Prince Fielder

[dan72]

Listening to talk radio, I here fans clammering for Prince Fielder. If the Orioles were close to contending, at or above .500, one piece away from the playoffs I would pay the astronomical sum of money it would take to sign him. That is not the case. Ask your self this question. If you do nothing else but sign Prince, how many more wins would you have??? 5-10 would be my best guess. That move alone would not get us out of the cellar.
Now ask yourself this follow up question: If you sign Prince how much money would you have left to sign other players? my guess here would be, not much if any.

Do we need a true clean up hitter? YES
Do we need a first baseman? YES
Do we need real front line major league ready pitching? YES x 100

We all agree that we need to improve at 1B, 2B, LF and pitching. You could do all of that with the money it would take to sign Prince. Would Prince sell tickets? sure. Would I like to see him in an O's uniform? sure. Is it the best baseball decision for this team to improve? NOT AT ALL.
I can't tell the callers what to talk about but it seems to be a waste of good radio time continuing to ask for Prince. It's not going to happen. I feel better now.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Adding fielder would probably add about 5 wins (if you go by fWAR). I would be all for signing him, but only if they add a guy like Michael Young to the fold.

I really would not want Renyolds at first base because his bat isn't enough there. But I would stick Young at 3B, Reynolds at 1B, and have Fielder DH.

I would get rid of Pie, move Jones to LF and have Angle in CF.

Those are a few of the changes I would like to see.

[dan72]

Jordan-I agree with your changes, what a lineup that would be. Only concern is would we have any payroll left to address pitching needs? Lately I have heard some rumors about Prince going to the Nationals. Makes sense for him to stay in the NL.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Jordan-I agree with your changes, what a lineup that would be. Only concern is would we have any payroll left to address pitching needs? Lately I have heard some rumors about Prince going to the Nationals. Makes sense for him to stay in the NL.

They will have about $15 million coming off the books at the end of the season from Vlad, Izturis and Gonzalez. If Fielder costs about $22 million, I still think they'd have enough to add a guy like Young.

[ofahn]

They will have about $15 million coming off the books at the end of the season from Vlad, Izturis and Gonzalez.

Jordan,

Are you also considering Lee, Uehara, Accardo, and Ducherer(sp?)? That's another 12M coming off of the books.

Although I would prefer to see David Wright, I would consider Michael Young to be a solid pickup IF we don't have to pay much in prospects.

I wouldn't have offered Fielder what the Brewers did so I obviously don't want to spend what it will take to get him here. IMO anything beyond four years for him will be a bad contract, he's NOT a good defensive 1B, AND we have too many holes to fill to spend that much on just one player. Perhaps we could try to trade Adam Jones to the Giants for Brandon Belt (1B), Eric Surkamp (LHP), and Gary Brown (OF). It's a good trade for both sides and it would allow for us to improve our outfield defense.

[Rising O's]

When they fail to tender both Pie and Scott they'll save around 8.5 million. But I digress...

Money should never be a point of discussion when it comes to the Baltimore Orioles until they have a consistent payroll near 130 million. So how much will it costs is not relevant for this organization nor will it be for at least 5 years. Heck even today, or yesterday there was an article in the New York Times stating MASN had revenues of close to 190 million. What the profits are I don't know. I imagine its a nice tidy sum given the industry. If the Orioles are crying about what a player costs then Angelos needs to sell the team or the stadium should be empty until he does.

I think with Fielder you get 8-10 wins easily because his production will make other players that much better. I think a Fielder/Jones/Reynolds can give you 3 100 RBI candidates with an above average top of the order hitter. See Angel thread (plug alert).

[ofahn]

Thank you. I missed Luke Scott.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

They will have about $15 million coming off the books at the end of the season from Vlad, Izturis and Gonzalez.

Jordan,

Are you also considering Lee, Uehara, Accardo, and Ducherer(sp?)? That's another 12M coming off of the books.

Although I would prefer to see David Wright, I would consider Michael Young to be a solid pickup IF we don't have to pay much in prospects.

I wouldn't have offered Fielder what the Brewers did so I obviously don't want to spend what it will take to get him here. IMO anything beyond four years for him will be a bad contract, he's NOT a good defensive 1B, AND we have too many holes to fill to spend that much on just one player. Perhaps we could try to trade Adam Jones to the Giants for Brandon Belt (1B), Eric Surkamp (LHP), and Gary Brown (OF). It's a good trade for both sides and it would allow for us to improve our outfield defense.

Wright isn't a free agent though, is he? So that is about $27 million free, which could net Fielder. What did the Brewers offer Prince?

[Jordan Tuwiner]

When they fail to tender both Pie and Scott they'll save around 8.5 million. But I digress...

Money should never be a point of discussion when it comes to the Baltimore Orioles until they have a consistent payroll near 130 million. So how much will it costs is not relevant for this organization nor will it be for at least 5 years. Heck even today, or yesterday there was an article in the New York Times stating MASN had revenues of close to 190 million. What the profits are I don't know. I imagine its a nice tidy sum given the industry. If the Orioles are crying about what a player costs then Angelos needs to sell the team or the stadium should be empty until he does.

I think with Fielder you get 8-10 wins easily because his production will make other players that much better. I think a Fielder/Jones/Reynolds can give you 3 100 RBI candidates with an above average top of the order hitter. See Angel thread (plug alert).

Of course they also split revenue with the Nats, I assume.

Your point about Fielder in the lineup is a good one. Some will argue that it makes no difference who's hitting around you, but then you see guys get inserted into the REd Sox lineup and immediately have success.

[Matt P]

I would be all for signing Prince Fielder if we also upgraded 2B, 3B, and signed 1 or 2 starters. Prince by himself would be a pointless signing.

[ofahn]

If we spent the same 200M over eight years on signing amateur talent that Fielder is going to sign for we would have a top five farm system and a consistently winning team.

[Matt P]

If we spent the same 200M over eight years on signing amateur talent that Fielder is going to sign for we would have a top five farm system and a consistently winning team.

True, but that will never happen.

[ofahn]

If we spent the same 200M over eight years on signing amateur talent that Fielder is going to sign for we would have a top five farm system and a consistently winning team.

True, but that will never happen.

Which explains fourteen straight losing seasons.

[Rising O's]

I'm of the potentially ignorant opinion that stars make the team better. What I mean is that on an individual basis, and in a vacuum environment, Fiedler only adds 5 wins. But that's not how the game is played, as his impact and presence will improve the entire offense. So what you have is +1 or +2 for 4 or 5 other guys in the line-up as a result so you end up with 10-15+ wins. It doesn't solve all of the Orioles problems but it starts you on the path to relevance. We're an AL team so offering 7 years should not be a problem and spending the money shouldn't even be a consideration.

[ofahn]

I'm of the potentially ignorant opinion that stars make the team better. What I mean is that on an individual basis, and in a vacuum environment, Fiedler only adds 5 wins. But that's not how the game is played, as his impact and presence will improve the entire offense. So what you have is +1 or +2 for 4 or 5 other guys in the line-up as a result so you end up with 10-15+ wins. It doesn't solve all of the Orioles problems but it starts you on the path to relevance. We're an AL team so offering 7 years should not be a problem and spending the money shouldn't even be a consideration.

What worries me is that Angelos will spend the money on Fielder and cut back on other areas like player development. In five years when Fielder's contract is untradeable our farm system will dry up and we'll look back at this season as "the glory days".