@ JollyRoger - most of your arguments have been brought up and thoroughly discussed in the previous comments. Once again ... there is .00001% chance Adam Jones gets traded. @ Steven - I honestly don't think that we need Adrian Gonzalez. Yes, he would be great in Baltimore. Yes, the team would be better. Yes, the farm system would take a huge hit. I think everyone calling for Holliday and Gonzalez is just being greedy. Oh, and once again I will put this link out there... if you want to talk about money and not sound like an idiot I suggest you read up on this site: http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/baltimore-orioles_112321768568552760.html According to Cot's, the O's current payroll is around $40 M less than in 2007. Money IS NOT AN ISSUE. K, thanks.

just opinions not agreed with Posted by: roguesaw | December 17, 2009 at 02:17 AM Haha that's something I'm used to!

Jeff stop posting erroneous info thanks. Posted by: Jays24 | December 17, 2009 at 02:15 AM ... Go ahead and explain that...

Jones WILL be given an extension before he hits FA. They did it with Roberts & Markakis so it would only make sense to follow the pattern. Negotiating with someone who has 0 experience with the club would be significantly more difficult

According to Cot's baseball contracts the O's have a payroll of just over $40 M coming into the offseason. safe to say it's currently around $55 M which is still a far cry from the $93,554,808 in 2007. http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/baltimore-orioles_112321768568552760.html

Yes and No to Reimold at 1B. something Buster Olney said on ESPN was interesting... why do people assume anyone can move to 1B and automatically play it at a MLB level?

Adrian Gonzalez is only signed through 2010 with a 2011 option. I'm sorry, if you would trade 10+ years of Adam Jones for 2 years of him then you are nuts. This has been my point all along haha.

Everyone has their own opinion... A-Gonz would rake in Camden Yards. However, Jones, along with Markakis, is the face of the franchise. He won't peak for 4 or 5 years. Think about that...

@LPD - did you read any of the comments? the funds ARE NOT limited. And we DON'T NEED VETERAN PITCHERS. There! That clear for everyone. @Rogue - Those numbers are more or less to prove I'm not an idiot and realize how good he really is. And he would kill in B-more. But we could sign Holliday to put up similar numbers without trading any of our prospects. That makes more sense to me than giving up people for production. And I see Jones as a young Beltran type. I'd rather have that than a power 1B. That's all.

Cubfan4life, I would agree with that. I would rather have Cabrera than A-Gonz 100 times out of 100 anyway

Reimold is 2 years older than Jones...

Dont forget Gonzalez's stats are pumped up (OBP) because of all the walks he draws in that God-awful lineup. Plus, as Jones has gotten older he has become more selective. No reason to think his OBP will be that low in a year or two

Rogue... look at the facts... A-Gonz - .277/.407/.551 w/ 40 HR, 99 RBI @ 27 years old. A-Jones - .277/.335/.457 w/ 19 HR, 70 RBI @ 24 years old. Also won a gold glove this year. All I'm saying is that I would rather have a 24 yr. old gold glove center fielder that is only going to get better than a 27 yr. old first baseman whom we have less control over (contract wise) despite whatever HR numbers he puts up. Not saying Jones is better per se but his upside and ability means I wouldn't trade him for gonzalez straight up

They are FAR more likely to trade Scott. Plus, he has more power than Reimold so that argument that ATL needs a power hitter is moot. And please stop. The Orioles DO NOT need another 2 veteran pitchers. Sal, and everyone else, they just don't. We need our young arms (with a lot of promise) develop as opposed to adding average or slightly above veterans. Just stop.

Sub .280 Average ... sorry for the typo

Why is it that all of a sudden people think Adam Jones isn't supplying offense? Am I the only one who sees something along the lines of .300 w/ 25 HRs? Idk about you but that's plenty of offense, and worth more to me than Gonzalez's sub .250 average

Honestly I wouldn't want Lowe. I'd rather keep the pitching we have then maybe sign a FA next year or trade for a more established starter. My Pipe Dream is if they could sign Beckett next year. Highly unlikely, but I can dream, right?

@ Drumzalicious ... Absolutely not. No matter how much you want an OF of Jones & Heyward haha

BaseballFan0707 ... you are nuts. The O's have plenty of money should they go after a player like Holliday. It's not like they were planning on giving Teixiera his $140 Mil in monopoly money. I like it because then you can trade Scott for pitching. You'd have an OF of Holliday, Jones, Markakis with Reimold at DH and Pie as a 4th. Let's not forget Pie hit .296 with power in the second half last year. The O's salaries went from $67 million to under $50 this year (Gibbons, mora, etc off the books) and Angelos has a huge lucrative deal with MASN. Not to mention MLB pays him because they put a team in DC. The money is there. It comes down to Holliday wanting to come and deal with developing pitcher for a year or two. I would like to add that this could be a way of getting in Boras' good graces for FA in the future... just a thought. Oh and everyone saying we need pitching... I disagree. We want our young pitching to get MLB experience, not shove them back to AAA. We have a great young core of pitchers, and we need them to develop, not sign more FA pitchers. That's why I'd trade Scott for someone with upside that's not too old...

Lftygg ... as an O's fan I just want to say that you either stopped watching them after the all-star break or.... gasp - aren't that big of a fan. You complained about both signing when both were good. A good closer to compliment a young rotation. Also moves Jim Johnson back to 8th inning taking pressure off him. Our bullpen is demonstrably better. And Matt Capps? Really? He would have to be replaced midway through the season, so we could save that $1 or $2 million and buy ourselves a problem. Next you bash the Atkins signing. Newsflash ... Luke Scott will not be the main DH this year. I can almost guarantee you that Nolan Reimold will, and thats on the assumption Scott is even an Oriole on opening day. Pie will play left since he hit .296 after the break with some pop and plus-fielding ability. Atkins will play 1B and 3B depending on where they put him and wigginton. Worst case scenario he is in a platoon with Scott (LH/RH) at 1B for $4 Million. That means that our salaries come to... oh somewhere between $50 and $60 million this year as opposed to the $67 million it was last year. Our salaries have gone down, we've improved the team, and you're complaining. I don't get it...

For everyone saying that they disagree because of money, the O's dropped almost $20 million dollars off the payroll because of jay gibbons' and a few other contracts coming off the books. I like the signing because the easiest way to instill confidence in a young pitcher is for them to get wins. The easiest way for them to get wins is to have a solid bullpen behind them.

Let's not forget that after taxes and fees (agent, financial advisor, etc.) the difference between $7.5 million and $8.5 million is only $300K. Little known fact: Nolan Ryan > $300K

Some of you guys must be clinically insane. 1st - Harden wouldn't have signed w/ BAL or half the teams people are mentioning. Money isn't the ONLY reason to sign somewhere so that's an asinine argument. 2nd - I don't think Harden puts either team over the top. For SEA that is replacing one injury prone pitcher (Bedard) with another (Harden). For TEX, if Harden gets hurt it could seriously hurt that young bullpen/rotation as Harden isn't the most durable either.