but maybe i wasnt clear enough. all i was trying to say is its out there and, while it probably wont happen, its something to think about and pray to whatever thing you pray to for.

Bowden’s all over anything that has any sort of Red in his past. Wanker.

you-know-who doing you-know-what

Allow me to ease all of our pain and translate. “Mark Teixeira taking a lot more money to sign with a much better team.”

Can we kinda not pretend Mark Teixeira wronged us? He was never an Oriole, nor were we ever for one second the front runner to sign him.

his defense is shit. Totally, utterly, completely, and in all other ways, shit.

And I don’t think he wants to DH. I generally don’t buy into all the chemistry-locker room- rah rah BS, but Manny is a flake in so many ways I don’t think it’d be good to have him on the team. If he was refusing to play for Boston because he was in a snit when they were competitive, what do you think he’d do when the Os are already 13 into 5th place by the All Star Break?

If the Os thought they were going to be competitive in 09 or 10 (hint: they’re not) it would make perfect sense to sign Manny as a last piece. But there’s no guarantee that he’d A: sign for 3 years or B: still be worth the money we’d have to give him when the 3rd or 4th year (and first chance for Os to be competitive) arrived.

Manny is not coming here, he shouldn’t come here, and the Orioles shouldn’t want him to come here. Wrong player, wrong time, wrong everything.

Not that I think he’s a better player. He isn’t.

i like dunn and all but signing him means that we’re not really rebuilding anymore

Why are rebuilding and signing Dunn mutually exclusive? Who exactly do the Orioles have in their farm system that Dunn would take playing time away from? The Orioles are going to need to fill some of their needs through free agency.

If you have a ML caliber first baseman bat, chances are that your glove isn’t going to prevent you from making the majors as a first baseman. If he was a shortstop I would agree, but we are talking about first here.

Jones isn’t even arbitration eligible until next year, is he? And I think Guts is in the same boat. Of course they are going to get raises as they go through arbitration (assuming they don’t fall apart), but they are going to hit FA for 4 years. That shouldn’t be a concern at all in to whether sign Dunn or not.

And come on, a $13M/year contract is hardly a large contract. That would not be the cornerstone of any team with the possible exception of Florida. The Orioles have a decent amount of money they can spend now, and they get anywhere near 500, that’ll likely only increase.

but all defense is not the same. Except under some extreme examples, I probably wouldn’t hesitate to bring up a first baseman because I didn’t like his defense. Snyder and just about every other first baseman’s path to the majors should be dictated by their bat, not their glove. Ryan Howard is one of the worst defensive first baseman in the league, but most people care more about his OBP in 2008, not his Range Factor.

I would add that $13M contract for several reasons. First, I think it’s undervalued. Dunn at $13M/year is a great deal in my opinion. Second, it would likely improve this team, which clearly isn’t the most important thing, but as long as your not mortgaging the future, that seems to be a no brainer. Moving closer to a competitive team would likely increase revenue for the O’s. Third, I don’t know if it does anyone any good to send the message to all your players that this is losing team with no expectations. And finally, this deal would likely overlap the timeframe when the Orioles should expect to be competitive. If the Orioles are still in rebuilding mode 3 years from now, then it’s pretty much irrelevant to whether they sign him or not.

To me, rebuilding doesn’t mean that should try to be as bad as possible and do absolutely nothing to improve your team now.

You’re right, I don’t completely understand what you are saying with regards to salaries. Sure, every single player that ends up staying with the Orioles or any other team through the arbitration years is likely going to get raises from their rookie salary (or will not be offered a contract). I dont’ see how this is a special occurance or how it effects Dunn.

Between Melvin Mora, Ramon Hernandez, Aubrey Huff, Joan Baez, Jamie Walker, Roberts (assuming he doesn’t sign), and JAY FUCKIN GIBBONS; the Orioles will be dropping $45M in payroll. They should have tons of flexibility going forward, and I don’t see how that’s jeopardized by having Guthrie or Ray being in their second arbitration year in 2011.

And waiting to see what you need when you are rebuilign. It’s the main reason I wasn’t thrilled about going after Tex. But Dunn seems relatively cheap for what you are getting and he wouldn’t seem to require a long term contract.

It’s all a moot point though, we aren’t getting him.