Baltimore Orioles fall out of the meetings in a busy day
The top teams in Major League Baseball are looking to reel in big signings in the post season but efforts can go unrewarded, at times. 30 ball clubs from the National League and the American League are trying their best to sign the top crop of players from
the free agency. The winter meetings are designed to hasten the process as the agents meet up with the interested parties in one designated venue. So far, there hasn’t been any great signing to report but that is not entirely true.
Trade activity has picked up and the meetings can be attributed to that change. Players are being swapped as free agent demand for wages have increased. There will be a fall in the valuations soon and many expect the signings to go on rampant during the
ending interval of the signings phase. The Baltimore Orioles are trying to do well in the conditions they’ve been brought into.
President of Baseball Operations, Andy MacPhail did do wonders recently when he signed on Mark Reynolds from the Arizona Diamondbacks on a trade deal. However, the second day of the winter meetings went haywire when the negotiation process with the Tampa
Bay Rays fell out into chaos. The Orioles were trying to sign on Jason Bartlett on a trade deal that would have seen outfielder, Nolan Reimond move the other way. However the contract signing never took place as the two parties weren’t able to reach an agreement.
The rumoured deal that went off with a steady progress isn’t off the table yet, according to MacPhail. The Orioles are looking for a shortstop and things are not looking well in their current pursuit.
"We are trying to do what we can about shortstops," MacPhail said. "And that includes Cesar (Izturis) and that includes others as well. So, we are just going to have to see how that plays out."
The meetings are not progressing at the rate; the clubhouse would have been satisfied with. The second baseman position is up for contention, while the first baseman position lies vacant. A rumoured Carlos Pena deal was being worked up but now many analysts
believe the team will pursue Derrek Lee and Adam LaRoche in the coming days.
Andy commented at the pace of the meetings. He said, "We are trying (to get things done), but you just know what other people's timetables are. If you look at the history of these meetings, a lot of times these guys will go back, collect all the information,
meet with their clients and make their decision next week after the Meetings. So we don't really control the time frame."
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