Orioles Offered Extension To Markakis

That kid is really good. 100% that the Oriols are goin to sign this guy which would be really smart. Markakis is a solid hitter and has a crazy good arm. Besides Greek owner wants to keep his Greek player.

With a core of Markakis, Jones, Weiters and Guthrie, the Orioles are in a great position for the future. With the right moves this offseason and next, along with the expected progression of arms like Tillman, Arrieta and Erbe, the Orioles could certainly be in contention come 2010/11.

"The Orioles have a good core but I don't think they ever really will have much of a chance anytime soon. The Red Sox and the Yanks have money along with young talent and the Rays have even more dominating young talent."

Yanksown, no doubt there is some truth to the statement, but should this year prove your statement to be wrong. If last season I had said that the Yanks would be in 3rd and the Rays in 1st, you would have said I was crazy and needed to be on meds. And just looking at it at that time you may have been right yanks were charging last season, had young pitching on the way, and the 'Devil' Rays had a nice young team but were in last place. This year shows, money is not everything in baseball even in the AL East. The Yanks and the Redsox are two big hurdles but I think the Rays are the biggest.

Lets take a look at the Yanks vs. the O's projected out for the next few years: Yanks

SP:
Wang
Joba (but we have already seen the arm injuries everyone questioned)
?
?
?

Now they could sign Mussina and Petite for another year and maybe CC, if they do that and have what is quickly becoming an injury concern with Hughes waiting in the wings they have a nice rotation...for a year. After that I'd have to assume that Moose and Petite are done and Hughes is a bit of a questionmark. kennedy has regressed and I don't think Horne is the answer either.

Bullpen: pretty solid Rivera is the best and should be for a few more years. They got Marte for another year and a few good young guys, my guess is they add one more veteran arm so if someone goes down they aren't scrammbling.

C: Posada, and Pudge- two expensive options whose numbers will only decline. I think there is a real question of whether or not Posada can catch every day and if he is DH'ing who sits??

1b: Giambi- he's def bringing his number up and I can see them picking up the option next year b/c they'd pay 5 mil not to otherwise and outside of Tex who could they get to replace him. projection still a good bat (though not worth $20 mil), weak but passable glove

2B: Cano- he's solid regressed some this year I don't think its the end of the world as some do. I do think people need to stop thinking he'd be the best 2bman in the game and just be happy that he is a good one.

SS: Jeter, Mr. Clutch, his offense has declined some though its still good and his Defense is a growing question but he's not going anywhere.

3B: Arod- best player in the game and paid like it. Yanks don't have competition from anyone in this department.

OF: Nady solid, could play some 1st prob taking over for Abreu in RF, Matsui needs to stay healthy good arm but doesn't cover much of left. Damon should be in left may DH but if posada is I don't know what happens. CF is the question mark Melky isn't the man, Gardner isn't the man, AJax is a great prospect but prob another full year away. So maybe sign Cameron for a year to hold the line.

O's:
SP:
Guthrie (solid could be a good number 2)
Cabrera (needs to stay consistent but def has great stuff)
?
?
?

Those question marks will likely be filled internally, and the 3 likely canidates are Tillman, Arrieta, and Matuz (if he signs) they should all be ready by 2010-11. And if those 5 are the rotation the O's will be tough to beat. Through in Olsen, Bergensen, Spooyn, Erbe, and Patton and the O's have some options.

Bullpen: Looking like it will be a stregth. Sherril and Ray at the back end, Add, Sarfarte, Albers, Johnson as well as guys like Liz, McCroy and others in the system, the O's could have one of the deepest bullpens in the game.

C: Wieters, does anyone think this kid won't be an all-star he is DOMINATING and should be up next season.

1B: could have Huff for a year which wouldn't be too bad though I think there is a shot of Tex coming to B-more. in the system Snyder is the best bet but he is 2 years away.

2B: Roberts is one of the best, needs to be resigned after next year but he is a table setter for the team.

SS: big issue, no one on the team or in the system. But with the depth of arms such as Sherrill a trade is possible for a young rising star or a free agent.

3B: another issue for the team Mora has a NTC so he is on the team for one more year, beyond that Rowell isn't ready and guys like Moore and even Constanzo prob aren't long term answers.

RF: Markakis is a budding star great offensivly and defensivly. Imagine what is numbers could be with a supporting cast like the Yankees??( or in the next few years when he has more than roberts on the team)

CF: Jones, injury slowed down his progression this year but I think he will be a very good ball player for years to come.

LF: Scott, will prob be the DH as the O's have 2 young outfielders coming up in Montanez and Riemold between the two they should find a pretty good left fielder and move Scott to DH where his bat will play well.

Granted its a lot of projection, but which would you rather have an Orioles team that in almost every instance is on the upside of their career and at 1/4th the price of the Yankees. Yes there are some holes SS and 3B b/c their isn't good internal options, but like the Yankees trading for Nady and Marte, the O's have the system depth to acquire some young players when they need too.

The Yankees on the other hand don't have as strong of a system, trades, promotions, injuries, and poor preformances by prospects have hurt their stock. Their team is over paid and has quite a few injury concerns, Posada, matsui, giambi, Hughes maybe Joba. Not to mention the fact that other players are on the downside of their career and it is starting to show. The O's in 2 years could be this years Rays and while they will have to compete with THAT years rays, I think they can overcome the Yankees.

I said are ment aren't vut is but jobs is joba sorry typo

I'll ignore Borat (and really dude...Borat? What's next, an Austin Powers impression? Gotta love the guy who's three years late on his pop culture references), since he clearly has no semblance of a clue. As far as Markakis is concerned, I'm confident the O's will get something done. Basically, we're talking about the most complete and exciting young RF in the game. While there are some other guys who could challenge him for that title in the next year or two (Justin Upton comes to mind), it's really a matter of splitting hairs. He's a .300+, 25+, 100+ OBP machine with Gold Glove D- including a rifle arm that's probably the most feared in baseball right now (since Vlad has declined a little)- and 25+ SB ability on the base paths. If the Andy/Angelos brain trust can't figure out how to keep arguably the O's most popular and talented player, there really IS no hope for the organization. He's never really been injured (knock wood) and should get Alex Rios money at a minimum. Frankly, I'd like to see the club lock him up through not only the arbitration years, but three or four FA years as well!...

This is not totally comparable but if you take how fantastic Duaner Sanchez's performance and stuff was before his injury vs. what he is now, it is a HUGE difference. not the same velocity and he will probably never again be that same pitcher.

...as for the yankstown's sense that the O's can't compete in the AL East, it's a fairly facile argument. It IS true that the Yankees and Sox have more money, but the O's are hardly hurting in that department. Baltimore is a fairly major market and the club has a history of spending heavily on FA's (albeit a history full of busts). To simply claim economic superiority as justification for overall superiority is to ignore the fiscal landscape of baseball today. More and more, teams are building from within and locking up young, talented players- like Markakis- for the long haul. At best, these stars won't be available to the big spenders in New York and Boston, until the end of their primes and into their declining days. Go 'head! Take 'em!

The O's are quickly rebuilding a farm system in order to create a pipeline of talent that, if they're successful, will be self-sustaining and allow them to use trades/FA to simply fill in the gaps. We're seeing what that strategy reaps down in Tampa Bay. Even the Yanks and Sox- as you alluded to- have begun to emulate this player development philosophy. In Boston's case, they have a talented- and just as importantly, respected- GM who, for the most part is given a wide berth to follow his instincts. However, Hank- like his father- isn't willing to give that kind of leeway to Cashman (another very good GM) and seems poised to repeat the sins of his father... He'll learn the hard way that patience is, indeed, a virtue and that bloated payrolls and pricey veterans are a sure way to doom a club to mediocrity.

And while I agree that the Sox and Rays will be difficult to catch in coming years, Tampa Bay's success this year demonstrates how quickly the tide can turn and how pathetic projections can prove in an era of relative parity.

Already the Birds have Markakis and Adam Jones- a pair of potential 5 tool superstars- in the outfield. The former already an established success; the latter having put together a quietly convincing case in center field in what was, essentially his rookie year (having missed the cut by a handful of at-bats)...and at age 22.

On the pitching side, Guthrie provides a foundation, while Cabrera remains a maddeningly talented mystery. James Johnson is no Joba in the eighth, but his numbers are spectacular for a rookie setup man, nonetheless.

Meanwhile, the club's minor league affiliates are bursting with talent- enough so that they'll almost certainly be considered among the top 5 or 6 farm systems in baseball this winter. Wieters has quickly established himself as a budding superstar at a premium position. Matusz (assuming he signs), Tillman, Arrieta, and Erbe ALL have frontline potential and make up arguably the top foursome of pitching prospects in the game (with Tampa's quartet of Price, Davis, Hellickson, and McGee and Oakland's Anderson, Cahill, Inoa, and Gonzalez both in contention).

As the old axiom goes, 'Pitching wins ballgames,' and the O's have done a tremendous job of stocking up. Along with the aforementioned four, there's depth: Liz, Olson, David Hernandez, Brad Bergeson, Hayden Penn, Zach Britton, Chorye Spoone, and, to a lesser extent (either due to injury, inexperience, or performance) Troy Patton, Pedro Beato, Tim Bascom, Sean Gleason, Tony Butler, and Bobby Bundy (and, if they sign, Keith Landers, Jarrett Martin, and Kevin Brady), ALL have the potential to start in a major league rotation. Then there's the relievers...

The O's have had considerably less success developing position players (outside of Wieters), with Nolan Reimold and the struggling Bill Rowell as the only guys other than Wieters, Markakis, and Jones with star potential. Reimold is almost ready and could complete an awesome young outfield, while Rowell has been awful as the Carolina League's youngest player. Lou Montanez has emerged as a surprising (if somewhat old) candidate to start in the OF or at DH at some point, while Brandon Snyder, Ryan Adams, Tyler Henson, and teenage Gulf Coast Leaguers LJ Hoes, Xavier Avery, and Garabez Rosa all have some promise, but the cupboard is mostly bare and gives credence to the notion that the Birds are still a ways away.

Still, there's light at the end of the tunnel for the first time in a decade...and, as the Rays have shown, the big boys ARE in fact, vulnerable. While I'll be the first to agree that its an uphill battle and one that won't be won overnight, the Birds are on the right path. By 2010 or '11- if Andy Mac continues to make wise decisions and puts the big picture ahead of silly quick fix notions like signing Tex (you can HAVE him)- the Orioles will be back and the AL East will be more crowded with contenders than ever.

Also the Baltimore area will be getting a FLux of people around 2010. A lot of government work will be coming to the area. So that will help add more money into the city. Also lets say Tex might get more money per year from the Yankees. But he would get a lot more endorsements if he was an Oriole. Baltimore companies want a hometown kid to sell crap. You should have seen all of the Cal Ripken commercials.