The Orioles have shown interest in Francisco Cordero, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports. Talks between the free agent closer and the Orioles are preliminary, Connolly notes.
Jim Johnson is the current favorite to close games for manager Buck Showalter. The Orioles are open to trading Kevin Gregg and absorbing some of the $5.8MM he'll earn in 2012, Connolly reports. I find it hard to imagine a team taking on more than $1.5MM of Gregg's salary given the 53K/40BB ratio he posted in 2011 and the availability of other free agent relievers.
The Orioles discussed a Brandon League deal with the Mariners at the Winter Meetings and expressed interest in Seattle starter Jason Vargas at the time, according to Connolly. Jeremy Guthrie and Mark Reynolds also surfaced in the trade talks, Connolly reports. The Angels and Rays have also been linked to Cordero, who probably won't return to Cincinnati now that Ryan Madson is set to join the Reds.
Cordero is an upgrade from Gregg, but that’s not saying much. I wouldn’t give Coco more than a one-year deal, but he’s probably hoping for more than that.
Considering he will be 37 this coming season, I doubt he wants more than a year. I am all for adding more pitchers, but the Os should splurge on Fielder if they want to have any sort of future.
Huh? He’d want a 20 year deal if he could get it. He can retire whenever he wants to, but one really bad year (which could be coming with his k rate decline) and he won’t be able to get a decent contract.
With the way the reliever market has gone i doubt he really expects to get multiple years at this point though.
1 year 2mil and I’d take Cordero in a second. JJ is great in the pen but if my memory serves me right JJ has struggled in the 9th.
As for Fielder, I would love to see it but that would mean that we would have a payrole close to 100mil and Angeloser just isnt going to do that, wish he would, but he wont.
do you like kevin gregg? we already have a closer who can’t strike people out and puts on baserunner after baserunner. no thanks. i dont want to waste another dollar on the bullpen anyway.
how exactly is splurging for fielder the best way for the o’s to have any sort of future? is it by spending 20+ million a year for a guy who’s best remaining years will be wasted on a team battling for 4th place? by the time we are any good that contract would probably prevent us from making any moves that could help us make a playoff run.
Categorically disagree. You build a team through impact players and you battle for fourth from now until the end of time unless one day you are willing to spend on the better players in the game.
You are stuck in some sort of weird Catch 22 if you think that the Os shouldn’t sign good players because they will battle for 4th with them . . .
“By the time we are any good,” by the business model you are promoting is never.
Also preventing us from moves that could help us make a playoff run? We haven’t done anything, at this point, to build a playoff contender. Add Fielder and a few really good pitchers and the O’s are actually dangerous.
Another reason to sign Prince NOW is there are next to no bats available next off-season but there are some solid arms that will be on the market for 2013:
Matt Cain (28)
Zack Greinke (28)
Cole Hamels (29)
Colby Lewis (33)
Shaun Marcum (31)
Sign your 4 hole hitter now. Get your ace next year after we get a better understanding of who wants to stick around.
Texas will sign Darvish (as I predicted in the Top50 contest) and the Orioles will then sign Prince (as I also predicted in the Top50).
and our payroll is going to be how high exactly?
oh btw congrats on predicting darvish to texas. considering everyone on planet earth said either toronto or texas im blown away you were able to call that one.
Good, you should be.
still waiting for your answer on our payroll…
what a bunch of bs. toronto and tampa havent improved by overpaying free agents. we need to get our scouting and player development in order. and thats exactly what dd is trying to do.
Did you see the new cba? Further every team wants to be tampa but there is only one. I don’t really get your points. Yes our scouting should get better, but how does that preclude us from signing players that could help now? We are too far from competing? Only if all of our young players fail and we keep sitting on our hands during free agency.
give me some evidence that our payroll is going to go to 100 million dollars+. otherwise be freaking realistic.
Realistic is stating the obvious, that an impact hitter of this caliber doesn’t come around that often, and when it does usually the Yankees or Sox are in on it. Not this time.
Realistic is stating that if we were in rebuild mode right now Adam Jones, Guthrie, and Hardy wouldn’t be on the roster right now.
Realistic is saying that Angelos has stated from the beginning he’s an O’s fan and he wants the team to win and the guy is 85 years old.
Realistic is saying, that with curbed draft spending and impending international limits its going to be much harder to build solely from an amateur position.
Why don’t you give me a “realistic” plan to make the organization better? Improve the farm system isn’t a plan, its an ideal.
very clever. but what angelos says and what angelos does are 2 completely different things. great hes “an o’s fan.” answer the question i am asking you about payroll. because i have seen no indication that he is willing to go to that level. so while fielder would be nice, it is not going to happen. and even if it does, it will come at the expense of resigning wieters later on down the line or any of our young pitchers if they somehow become productive. and i never said we were rebuilding. i think we should be but we are not. and thats fine. but understand that when a team with limited money has 10 million dollars tied up in a second baseman who will probably never play again, 6 million in an incompetant relief pitcher, 12 (soon to be 16) million in a very good but nowhere near superstar level right fielder, while also continually throwing additional millions away on replacement level aging veterans there are going to be consequences. and one of those consequences is that chris davis will be starting at first base. and to top it off we are discussing this in a thread about potentially signing another over the hill relief pitcher with declining strikeout numbers. so if you want to join lefty in a fantasyland where we are suddenly going to sign edwin jackson, roy oswalt and prince fielder, raise our payroll to 115 million dollars all while probably still finishing in last place be my guest, but please dont pretend that anything you are advocating here is remotely realistic. because until someone proves that our payroll is going to be above 85 million dollars (which dd has repeated stated it wont be)
none of this is ever going to happen.
Maybe. I don’t think your “show me something about the payroll” is really a good argument. You can say that all offseason, any offseason, but part of the point of these boards are trying to project signings. How the hell would I or anyone have those figures?
Roberts is a bad contract based on Angelos’s love for the guy. He will be off the books soon enough. Fielder to me looks like a good investment. A premier hitter, who is still young. Will we get him for cheap? No way, but we don’t have the Yankees and Sox competing, so at least the price will be rough but not insane. Will it stop us from signing Weiters long term? I really doubt it.
The team has needed a big bat for years. Look at the Orioles lineup, he looks to me like a missing element. Is the starting pitching there yet? Absolutely not. Is it any better than last season? I am really unsure. All I do know is everything points to Fielder being a good signing for this team.
By the way speaking of payroll and contracts. I am looking over 2011.
Our top 6 highest paid players last year
1) Markakis 10.6 mil
2) Roberts 10 mil
3) Vlad 8 mil
4) Derek Lee 7 mil
5) Luke Scott 6.4 mil
6) Mike Gonzalez 6 mil
So 3-6 are gone, a 27 mil reduction in payroll.
Other players off the books:
Izturis 1.5 mil
Uehara 3 mil
Guthrie was at 5.7 mil, dunno where hes at this season (but gone after this season)
Gregg was at 4.2, dunno where hes at this season (but gone after this season)
Accardo 1 mil
Brendon Harris 1.2
Pie 900,000 +
Now I know there have been some changes. Hardy’s new contract, players going up in arbitration and the low cost international signings we have made, but that payroll last season was at 86 million. Explain to me where you are getting 115 million + from? Are we paying Fielder 40 mil a season?
Maybe. I don’t think your “show me something about the payroll” is really a good argument. You can say that all offseason, any offseason, but part of the point of these boards are trying to project signings. How the hell would I or anyone have those figures?
Roberts is a bad contract based on Angelos’s love for the guy. He will be off the books soon enough. Fielder to me looks like a good investment. A premier hitter, who is still young. Will we get him for cheap? No way, but we don’t have the Yankees and Sox competing, so at least the price will be rough but not insane. Will it stop us from signing Weiters long term? I really doubt it.
The team has needed a big bat for years. Look at the Orioles lineup, he looks to me like a missing element. Is the starting pitching there yet? Absolutely not. Is it any better than last season? I am really unsure. All I do know is everything points to Fielder being a good signing for this team.
By the way speaking of payroll and contracts. I am looking over 2011.
Our top 6 highest paid players last year
1) Markakis 10.6 mil
2) Roberts 10 mil
3) Vlad 8 mil
4) Derek Lee 7 mil
5) Luke Scott 6.4 mil
6) Mike Gonzalez 6 mil
So 3-6 are gone, a 27 mil reduction in payroll.
Other players off the books:
Izturis 1.5 mil
Uehara 3 mil
Guthrie was at 5.7 mil, dunno where hes at this season (but gone after this season)
Gregg was at 4.2, dunno where hes at this season (but gone after this season)
Accardo 1 mil
Brendon Harris 1.2
Pie 900,000 +
Now I know there have been some changes. Hardy’s new contract, players going up in arbitration and the low cost international signings we have made, but that payroll last season was at 86 million. Explain to me where you are getting 115 million + from? Are we paying Fielder 40 mil a season?
“i know there have been some changes.” what a joke. guts will be 7-9 mil. nick is over 12. gregg is 6 mil. we signed 2- 4 mil a yr japanese pitchers. jones is going up. please tell me what you think our payroll is gonna be when we sign fielder. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You do the math. 30 mil came off the books last season and the increases / signings bring up the payroll 15 max (with Gregg / Guthrie about to come off the books after this season). For someone who claims to know a lot about payroll and the O’s, you certainly like to try to make other people do work for you. You want to make a point, and be overdramatic, you do a little bit of work and show everyone what you are talking about.
So you’re saying that if the O’s *don’t* get Fielder that they have no future?
TBH, I’m not sure that making an offer that would count as splurging would get Fielder to come here. Boras would just use that as leverage to get more money somewhere else. I’m quite convinced that this is Duquette’s thinking in not making any sort of offer or even a public indication that the Orioles are planning on making an offer.
I am saying, if the Orioles on their current trajectory keep looking for nothing but bargains in free agency, they will continue to fail, from now until the future.
I have mixed feelings about this. While signing Cordero means we never have to see Gregg in the 9th inning (or hopefully even on the team), I want to see JJ get a real shot at the closer role this year.
Ortiz v. Gregg round 2 is enough reason to want to see Gregg pitch again in an Orioles uniform.
no its not.
boo this man
Francisco Cordero 2.45 ERA, 37 Saves, 19 ER in 69.2 IP, 49 Hits, 22 BB, 1.019 WHIP
Kevin Gregg 4.37 ERA, 22 Saves, 29 ER in 59.2 IP, 58 Hits, 40 BB, 1.642 WHIP
I guess you kinda get what you pay for. Cordero’s a good improvement but signing the 6th best offensive player in all of baseball from this year, the one who finished 3rd in NL MVP voting makes a lot of sense for the Orioles who could use the stinkin’ boost. They wouldn’t have to have idiotic rumors about signing any more washed up’s & could have a franchise player that brings a lot of excitement to the ballpark.
I haven’t seen much of Cordero, but if he comes down to say 6-8 Mil he’d probably be worth it for a variety of different reasons. Mostly for heart attacks in Baltimore.
Like you said, you probably don’t want to see much of Cordero (unless your the other team).
I’d love to see Baltimore pick up a consistent closer. I’m praying they just release Gregg or give him away. I think Dan Duquette could probably convince Angelos to sign Fielder if he convinces him that Fielder sells tickets and brings in income. Owners only keep low payrolls to keep income steady, so if Prince can generate income, they should be able to sign him at least from an “Is the owner ok with it?” standpoint.
He gets the job done, but it sure as hell isn’t pretty.
gregg is very likely to return to his career norm of being a decent reliever. last year was awful and he is grossly overpaid but releasing him would be stupid.
fielder would probably sell tickets for a couple of months- until we are 20 games out of 1st in july. winning sells tickets far better than any individual player.
unless that individual player helps you win . . .
fine 18 games out of 1st (and considering i said july 1st 2 wins is probably being generous).
Not that I totally blame you, but you may be the most glass half empty person on this board.
no way, i am very optimistic about what dd is doing.
A lot of arguing going on here. So, I will stand alone here as usual in order to make my point. Anyway, finally some good news for the O’s! The good news here is that I think Cordero has something left in him where he could be a decent closer for us. Maybe the best since George Sherrill, who was a very effective closer for us until he was traded to the Dodgers for Josh Bell.
The bad news is our rotation smells and until that fact changes, I am unsure as to why the O’s want to make this signing.
Sign Oswalt and Jackson, then bring on Cordero! As for Kevin Gregg, who wants him? Could we trade him straight up for Grant Balfour. I am sure A’s fans would be happy to have him! =P
PS I think it’s going to take more than 2 million to sign Cordero. I am thinking somewhere in the 7 million dollar range or something.
Lefty, you are quite insane today. Thanks for making me smile.
you say “today” as if this is some sort of anomaly…
Honestly in the world of lefty this may be his most sane post of all time. What he says is usually pretty off the wall but his posts have grown on me, I look forward to them.
I think a 1 year 5 M contract would get it done.
No it won’t
It would if he still doesn’t have anyone offering him what he wants two weeks from now.
It’d better if he wants work. Ryan Madson was barely able to get $8MM guaranteed. No one else would give him a guaranteed deal worth $5MM at this point.
Baltimore will never learn
Will never learn what, exactly?
Wanna know what wins games? Confidence? If you know your offense is gonna score 5-6 runs then the young starting pitching doesnt have to worry about letting up a run or 2, losing the game, and then being shipped to Norfolk. That is exactly what happened at the beginning of the year the offense stunk, and the pitchers became tentative, and by the time the offense picked up, the pitchers were to badly shaken. You put Fielder in our line up and I guarantee 85 wins no matter who pitches.
talent wins games. and every one of our young pitchers has been given more than enough of an opportunity to prove themselves. who is being shipped to norfolk after a bad start or 2 (other than britton who was sent down for service time issues- as he should ve been)?
Tillman, Bergesen,and Matsuz have all been sent down for various reason the last 2 seasons. Even though last year the Offense started slow it was still top 10-12 offense in the league with a real Lead Off man or true Clean Up guy. If Roberts came back and they sign someone like Fielder it makes everyone else in the line up much better. Pitching when you know the offense can cover a mistake does so much for a pitcher regardless of age, but especially for young ones.
no no no. thats not what you wrote. you stated that, “the young starting pitching doesnt have to worry about letting up a run or two, losing the game, and being shipped to norfolk.” none of that ever happened. matusz was sent down because he was historically bad over numerous starts. tillman throws an 87 mph straight fastball with no control of his offspeed pitches and bergeson was awful all year. it had nothing to do with how many runs we scored. our offense wasnt even that bad. back up what you wrote. dont change it to something else.
oh and roberts is probably never coming back anyway.
“You put Fielder in our line up and I guarantee 85 wins no matter who pitches.”
Hahahahahahaha
A guarantee that has almost no hope of being delivered on? Rex Ryan, is that you?
Its interesting that Seattle has made the move for Montero, cause that basically means they have given up on Prince Fielder. The M’s still need a 3B, and can now reallocate funds, so the one year rental for Reynolds may be back in play.
This guy has put up better numbers than almost every closer in baseball. I know he is old and a little unconventional, but he gets the job done year after year.
So who is still in the running for Prince? Texas, Toronto, Baltimore, and Washington? id put my money on Washington to sign him,, as for CoCo I would like to see him come in and close because I would rather not move JJ from the 8th (probably top 3 MLB setup man), If we never get Roberts back I would love to see Andino given a starting role, not the best but he had one of the highest OBP of the team and a decent glove, you can do a lot worse than Andino for 2B
As far as Prince goes , he is a better fit for an AL team that could have him DH. Right now my gut says he will be a Ranger . The Nationals are probably his second choice . The Blue Jays could be a wild card . Quade said Cubs were out. A re-union with the Brewers is unlikely . As far as the O’s , forget about it .