Are the Baltimore Orioles Spending Like Drunken Sailors?

The Baltimore Orioles have spent more money on free agents in this past offseason than any other MLB team, but what does this mean for an already weak farm system?

Who could have ever thought or imagined an article title such as this one today, or an opening paragraph that talks about our Orioles as the top spending team in anything, other than medical supplies for physical exams?

Teams that do what the Orioles are doing either have an unusual amount of money to throw around annually, or they are signaling that they are in a “win now” disposition. While surely the first of these is not particularly true of the Birds, the latter is an absolute certainty.

The lion’s share of the roughly quarter billion dollars of contract money went to first baseman Chris Davis. And they might not be done. A team that does something this massive does not then nickel and dime their way through the rest of the roster.

But where is the balance?

Multiple writers who opine upon the Orioles have beaten me to this topic, with an MLBTR article especially summarizing it well by saying …

"“ … it seems fair to say that (the Orioles) could consider 2016 and 2017 both seasons in that ‘go for it’ window … if the Orioles don’t contend in 2016 and struggle again in 2017, their list of trade chips for an accelerated rebuild would be impressive (whether that comes in mid-2017 or following the 2017 season.”"

This makes good sense. If it does not work out over these next two years, the Orioles could bring back quite a haul of young talent from contending teams is late season or offseason trades. Among options that could be offered in a total deconstruct/rebuild could be remaining years or fraction of years of control for players like Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop, Zach Britton, or Kevin Gausman, among others.

Obviously, that does not sound like an attractive hopeful scenario. We don’t want to see that happen. It would mean that a great many hopes and dreams would not have found fruition. But the players gained in return would likely be upper level minor league prospects with high ceilings of potential. Think of being on the other end of multiple transactions like the Eduardo Rodriguez for Andrew Miller situation.

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Essentially this gives two large pictures.

First, if the Orioles do well over the next two to four seasons, all of the spending now will have paid off and the minor leagues will have those years to raise up players through the lower levels, etc.

Or, secondly, if it all blows up, the loss of draft picks now and the attention given to a failed win-now strategy will be covered by the return from current talent that is treasured by competing franchises. In either scenario, the Orioles are re-stocked for seasons in the range of four to five years from now.

I personally think the dire analysis of the Orioles’ farm system is as over-stated as are the annual predictions of the Birds to always finish last in the American League East. But in any event, a successful baseball franchise must, over time, have a quality system of producing its own talent. This combines the ability to scout well, draft well, sign international players, and then develop them with excellence.

Next: What to do about right field?

Time will tell if this is now the true nature of the O’s system, though there is reason to believe that many good things are happening. It will help also if those top players don’t get injured and knocked out for large stretches of time!