Yesterday, we heard that the Orioles and Cubs talked about a deal involving Alfonso Soriano. In order to ship the outfielder elsewhere, the Cubs would have to eat a substantial portion of the $54MM remaining on his contract. Here's more on Soriano and the Orioles..
- Talks between the Orioles and Cubs were probably not very serious, sources told Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com. Dan Duquette doesn't want to spend heavily on a designated hitter and even if the Cubs ate about 80% of the $54MM owed to Soriano, the O's would still be on the hook for $3-4MM for each of the next three seasons.
- Dubroff adds that if Duquette shells out a big contract this winter, it'll be for a pitcher, not for a one-dimensional DH. Former O's reliever Mike Gonzalez is still on the open market, but it's not likely that he'll get the chance to redeem himself in Baltimore.
- The Orioles and Blue Jays have both evaluated Manny Ramirez, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com (Spanish link). According to a source, both clubs sent scouts to watch Ramirez hit in an indoor cage in Miami.
- Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter) writes that executive director of international recruiting Fred Ferreira and manager Buck Showalter watched Ramirez take batting practice shortly after the Winter Meetings.
- The Orioles didn't trade for Jai Miller because of concerns over Nick Markakis' health, writes Kubatko. Miller is seen as an upgrade over former first-round pick Brandon Snyder, and a better overall player than Matt Angle. The O's acquired Miller for $45K from the Athletics on Tuesday.
- The Orioles signed Korean right-hander Eun Chul Choi to a minor league deal, according to Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun. Not much is known about the 6-foot-5 hurler, but based on comments from Duquette, it seems that his signing marks the beginning of a serious push into Korea by the organization.
manny would be good on a minor league contract with a invite to spring training and an opt out clause if he doesn’t make the team out of ST
I get Anthopoulos exercising his ninja prowess on Manny, but there really isn’t a fit. Dwindling careers seem to find their way more to Baltimore.
So sad… So true…
Vlad, D-Lee, Tejada (the second time), Millwood, Hendrickson, Millar, Jay Payton, Steve Trachsel, Jeff Conine (both times), Raffy (the second time), Sammy, Surhoff (the second time), Segui (the second time), Pat Hentgen, Rick Helling, Mike Bordick (the second time), Delino DeShields…
Wow. What a list.
And sure, you could make a list like this for any team, but the big difference is that the Orioles acquired all these guys expecting that each of them would make a major contribution.
Ouch…
paul bako, rob bell, paul shuey, jaret wright, scott williamson, melvin mora (basically ended in baltimore), jamie walker, adam eaton, ryan freel…..it is quite sad
Adam Eaton HAHAHAHA, now that’s one who I forgot about. Talk about cashing in on the Phillies dime… at least we didn’t sign him for 18mil a year. He was god awful.
I knew it was bad, but had no idea it was that bad. Interesting and hilarious stuff.
Is manny suspended the first 50 games still????
i don’t think so
I think he is, he retired when he got suspended so those games don’t count because he wasn’t eligible to play.
It was actually his 2nd offense, so he was supposed to sit out 100 games. But, since he sat out all last year, MLB reduced the suspension to 50 games. So, yes, he has to sit out 50 games, still.
Pretty sure Manny IS suspended for the first 50 games – down from 100 games, I think.
soriano would be a nice upgrade at the DH spot for 3-4 M a year. he will get you 25+ HRs
Any of the teams that would see Soriano as an upgrade aren’t going to commit three years to him, even at just $3-4MM per.
If the Cubs find someone to take Soriano off their hands, it’s not going to happen until mid-February or so, when literally everyone else is off the board.
I thought the same thing. Soriano would give a team pretty good value at 3-4 million per. He is still a serviceable player. He is just given a bad reputation due to being WAY over paid.
To think, people were clamoring for the Twins to trade Liriano for Soriano a few years ago. Now both are almost, literally, worthless. I mean if you have to pay someone $54 Million to take Soriano, and no one wants Liriano, that make them almost worthless, right?
Correct.
I like how he doesn’t want to “spend heavily” on a DH, while the article notes that Soriano would cost $3-4M per season. What does he want, a DH making the league minimum?
Seems to be Angelos’ fate but chances are Duquette’s reign of error will end badly in Bal’mer.
Top Ten Reasons why the Orioles are “STILL” in the Position they are in
1.) Peter Angelos is “STILL” the owner.
2.) The Soriano Rumor will not die!
3.) The Manny Ramirez Rumor will not die!
4.) Because of the dreaded “Unknown” about Eun Chul Choi Baseball Reference:
Eun Chul Choi
Bats: Unknown, Throws: Unknown Height: 6′ 5″, Weight: 225 lb.
Why did we sign this guy if so much is “Unknown”? Does he even have a glove?
5.) Speaking of the “Unknown”, What is the “Real” reason as to why Angelos bought the team?
6.) What does that say about Matt Angle when the player Jai Miller is better than him when he was only acquired for 45k? Poor Matt!
7.) The Mike Gonzalez rumors will not die!
8.) Dan Duquette doesn’t want to spend heavily, maybe he wants to drink heavily because he wondering why he took this job?
9.) Why do the Orioles have the same problems year after year, no player and no pitching. You would think we’d step in it just once. Statistics throughout Earth’s Lifetime say that you step in it at least once during a lifetime. That hasn’t been the case with the Orioles.
10.) Why is Peter Angelos is “STILL” the owner? Maybe, Tom Clancy could write a book about some sort of “Alleged” Conspiracy.
Always the good stuff with you … in the pipe anyways. I’m envious.
I wouldn’t give up all hope.
There is a few things to make it entertaining the could do:
A) Get Mel Proctor back on local TV games as an announcer. He can make 65-97 Orioles teams sound like the are WS Champions with his homerism.
B) Let The Duke spend 10m on the draft, as well as 8m+ International until the penalties kick in from the new CBA.
C) Get Earl Weaver on the team as a consultant, or in some FO position. Why they let him just disappear from the game when he retired from managing was baffling period.
you would think the Orioles would just rebuild go all out get some prospects and try t turn the organization around.
trade everyone for prospects, build around machado and weiters.
and Bundy and a prayer.
The Orioles need to trade away all their ‘Stars’ and start over from scratch. Unfortunately, Angelos won’t allow that to happen. He believes the Orioles are always one or two players away from winning the world series, which leads to all the ‘big name’ flops joining the team, as posted earlier.
The Orioles could have a good team if Angelos would admit he doesn’t know anything about baseball and let Duquette ‘gut’ the team, just as Epstein is doing in Chicago. Tear it down, keep a few players that actually earn their salaries and ditch the rest for prospects with upside, not downside that are career AAAA players. If they rebuild the pitching staff, rebuild their offense with youth, strange things happen and players feed off each other to succeed.
What is ironic, is many fans see the ‘big name’ flops as key pieces to sign and improve the team. You see that from Oriole fans, Kansas City fans, Toronto fans, plus they believe in memories long gone, hoping players will achieve career years late in their careers. It ends in failure most times and the time to take advantage of players is around 35, when they have gas left in the tank, not forty, when they are useless. Many teams can thank their ignorant fans for demanding ‘big name’ hasbeens and when they fail, it is the same fans that refuse to admit they were wrong. Just blame the GM, when it was the so-called fans that ‘goofed’ big time.
Markakis to Phillies would make me very, very happy.
Dylan Bundy is the answer.
Just like Riley, Loewen, Penn, Cabrera, Tillman, Matusz … ugh, how did I get so jaded in my early 20’s?
Sigh. These rumors make me sad.
It’s pretty sad when even our rumors aren’t optimistic.
Soriano and cash for Roberts?
I’d rather roll the dice with a concussed Roberts. At least he has a chance of being a decent player …
For what, the next 50 games he plays for us over the next two seasons? You should also take a gander at Robert’s stats for the last three full seasons he’s played…which was back in 2009. Then realize that even when he’s healthy he will be a 34/35 year old slight of build 2B who has lost his range and speed part of his game and doesn’t get on base as much as he used to.
You owe Roberts $20 million over the next two seasons and if the rumors are correct we’d owe Soriano around $12 million over the next three. Soriano has been relatively healthy. While it is not a perfect storm scenario, there is no way I am saying Roberts is a better player now than Soriano is simply because I don’t know what I am getting out of Roberts if he can come back.
Been there done that and can still see the teeth marks. Man knee….yep he put us over it and spanked us. Live and learn….or perhaps give and yearn. Low risk with huge potential (was the punch line to a poor joke). Welcome to the Hall of Shame. Now that they are doing blood testing for PEDS baseball will be played on a more level field. Next perhaps they will address maple bats, replay, or umpires that should have stayed at the little league level.