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Oriole Magic
Melvin Mora Saga FINALLY Over
IT’S OVER! The Baltimore Orioles and all star 3rd baseman Melvin Mora have finally ended the nonsense! Discussion inside!
The details aren’t much different that we all expected. It’s a 3 year deal with a team option for a 4th worth about $25 million total. I don’t know what the big deal has been all this time since that’s basically what we’ve been hearing for what seems like 83 years now.
ESPN.com has all the nitty gritty stuff. I don’t quite know what else to say about this myself. As any regular readers here at Oriole Magic are well aware this is a topic I’ve beaten back to life and to death again.
I really don’t know what else to add at this point. I’m so elated that this is finally done. The only hang up I know some fans are going to have with this deal is the no trade clause.
To be realistic, I don’t think that even needed to be written into the contract. Can you imagine the backlash if the O’s finally signed Mora after all this nonsense and then turned around to trade him next year? If the Orioles didn’t get the reincarnated spirit of Ted Williams, Shoeless Joe, and Honus Wagner all wrapped up in a 22 year old’s body there would have been hell to pay from the fans. (Not that the Orioles seem to give a hell what we think. I’m just saying.)
So before some of you shy away from getting excited about an aging player getting a no trade clause, consider that there was probably not a very good chance he’d have been traded anyway.
Also, I think its valid to consider the importance of players wanting to stay in one place in this day and age of free agency. For the last 20 years we’ve all been complaining that no one wants to stick with a team and only chases the money. We’ve griped (me included) about how this destroys that once cherished personal feel of a local ball club.
Well now the big rage around sports is no trade clauses that prevent teams from moving the fan favorites away. Yes it limits the ability of a team to bring in new talent. But at the same time at least we can embrace that connection we have with the players we love.
The options these days are only rooting for transient players who never stay more than a couple years or having the occasional older guy on the roster who you’ve cheered on for a decade. In the modern sports world its one or the other. Not both.
In any case, Melvin Mora can stop worrying about his contract status and do what he does best. Rule at baseball! Not a moment too soon either as the Orioles are heading down to DC to spark up a new rivalry. This should be a fun weekend!
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12 Responses to “Melvin Mora Saga FINALLY Over”
May 19th, 2006 at 2:54 am
Hooooray! Mora may be overpaid a bit in this deal, but keeping Miggy happy and finally not letting a free agent go is a great step. As the Baltimore Sun said:
They will now have Mora, shortstop Miguel Tejada, catcher Ramon Hernandez, outfielders Jay Gibbons and Nick Markakis and starting pitchers Erik Bedard and Daniel Cabrera and closer Chris Ray under contractual control through the 2009 season.
All-Star second baseman Brian Roberts is signed through 2008, and he appears to be the next in line, following Gibbons and Mora, for an extension.
That’s a great start.
May 19th, 2006 at 9:27 am
Finally…
Although..I was thinking last night about BJ Ryan. Why didn’t the O’s trade for someone for him. They essentially let him go as a FA and got nothing for him. The least they should have done was deal him before the end of the season if they were so sure they didn’t want to pay him the money he was asking
May 19th, 2006 at 9:47 am
Good Point, Tim, and one that’s been mentioned several times previously. I think the Orioles front office may have thought they had a better chance at retaining Ryan at the midpoint of last season. At the same time there were also reported squabbles between Beatty vs. Flanagan and Angelos, so essentially nothing was accomplished.
At this point it’s water over the dam. I think things will change for the better now that Jim Duquette’s on board.
May 19th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
On one hand, I think the smarter purely baseball move might have been to trade him for youth, because I’ve started to think that if the Orioles rebuilding continues at its current pace, Mora will be no longer playing by the time they contend.
But, the Orioles trading for prospects hasn’t worked out so well, and my worst fear was that they’d “BJ Ryan” him and get nothing.
Mostly, I’m thrilled to hear about this because Mora’s one of my (and I think all of our) favorites, a throwback to the old Oriole Way who really wants to play here. And this will bring some much-needed goodwill from the fans to an organization that hasn’t done a very good job of presenting itself. At least it shows they’re committed to trying to win in the short-term, even if it might not be realistic.
May 19th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
You wanna talk about BJ Ryan- didn’t we pass up his contract extension that was like, less than a million dollars a few years ago? Screw trading him.
As for the no trade clause- I love it. They should sign the entire infield to a no trade clause. I want Mora to finish out in black and orange
May 19th, 2006 at 1:39 pm
They didn’t trade BJ last year because in July, there was still hope of contending for a playoff spot. They were in first place in early July and hadn’t hit their skid yet. No reason to trade him. They hoped they’d have a chance to match his offer, but the Jays went nuts with their offer.
They have nobody to blame but themselves, as usual, for playing hardball when they didn’t need to BEFORE last season, but hopefully they will finally learn their lessons and get it right.
May 19th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
The Orioles got a great deal, the yogot Mora at an excellent price. Mora is worth at least the 30 million he was aking or more.
But Mora was emotional and no rational about the contract and he does like to play for the O’s therefore he exchange the no trade clause for 5 million.
I think the O’s got the best out of this deal.
If they keep on thinking liker that they will never become World Series Organization, the O’s are counting the penneys and ot the big bucks…
May 20th, 2006 at 9:23 am
Thank goodness, now Mora won’t be leaving. Yeah.
May 20th, 2006 at 11:54 am
It almost seems that the O’s are changing for the better! I disagree that he’s being overpaid though. We had a bargain for an all-star the past 3 years and arguably the best 3b in the American League. (A-Rod sucks.)
This signing is the beginning of the winning, I truly believe it. It sends a message. Granted, it took too long to get the message out, but it sends a message nonetheless.
May 20th, 2006 at 3:37 pm
I feel that signing Mora signaled the fact that
a plan is in motion.For the last few years I
thought everything about this francise was
going down the crapper,it,s farm,the boys in
the minor were in short supply.
At this writing we are laden with some young
players & it getting better.Pitchers, position
guys & specilists .are in good supply.Lets hope
it keeps up
May 23rd, 2006 at 3:18 pm
regarding BJ Ryan, in defense of the O’s, they had no way of knowing that the Jays would through the bank at him and Burnett. I think its a move that the Jays will likely regret, not because BJ’s bad, he’s obviously not, but because it’s way too much money to throw at anyone. How’s Burnett doing by the way?
May 25th, 2006 at 2:57 am
id rather have an aching burnett than rodrigo or chen
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