General Sports Water Cooler

So does he say in one paragraph that the O's next playoff team won't have Wieters among the 3 best players, only to say the next O's team could have a top 3 of Bundy, Machado, Wieters?

[wouldenterconfusedemoticonherebutthesenewemoticonssuckasssoiwont]

ugh, f'ing nationals.

Is there some negative(i.e. roster limits for ST) with having him in for ST?

Chavez is a bench player. Maybe the best 4th OF we've had in some time. We should stop signing bench players?

Did I forget to mention Bowden's comment that it will take 6-10 years to rebuild?

MLB designates 23 scouting "areas" that pertain to baseball’s amateur draft. (A talent-rich state like Florida contains a number of areas, while the upper Midwest is one area.) Each team usually has a primary scout overlooking each of those areas. The Orioles should ask to interview all of the area scouts of the other 29 teams. Sure, that’s more than 600 interviews, but you want the best. First, obtain from the teams the scouts’ original draft lists over the past 10 years. These don’t always reflect who the team selected, but rather the scout’s own personal recommendations. Those lists will say a lot about that scout’s ability to evaluate talent.

The Orioles should then rank all the area scouts, and offer one of the top three in each territory a job that includes their current area, as well as crosschecking responsibilities for two other adjoining areas to where they are now, at triple their current salary (from about $30,000 a year to $100,000).

Do the math: Hiring the 23 new area “super-scouts” with an increase of $70,000 each comes to approximately $1.61 million. That’s barely the cost of a fourth outfielder these days.

These new “super-scouts” would also be trained in integrating all new analytics and technologies, so they would be well-rounded, and not just ordinary scouts. This will allow the Orioles to compete with the beasts of the AL East.

scouts make $30k? wtf?

I actually couldn't agree more. I really hate the word "luck" in sports but if it was quantifiable I have to imagine the O's are towards the top of that list.

Frees up cap room for the O's to go get Juan Pierre [/terpskinsfan21]

One year deal apparently

I'd say 10M. Really don't know how Boras does it.

He took between $8 and $12 to go to the Nats. He would have been dumb to turn down 4/32 for that. Or even 3/30.

Nobody here speculated 1/5.

I bet higher than $10M. Given how shitty the Orioles are, I wish they had made an aggressive offer. $44 for 4 years, etc.

Need to get out of this hole, and you do that by getting better players. Duh.

Think about it - he is taking a one year deal from the Nats because presumably (i) they offered a fat chunk of change for one year and (ii) they are a "contender", so he will have good stats to take to the marketplace next winter. Other factors are its easier to win in the NL and Boras has a great relationship (ie, he owns) with the Lerners. The Nats 2-3 years ago were a historically bad team. They are now an attractive destination. Luck was the biggest part (landing Stras and Harper), but also some good trades and a few absurd signings (FA and in the draft). Os have a tougher climb thanks to the AL East, but it clearly can be done.