which oddly enough i pulled out the ol’ ps2 and checked my 06 franchise it was last played in 08 and i had a team not that different from the current yankees team ha
Good point…and good memory. Yup, thatz exactly what I thought too. Hehehe.
$2 million for Vlad? The guy hit 300, 29hrs, 115rbis, to me thats not a great offer.
Vlad is in a unfortunate situation. Teams outlook on the DH are changing, rather use it to rest regulars and no one set players (not all but most). Way too many players that were/still on the market cannot not field very well anymore (Vlad) and age consideration. Also Vlad had a really bad 2nd half. If Manny gets 2 million from TB, Vlad should not expect much.
probably the best worst team in a division
i think they finish ahead of the toronto , so maybe their the best worst team but are they the best third place
That’s based on Toronto’s current roster. I imagine it will look quite different by opening day, the all-star game and end-of-season.
very true
There’s no way they’re worse than Toronto. Explain yourself.
Cant wait to see Vlad the impaler in black and orange and not just on halloween
I have this weird feeling that Vlad has never worn black and orange on Halloween.
Take the deal, Vlad. A job’s a job.
I take that same approach at the bars on weekends
i dont know toronto is a good young team with a great pitching staff
who makes their pitching staff good, Halladay and Marcum are gone, Drabek is young but could post decent numbers being he is probably fully healed from the tommy john he had a few years ago. I dont follow them all that close but i would call this nothing more than a rebuilding year
If the deal is for $5m or less the Angels would be fools for not extending an offer. Platoon with Abreu and have a DH option should Hunter, Wells get hurt or Bourjos not hit.
thought you weren’t an angels fan..
I’m still pissed. And I have zero confidence that they will handle this situation properly.
what are you talking about they have manny and damon….they are clearly going to win the world series….
maybe they will party like its 2004 again
Did anyone see Vlad getting so burned this offseason after a bounce back year?
after his slump towards the end of the season, not so much
The sad part is the O’s would be a serious contender in any other division. You would think a team with Lee, Reynolds, Vlad, Roberts, Markakis, Jones, Scott and Wieters would finish first. Not in this division. That’s how Absurd the A.L. east is
And what makes it worse is that they will be in LAST
maybe. all depends if their young starters can have decent years. the bullpen looks solid and they can hit.
I think TB might finish last, honestly. They lost their bullpen, they lost Crawford, they lost Pena, they traded Garza. No way Manny and Damon make up for those losses.
I think their SP is too good. I also think Manny and Damon can come close enough to Pena and Crawford, in fact they will most likely raise the team’s AVG. And yes, their bullpen is destroyed.
Manny isn’t manny anymore. Take it from a Dodger fan. He wasn’t the same after his suspension. The bat speed wasn’t their and the power wasn’t their
umm Hellickson anyone?? the guy is the highest rated pitching prospect
and just for good measure, decided to add a cutter this off season
Ladies and Gentleman, your 2011 AL ROY
Bold claim.
Though you might be right.
The only way the Rays finish last is if you have five teams over 500. which I think would be a first. it could happen, though, but Baltimore is gonna have to win more 1 run games than they lose, and I don’t think they have the pitching to do that.
Let’s be fair. You’ve listed some veterans in decline who have spent some time on the DL in recent years, and some young guys that haven’t played up to their potential. Most teams have guys like that.
Baltimore was 2nd to last in the AL in team ERA and runs scored per game in 2010. They’ve done some work this winter, but not likely enough to compete in most divisions. Perhaps in a year or two.
Baltimore was two different teams last year. Before Buck and after Buck. You shouldn’t overly judge the O’s by their craptastic play under Trembley.
When Cito took over the Jays in the middle of the 2008 season, they had an above .500 from that point until the end of the season. In 2009, however, they finished 12 games under .500.
My point is don’t get caught up in small sample sizes.
Big differences in the two situations.
The Blue Jays were worse in 2009 than 2008 mainly because they lost key players (AJ Burnett and Gregg Zaun) and didn’t add anyone of note (except Encarnacion at the deadline). Also the Jays were without Marcum, Janssen and McGowan for much of the season.
But the Orioles since last season have added JJ Hardy, Mark Reynolds and Derrek Lee, and they haven’t lost any key players (except maybe David Hernandez). Plus their young pitching improved so much directly because of Showalter’s guidance.
The O’s also added Kevin Gregg to help replace Hernandez.
You just named their 8 best players, and there’s not a single pitcher in that group. Hence the problem.
Brian Matusz, Brad Bergesen, Guthrie, Arrieta, Tillman, and Britton–very talented rotaion
They’re all more talented than AAA players, sure. And they’ve all got room for growth. But it’s one of the weaker rotations in any division, not just the AL East.
Sorry, based on their 2010 numbers, and their projected 2011 numbers, they’re just not that good. Maybe they will be in 2012-2014.
Guthrie and Matusz should be quite good.
The rest are up in the air.
Your just use to watching so many bad teams the NL West produced over the years
Yeah your right. Hey wait didnt the san francisco giants win the world series last year? dont they play in the nl west?
Of course he wants a multi-year deal. By the end of the 2011 season he probably won’t be able to walk. The 2012 contract is free money.
Don’t really see the O’s escaping the AL East cellar, but they’re going to make the year a lot of fun and very interesting. With the improved team and coaching staff, the O’s are going to make an impact in the final standings. Can’t wait for the season to start.
I’d love to see them play “wildcard spoilers”. Steal enough games from Bos/NYY, that the wildcard team comes out of the AL Central…
pretty likely given the Central’s revamp
Obviously anything can happen this upcoming season, but may disagree with you on wildcard coming out of the AL Central. It has a really good chance to come out of the West with Texas and Oakland duking it out. Oakland has really good pitching and a better offense, and Texas not as rich on the pitching, but sure in hell can hit with the best.
I agree oakland is a dark horse. But anaheim and seattle are tougher than kc and cle. I think it comes out of the central by virtue of easiest last-place teams within the division.
They’re easily better than the Blue Jays are not that far behind the Rays and Yankees.
i got a solution , maybe bud can move them to the AL West were they are sure to dominate !
Just the Geography of it would be messed up….think about all of the traveling they would have to do. I know you are probably joking, but not a chance!
oh yeah just a joke, it would take some kinda scheduling miracle and time travel , and they probably wouldnt dominate their either
A second wild card team and a balanced schedule would pretty much take care of any disadvantages the Orioles have by being in the AL East.
I think it’s absurd that the schedule is not balanced.
Indeed a second wild card might be cool. have them play each other in say a best of three and then go on to play the rest as usual.
This is the first season in a while that the Os have really addressed their needs in earnest. In years past, they were in “Wait for the Kids” mode so much, that they were signing stopgaps left and right. Now, they have a decent majorleague team, just enough that you couldn’t make the same excuses for the young players if they fail (i.e. If only Young Pitcher X had enough bullpen or offense supporting him, If only Young Position Player X was protected with a legit majorleaguer, if, if, etc..).
It’s “Put Up or Shut Up” time for the young guys.
i suspect Buck Showalter will coach em up
Orioles make a run for the wild card if pitching stays healthy and they sign another vet starter.
No
Maybe if the MLB adapts the NBA playoff formula
Maybe in a year or two yes. But remember Buck Showalter came in and lit a fire under that team as he did with the rangers and dbacks. Once Buck came in last year, the O’s had the best record in the A.L. east. The talent is there. They just have to produce
It’s easy to play when there’s no pressure and you’re already 20 games back of a playoff spot in July
and you know what thats like
This makes no sense.
So the Yankees, Rays, Red Sox were all at a disadvantage to the Orioles because they had the stress of possibly making the playoffs?
Don’t laugh at me for stating that signing Vlad with the other new players signed will shake up the east.It’s about time management made some gutsy moves,fans of B-more suffered enough.Remember how Showalter put fire underneath these players,this is gonna be a very interesting season.
Let’s wait until the Orioles actually sign Guerrero before we get all excited. He did, after all, spurn them a few years ago.
If I’m Vlad, and I’m looking at the Orioles, I know I’m going to be the full-time DH there. I’m not going to be sharing time in Toronto, or be a backup in Texas or L.A. I know I’m going to batting cleanup behind Roberts, Markakis and Lee. That’s a lot of “ducks on the pond” for me to drive in. I’ll have Luke Scott and Mark Reynolds, two bonafide power hitters, hitting behind me so I know I’ll be protected. The manager, Buck Showalter, is a proven guy with a knack for game management. The bullpen is solid, especially if they sign Joe Beimel to match up against lefties (they already have Mike Gonzalez). The starting rotation is incredibly young, but very talented. As a team, their ERA after Buck Showalter was 3.54, earned against AL East teams primarily. If they even approach that mark this year, they are going to be in the race. Brian Matusz is on the cusp of becoming this teams’ ace. You also know that you’re going to be facing some of the best teams in baseball on a nightly basis.
I hope that Vlad comes to Baltimore. He makes their lineup pretty darn dangerous, and they will definitely make some noise in the AL East. Remember, they went 34-23 against mostly AL East teams after Buck got there last year. And that was without Derrek Lee, JJ Hardy, Mark Reynolds, Vlad Guerrero, and Kevin Gregg.
Their lineup is vastly improved but has “band aid” all over it.
I love how people who don’t know anything about what is going on with the Toronto Blue Jays state their opinions on the Jays pitching staff, where they will finish in the standings, etc. Based on what? Romero, Morrow and Cecil are one of the best young 1-2-3 combos in the majors…Travis Snider and JP Arencibia are two of the best young hitters. Arencibia, Brett Lawrie and Kyle Drabek are also in the top 50 prospects. We’re not going out and signing 38 year old players past their prime like teams like Tampa are. The O’s have improved and they might have a shot at overtaking the Jays…but it is premature to dismiss the Jays based on nothing more than an uneducated opinion.
bang on…
except.. hard to criticize any of the moves the Rays made this year..
Spent very little money while helping to alleviate some of the lost performance from players who left, combined with the fact that they have a top 2 farm system with a crap load of picks coming.. so hard to fault them for anything really
nobody was dismissing your team , its a long season and maybe those young legs will out pace the older teams who knows
The Blue Jays have a nice team, Daniel. The problem, of course, is that the Rays and Orioles have even nicer teams.
lol how do the Orioles have a nicer team exactly??
I’m not sure who will end up in last or 4th.. most of it will depend on outcomes of individual players (roberts, bautista, guthrie, morrow)
but to say the Orioles are flat out nicer is insane.. They have no pitching depth, their bullpen looks to be one of the worst in the league.
With the strong offenses of the AL east, they added very little help in terms of preventing runs. They will score more runs though.
You can’t help but laugh at posts like this. They start out reasonable but then you read “their bullpen looks to be one of the worst in the league” and you just can’t help but smile and stop reading. There is no possible argument to be made that a bullpen of Greg, Koji, Johnson, Gonzalez, Berken, etc will be anywhere near the basement. While there’s no shut down closer, the pen will be legit 1-7. The pen is well balanced and has 5 guys who have been SUCCESSFUL as closers in the past. Not just that they were given the job, but they performed admirably there. The O’s pen may not be on par with the Red Sox, but it would be a shock to any informed baseball fan to see them be even as bad as league average. But nice try their lunchbox. Your post was amusing, if nothing else.
ouch your complete biased optimism just smacked me right in the face!!
Enjoy Kevin Gregg, I’ll be willing to bet you that within the first month of the season you’ll be on here spazzing with your other orioles fans about how terrible he is and what a bad signing it was..
Then you go on to name Gonzalez and Berken as sure things? Umm okay, maybe a trip to fangraphs is in order for you..
Koji and Johnson I’ll give you, but there isn’t enough depth to compensate how much work the Orioles bullpen stands to get this year.. If you think Jeremy Accardo is going to give you 60 quality innings, you’re in for a real treat. .
I’m not quite sure in which alternate reality The Orioles have a better team than The Jays.
jays were not that great and if bautista repeats id be shocked
You’re joking, right? The Jays were 85-77. The Orioles were 66-96. I’d say The Jays were good, especially considering it was supposed to be a down year and people counted them out completly after trading Halladay.
Their pitching is superior to The O’s, and their bullpen will be greatly improved this year. Even if Bautista doesn’t repeat, the nucleus of the team is better than The O’s at evey position.
The AL east is going to be sick this year. That said, I’m going o0n record to state that it’s going to be tough for an AL east team to get the WC berth, solely based on having to play 72 of their games against the other four teams in the division. Baltimore was 24-48 against the AL east last year. If they can somehow play 500 ball within the division, It gets a lot closer for the WC than you think.
In case anyone was wondering, btw, the records in the AL EAST inside the division last year:
Tampa 42-30
Toronto 39-33
NY 38-34
Boston 37-35
Baltimore 24-48
Baltimore lost 27 of those games before the break, and 21 after, not a big swing.
but they were 7-11 against Tampa, 3-15 against Toronto, 9-9 against Boston, and 5-13 against NY.
Based on last years records and splits, etc… If the Orioles area better team, and the yankees go 9-9 against them, they win the wild card by a GAME.
Its gonna be a closer division than anyone thinks, and I doubt the Wild card comes out, if Baltimore gets better.
Jays were 24-30 vs the AL east minus baltimore
I’d imagine that 15-3 record vs orioles will be a lot more even this year
Man…if this happens, the AL Beast is loaded and the O’s have the 3rd best offense in the division and are closing the gap with the MFY’s…
2B Roberts S
RF Markakis L
1B Lee R
DH Guerrero R
LF Scott L
3B Reynolds R
CF Jones R
CA Wieters S
SS Hardy R
If those young O’s pitchers can continue to improve, then woah look out. That is going to be a fun lineup to watch hit tho for sure. Balanced 1-9 with patience and power and no easy outs even at the 9 slot with JJ Hardy.
i’m pretty sure Reynolds is an easy out at a .200 batting average. Also I think the lineup is more likely to have Reynolds hitting 8th and Wieters hitting 6th.
And you would be wrong. He struck out a ton but he also walked 80+ times and had a .350 OBP in an off year plagued with minor injuries. He will be closer to his 2009 numbers now that he is healthy and playing in OPACY will help those power numbers as well…that short porch in left…mmm mmm Reynolds will eat that stuff up. And don’t factor out the reduced pressure on Jones and Wieters and letting them hit 7th and 8th should take pressure off them as well.
I don’t know about that middle part for Reynolds. Chase Field is a pretty nice hitter’s park as well.
but he is coming to the AL the pitchers in the AL are not where near as good as the pitcher in the NL…there are a lot of very very good pitchers in the AL but more in the NL…
Mark Reynolds’ OBP was .320 last year, not .350.
No easy outs?
I guess the reigning 3 time strike out king isn’t considered an easy out ?
beat you to this one, see post below
blast!
you have to admit its hard to say an easy out when the dude has a darn good obp consistently and consistently hits 25+ home runs and has 40+ home run power
I hear what you are saying, and I wish this comes to pass, but right now I can’t call his OBP a good rate.
ANyonw who swings and misses like that isn’t a “tough out,” but he is capable of causing some damage. You’d like to see his OBP hover around .350 and that would be a good year. If that were the case, the rest of his stats would follow, and you could argue that he makes the same number of outs any other average majorleaguer might, except a preponderance of his outs are by strikeout, which you can live with. In this case, it doesn’t matter how you make your outs, as long as you don’t make any more of them than normal.
more proof that the division need to be re-done…and not just the AL but the NL too…make the AL east the Yankees, bosox, phillies and braves the the NL east can be toronto-baltimore-the Mets- the Nats…..move both florida teams out of flordia and into the divisions closest to what ever city they are in…mabe move the rays up north and move them to the AL Central and move the fish to the west and either into the AL or NL
How does that help? You just stuck all the best teams in one division and the bottom half in the other.
Also, take this into consideration. LAST YEAR, the Yankees went 11-7 in interleague play. take the three game series against the phillies out, and they went 10-5. Why? They split 3-3 with the mets, and went 7-2 against the D-Backs, Dodgers, and Houston. Maybe the weakest interleague schedule around.
Compare the Yanks and Bostons interleague schedules, they each get three at the cubs and three at the Brewers. the Ynakees play their other 12 games against the Mets, Rockies and Reds. The Sox have to play three against the Phillies, but get nine against San Diego, Houston and Pittsburg.
The Yankees are in for a tougher year than people think.
Andy McPhail has quietly done a nice job this offseason revamping this team’s entire lineup. The key for this team is its young pitching though to look much nicer on paper.
As a Tigers fan, I would love to see the Orioles sign Vlad. I think the Tigers could inquire on Felix Pie or even Luke Scott to play LF, which is what they need. A solid defensive LH hitter with power. Otherwise, it’s Guillen and Raburn, both huge question marks. Heck, they’d probably be willing to take Nick Markakis’ contract off Baltimore’s hands.
O’s aren’t trading Markakis. If you wanna give us Verlander then maybe. Markakis for MCab…hmmm that would be a steal for us.
Again the O’s aren’t trading
Him.
haha that’s a laugh. Markakis for prospects is debatable though man. Markakis straight up for Turner might make McPhail bite. The Rays and Jays are much more likely to contend than the Orioles for the next few years and McPhail and most baseball execs know this. If he can do what AA did and get some well-needed financial flexibility, he might bite.
Why would the Orioles trade their most marketable and popular player, after building the team in such a positive way?
Vernon Wells, despite his contract, was still among the more popular players in Toronto. Toronto has been built in a pretty positive way as well. Money is a big factor.
Vernon wells makes 15 mil a year, Markakis makes 7… Plus, its too early to give up on Markakis. He still had a solid year last year, and its not like we’re hurting for money. Orioles have the 3rd biggest profits of any MLB team, mainly because Angelos is too conservative with spending money. He can afford to keep him around.
Without Markakis, I don’t know who they’d use on all of our commercials and ads, either. No one is as marketable as him for us.
Valid point, although Brian Roberts is pretty marketable as well
Markakis actually makes 11 million a year 6/66
Good stuff in Canada, eh?
If they get Vladimir how dramatically have they improved since getting showalter?
They are vastly improved without losing their young arms. They only lost DH but got a young LT solution at 3B. it’s exciting
considering the way they played after buck come over cost them the #1 over all pick its hard to say…a team that probably will have to fight hard, and i mean hard for a wild card spot. Teams that are not for sure locks to compete need as many high picks as they can get.
all the jays fans need to remember this though. in an offseason where at the beginning they claimed they wanted to add “a power bat”, they gave away a 30-HR player for a 10-HR player and a reliever. Oh and lots and lots of money. But they didn’t spend any of that on bats.
im assuming that 30 hr guy your talking about is vernon wells? lets remember the fact that this past season was the first time wells hit 30 hrs since 2006……they got a guy who at times can blast home runs in rivera. Have a very very good bullpen. good tallent in young pitching and saved over 100 million dollars by moving 2 players in 1 calendar year in wells and rios. Yeah they may not put that money right into the 25 man roster(YET YOU NEVER KNOW) but that gives them more flexibility than they have had in years to make trade, invest in the draft, and go for a big signing next season..albert, prince..etc
I love the trade for the jays, don’t get me wrong! Who wouldn’t want to unload the game’s second worst contract? Soriano’s is worse IMO, I live in Chicago. I was just referring to the person that said “AA said he thinks EE can hit 30 homers with full-time ABs”. The Jays have already said they were doing one thing, and done another, not that it’s a bad thing. Spontaneity is the spice of life.
how are the rangers “in the hunt” for vlad? they already have a $16 mil/yr full time dh with a backup dh in napoli. theres no room for another full time dh who can’t field on that team. having said that, i dont think the angels go for him. sciosh likes his lineup to be fluid and interchangeable. vlad would only clog up the middle of the order as a full time dh who can’t field dependably and who clogs up the bases as well. at least abreu can still play the field, making it easy to spell hunter and wells.
Young plays 1B, Vlad Dh’s
Their GM said Moreland is the 1B man. No one else it’s his job
GM’s say a lot of things
Look, they’ve made it clear Mitch Moreland is their 1B
Look, things change.
I realize that but the odds of Moreland losing his 1B job are veryyy slim
which is what my point was
Trust me. If no one else is in on Guerrero but Baltimore, and Texas can have him for 3 to 5 mil per on a 1 year deal they’ll sign him in a heartbeat.
so they acquired napoli @ 5-6m/yr to be a part time catcher? i dont think so… to me, it makes the most sense for vlad to go to the o’s
Who do you think the Tigers would offer the Orioles for Pie?
I think a fair offer would be the Tigers could offer one or both of the pitchers they picked up in the Gallaraga trade.
Both of those guys are C- prospects. The Orioles wouldn’t consider moving Pie for either, or both. Pie at least has the potential to one day be an impact bat. Right now he still hasn’t proven anything and is all ‘tools’ and hasn’t figured out how to harness those tools, but he still could become something down the line. You don’t trade that kind of player for bad pitching prospects. Especially when you’re a team loaded with young pitching and shallow on young position players.
“The offer was for about $2MM and now the Rangers “return to the race” for Vlad…”
So if they sign Vlad:
1 Elvis Andrus SS
2 Vladimir Guerrero DH
3 Josh Hamilton LF
4 Nelson Cruz RF
5 Adrian Beltre 3B
6 Ian Kinsler 2B
7 Mike Napoli C
8 Mitch Moreland 1B
9 Julio Borbon CF
Where would Micheal Young fit? I know there has been some talk of swapping him with Moreland or having him come off the bench but wouldn’t you rather keep a guy that’s been relatively inujury-free and averaging 184 hits and a .298 AVG since 2001 in your everyday lineup?
16 million is a bit steep for a bench player, maybe they try and move him
The rockies are hard on him
I’d try and move him but there’s talk of keeping him as insurance just in case Beltre, Kinsler or Andrus gets injured. Even though Young is as classy as they come I’d think that even for him enough is enough.
Would have to trade him I’d think. Because contrary to what LUNCHBOX says, the FO in TX has Moreland at 1B with no intentions of anyone else playing there
lol are you mitch moreland?? you’re being a little too defensive
They also told Young that he would be the DH in 2011.. based on what they said about both moreland and young, how do you explain the interest in Vlad?
My feeling is that they won’t sign Vlad. Because young is the DH, Mitch 1B, and Beltre 3B, Kinsler 2B, Andrus SS
the blue jays will be very good in 2-4 years as long as they don’t trade away the wrong young players and stay patient. Probably not red sox good but by then the yankees should have fully faded for a bit.
really hard for me to believe that Vlad would sign for anyone for only 2 million, hes at least worth 4-5 imo, I’m a huge O’s fan but i don’t see him signing for this amount.
how have they made it clear? its not spring training or even opening day yet? Nothing in clear in baseball…it was clear the yankees were going to sign Lee, they didnt…it was clear the Padres were going to wait unitll they knew if they were in contention to trade agon, they didnt. It was clear adam dunn wanted to play the field he is a DH now etc….nothing is clear untill the line up cards are announced before the first pitch of any game.
considering he can play 2nd, ss, and 3rd pretty well and he can probably play 1st, left right and maybe in a pinch play CF, and he can DH he would get a lot of playing time keeping those guys fresh if he is the super sub and if there is an injury theres even more playing time.
you know this how? because you have personally talked to the front office and they have signed a contract stating this for a fact?
Nope because Mitch is a family friend.
HA! I knew there had to be a connection ..
that being said tell Mitch his butt’s riding the pine!
He is a family friend, but I’m a BMore native, looking to get drafted this summer
i think that aging, once elite hitting outfielders are underpaid as a group. it’s been going on for a couple of years now. seems like collusion to me but that’s so hard to prove.
anyways, if i were manny or vlad and never-been-an-all-star, veteran catchers were signing for more than i was being offered i would be pretty discouraged too
$2 million dollars? That’s it? Man, the O’s sure do take lowballing free agents to the next level. It’s like they want him to officially say no so the fanbase can back off about signing him.
I know he’s not what he once was, but he still becomes arguably the best hitter on the team when signed. And to offer him $500k more than you gave Cesar Izturis is an absolute riot.
He’s only worth what teams are willing to pay him. Vlad waited too long and his options are pretty much drying up. It sucks, but unless he finds some other team to pay him more, $2 mil might be the best he can find at this point.
As a Twins fan though, I’d love to see the Twins target him for around $3 mil or so and then look to trade Kubel. A DH platoon of Thome and Vlad, with Vlad getting an occasional start in the outfield (and I do mean occasional at most), would look pretty good. Kubel might help to fill some other holes too.
I do see your point and understand that it’s the teams in search that dictate his money. Vlad wanting $16 million as reported is ridiculous. But he was an All Star, won the ‘best DH’ award, put up a solid offensive line, and has a history of being a consistent offensive threat.
All i’m saying is that with the amount of money baseball teams throw around, what is $2 million more for a guy like Vlad. If you spend $1.5 mil on Izturis when there’s equally capable players in the minors, you can’t be too worried about a few million here and there.
I feel like Vlad could’ve been a better option for the Twins than Thome, but I understand Thome and Minnesota worked up a good relationship. Not sure if I’d want them both on the same team though.
Eh, but even if teams throw money around in general, why should they spend more for a player if he has no better deals out there. If you in your own life could get a deal for less, would you pay more just because you could?
I think Thome and Vlad would be great together on the same team. One’s a righty, one’s a lefty. Thome is strictly a DH while Vlad could play a corner outfield position in a pinch. They make great sense as a platoon, but not if you already have Kubel on your team. That’s the big problem.
I think the Twins were a victim of their own success on Thome. They really needed some right-handed pop but grabbed Thome at the last minute last year. Now that it worked so well and he’s become a fan favorite, they more or less had to resign him or deal with some pissed off casual fans who wouldn’t easily understand the different aspect signing Vlad instead would bring.
Manny Ramirez was paid like 2 million, right? Manny set the market for aging DHs. It’ll be tough for Vlad to get much more than that now. MAYBE 3 million. He’s not getting the 8 mil he wanted.
2mm? no way he’s worth less than 5. If Carlos Pena can get 10 mil…..
Pena plays a position. pretty well too
in Wrigley, it is also a lefty power-hitter’s dream park. I would not be surprised if Pena easily blasts 40-45 this year. When was the last time the Cubs had a lefty power bat, and Milton Bradley does not count?
If the Rangers sign Vlad after all, why not try and trade Young to the Braves for Derek Lowe with the Rangers throwing in a little cash for the extra year of Young’s contract? Young could be the Braves 1b this year, so they can season and take the pressure off Freeman more, or 3b if and when Chipper Jones gets hurt. Rangers get a veteran pitcher outside of Webb to add to their staff at about the same cost as Young. The Braves tried to trade for Young a few years back as well.
I don’t see Vlad to the Rangers as a possibility at all, because like you said they would need to trade Young. And no matter what they do, I don’t see anyone taking that massive contract he has, unless they pay like half the contract themselves, which is not worth signing Vlad.
Plus, the Rangers manager just said that Michael Young is their opening day DH: sports.espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/news/story?id=606583…
Vlad isn’t going there.
I am aware, I knew the chances were slim of Vlad coming back, but do you not agree the Braves would be a good fit considering they could use Young next year and considering they have a big contract they’d like to unload that fills a need for the Rangers as well?
I’m a die hard O’s fan and desperately would love to have Vladdy as the full-time DH.
That said, PONY UP ANGELOS! 1 year for $2 million? Give the guy 2 years $12 million. You gave D Lee 1 year 8 million and Vlad is a better hitter!
Give the guy 2 years, make the second year incentive based. First year he gets 5 million, 2nd year he gets starting salary of 2 mil with incentives kicking in up to 7 million throughout the year….the veteran presence alone on a young team and increased ticket sales would be worth it.
You don’t offer a two year contract to a player that can’t muster any decent 1 year offers.
this isn’t just any player…it’s Vlad Guerrero who had a .300 29 115 line, won a silver slugger and helped his team to a World Series last year. the guy is having a hard time finding a home b/c he can only DH which wipes out 16 teams already…most AL teams are set with their DH roles but why risk losing such a potentially great part of your lineup? the guy is going to hit, he always has. one of the best all time
Hope Vlad has saved his money because his big money paydays are officially over. I bet he was upset with the offer. Wanted $16 million…..offered $2 million. He better take it or his next offer will be for $1.5.
I think Vlad’s only real suitors would be the O’s, Jays, and Angels. The Rangers obviously don’t have the need. The Jays could probably use him as the every day DH and have Napoli serve as a super backup at 1B, C, and DH. The Angels could use him to help salvage a horrible offseason to try and appease the fan base, but they’ve already said they have no interest. The O’s, meanwhile, could definitely offer a full time gig. They’d put him at DH and Scott in LF. Pie could be the 4th OFer, filling in for Jones and Scott once a week each and maybe Vlad some as well. I bet they could still find him 300 plate appearances. Reimold would be the odd man out. But given last season it may make the most sense to have him prove himself in the minors again.
I would give Vlad one year. We probably want him on the cheap at 2-3, I’m sure he’d still like 8. Meet in the middle around 5 and call this thing a day.
The Jays traded Napoli for Frank Francisco.
HerbertAnchovy – I’m not quite sure in which alternate reality The Orioles have a better team than The Jays.
Not the one we’re in, that much is certain. Jays finished 8 games over .500 in 2010, a 10-win improvement from 2009. They accomplished this with a badly struggling Hill and Lind, and a horrible bullpen.
I expect Hill and Lind to, at the very least, improve to respectability in 2011 to combine for an extra 2-3 wins from 2010. Their bullpen may be in the top 3 in the AL now.
Dear Disqus: Piss off with the reply fails. Have a nice day!
He also dropped off after the All-Star break and he disappeared in the playoffs. The Orioles would likely be bidding against themselves if they went a dime over 1 year for 5 million. I like MacPhail, but you’ll be hard pressed to find him bidding against other teams, yet alone bidding against himself. It just isn’t a smart way to do business.
This is worse than the giants offering 1 million
He’s not what he was period