If I were setting odds in Vegas, I’d say the Orioles chances of landing Prince Fielder are about 100:1. But after witnessing the heartbreak that the Ravens just endured in New England, I have to have something to wish before September.
Just as Lloyd Christmas found hope in his one in a million shot of landing Mary Swanson — or Samsonite — I too have to take Prince’s last remaining hours as a free agent and wonder what the next 5-10 years would be like with him in a cartoon bird hat.
More than anything I wish to see the Orioles turn the ship around and put a winning product on the field. I long for meaningful September baseball — and not just the kind where the O’s send the Sox (and their fans from Delaware and Virginia) home disappointed. I don’t see those days in the near future, but some Orioles buzz would be generated if Dan Duquette could bring Prince Fielder to Baltimore.
Rumor has it that the Orioles are at least interested in baseball’s hottest remaining free agent. Duquette didn’t deny his interest in Fielder at Orioles fanfest on Saturday and his cousin, Jim, confirmed that the O’s are “definitely in on” him.
Being an Orioles fan, I’ve trained myself not to get excited about news like this, let us never forget the Orioles interest in Mark Teixeira just three off seasons ago.
But the AFC Championship loss has me feeling more gloomy than the Baltimore weather and I have to wonder what Prince would do for Baltimore.
Orioles optimists (and nothing against you guys, I used to be one) say that the timing is wrong for Prince Fielder. What would he really bring to a team with so many holes? — Wouldn’t the Orioles have to WAY overspend to bring him to Baltimore? — Shouldn’t their focus be on improving the rotation and building depth in the minor leagues?
These are all valid questions, but ones that can easily be answered. Prince would put butts in seats at Camden Yards and improve television ratings for a team whose fan base continues to decline. Let’s not forget that the Orioles share a television network with the Washington Nationals, a team on the rise with young stars and a solid core that could contend for the playoffs if things go their way. Meanwhile the O’s, who own said network, remain in last place without a glimmer of hope in baseball’s toughest division. Fielder may not give the Orioles a wild card berth, but he gives them credibility to their fan base, proof that the team is willing to spend money and will certainly be an enticing piece to woo free agents after this season.
Yes, the Orioles would have to way overspend to bring in Fielder. This is an argument I’ve never understood from a fan’s perspective. I’m not paying Prince, tickets at Camden Yards aren’t outrageous and MASN is doing just fine. Who cares if ownership overspends?
The Nationals were laughed out of the 2011 Winter Meetings for signing Jayson Werth to a 7-year, $126 million deal. It was way too much for a guy that is complimented by lineup protection. But with the booming power of Michael Morse and some solid pitching, Washington won 80 games and now are rumored to be the number one (or two depending on the reporter) contender for Fielder. They added an ace in Gio Gonzalez to pitch in front of one of baseball’s biggest stars, Stephen Strasburg, and their ownership proved to agents, baseball analysts and most importantly their fan base that winning is their number one priority.
Andy MacPhail’s plan in Baltimore hasn’t panned out. That’s evident in the struggles of Brian Matusz, Chris Tillman, Brad Bergesen and which ever other young pitcher(s) you want to lump in that group. But if some of these guys click in 2012 and the Orioles pick up the slack with some power from the heart of their order, suddenly things don’t look so grim. The Orioles scored more runs (708), hit more home runs (191) and hit for a higher team average (.257) than the Tampa Bay Rays did last season. But the Rays won 22 more games. That’s the power of pitching.
Baltimore’s team ERA (4.89) was last in all of baseball, Tampa Bay’s (3.58) was tied for seventh (with Washington coincidentally enough).
Prince doesn’t help in the ERA category, but he makes free agent pitchers easier to entice during the offseason. He also will help to win more 5-4, 6-5, 7-6 type ball games. That’s worked for the Texas Rangers the past two years hasn’t it?
I’m not saying it’s going to happen. I recognize the odds, I’m lived through the disappointment. I’m merely pointing out that there’s motivation for the Orioles to add one of baseball’s biggest stars to their roster. You want to rebuild? Why not start with Fielder?
Zach Wilt is the Founding Editor of BaltimoreSportsReport.com. You can follow him on Twitter @zamwi or send him an email: zach@baltimoresportsreport.com.
Prince would put butts in the seats, as long as the O’s still play winning baseball. His mammoth shots out onto Eutaw will fall on deaf ears if this team is already 10 or 15 games out in June. If you sign Prince to a huge contract, and ticket sales don’t have a major spike from last year, the team is going to lose money, and there will be no motivation to spend big next offseason. The focus SHOULD ALWAYS be on improving the rotation and the minor leagues. If the O’s just wait one more year for next year’s free agent class (filled with guys like Cole Hamels, James Shields, Matt Cain, and Ervin Santana) one of those needs could definitely be addressed. It’s not so much that this isn’t the time for the Orioles to go out and break the bank, it’s the person they’d have to do it for. You already have an above average offense, and you have money. Just wait one more year for the right player to spend it on.
Totally agree with you Pat. Zach, I don’t think spending all that cash on Werth improved their pitching. If the O’s spend that much, or probably much more, on Prince F, we wouldn’t be able to afford another big named player for at least a few years, and if they are gonna spend that kind of money id prefer it on quality pitching. By the way, I care if ownership spends too much money on wrong players because the Orioles don’t have an infinite amount of cash at their disposal. The money the spend should be spent wisely. I don’t quite understand the logic when you said “who cares if ownership overspends?”
Anyway, the orioles offense has its biggest concern(in my opinion) at second base. If we knew Brian were healthy, I would retract that last statement, but unfortunately he is still questionable for next season. However otherwise I think we are rather solid. Pitching pitching pitching. The issue with the Orioles is so obvious, and Prince Fielder is not going to improve the Orioles rotation(as it in some backwards manner has led you to believe).
You can’t compare team ERA between leagues, because AL pitchers face DHs. Comparing Tampa’s ERA to Washington’s is unfair.
Red solo cup… I fill you up
Lets have a party… lets have a party
I love you red solo cup… I lift you up
Proceed to party… proceed to party
No need to dream these disillusional Oriole dreams as Fielder signed with the Tigers…
Sooooooo, we had guys on here, mostly Mark Brown say a couple months ago that the orioles will be looking to sign or trade for:
Fielder
Gio Gonzalez
Darvish
Jurrgens
And a bunch of other players but the O’s get Dana Eveland, Jai Miller and a bunch of other Double A players…
Hey Mark, have you come to realize yet that you shouldn’t get your hopes up with this team?
I said the Orioles should sign these guys. Never once said that they would. With the contract that Fielder signed for it was impossible for anyone but Detroit to get him. The O’s didn’t have enough mid level prospects like the Nationals had to acquire Gio. Our top end prospects are amongst the best in baseball (Machado, Bundy.) But we can’t trade those guys. We don’t have much depth after them. The Orioles dropped the ball on Darvish. They should have invested in him. Jurrjens is still a possibility at this point. If the Orioles sign Cespedes (which they will be in on) they will likely move Adam Jones to Atlanta. Jurrjens would likely be in that deal. At this point Cespedes and a Jones trade is the best scenario for a good off season. What you don’t realize is that the Oriole do have upside that was abandoned after last season. Most of the time when young teams are highly hyped (like the Orioles were last) and then bust, they usually reach that potential in the coming seasons. Then it seems as if they were “a team to come out of nowhere” because everyone forgot about the hype they previously had. Both the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays did just this. Do you realize that the Orioles have had 5 highly touted first round picks that are still progressing. The Rays were in the same situation with guys like Longoria, Upton, Price, etc.. Markakis, Wieters, Matusz, Machado, and Bundy have as much upside as the Rays players did. Eventually all of these top prospects will put it all together and “come out of nowhere” the same way that Tampa Bay did. Because of this I think the Orioles will really surprise people this year and be a lot more competitive than people give them credit for. Their starting pitching depth is pretty deep. They have a lot of arms that will all get their chances this year. Of the 9 guys that they have they really only need 3 or 4 of them to really break out. If that happens (which I think it will) they will be a decent team. I do not think the Orioles will make the playoffs. I do not think the Orioles will finish in the top 3 of the division. But I also don’t think that the Orioles will be as awful as everything thinks. Matusz has a huge chip on his shoulder to be the guy he needs to be. And he still will be. Young pitchers with his upside put it together quickly (Latos, Gio Gonzalez, Zimmermann) They get beat around a little, but then they become ace like rather quickly. All of the guys I listed did that. This is Matusz’s year. You need to give the team more credit. No, we can’t land the free agents. But yes, we are very young. I like young. Young= core. And you need a core to grow. Cores put it all together at once and surprise people. The Orioles will surprise people eventually. We’ve had too many high upside high picks for that to not happen. Tell me what happens IF Matusz proves to be a Mat Latos like pitcher this year. What happens if Bundy turns out to be like Kershaw? What happens if Machado turns out to hit like A-Rod or Hanley? These players have the same upside of the guys I’m speaking of. These aren’t huge reaches. In that case, the Orioles are heading in the right direction. So what if were not willing to spend 200 million on a guy while were still waiting for the youngsters to develop. That is all.
Also country music sucks.
I like Toby also,,,,,,,,the o’s are hopeless and helpless as most of their dollars are directed to the angelos trust fund , those of you who fail to see this by now are hopeless and helpless as well………….
Typical for the Orioles. You are still a young man, Zachary but this is how the Orioles operate. Talk about spending some money just to get the hype going and then let us down. Sort of like The Intimidator at the Mustang Ranch…
Can anyone say LAST PLACE……….