With the annual baseball winter meetings a week away, we're still waiting for Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail to make his first major move of the offseason.
To his credit, MacPhail threw some cash at free agent first baseman/catcher/designated hitter Victor Martinez, who took a similar deal with the Tigers. That inspired Peter Schmuck of The Baltimore Sun to write that the Orioles are "willing to spend money, but who's willing to take it?" Good question.
We know Cliff Lee, Carl Crawford and Yankees legend Derek Jeter aren't coming to Baltimore. All the mesothelioma money in the world couldn't convince those guys to ink a deal with the Orioles.
That means MacPhail will have to turn to second- and third-tier free agents such as Adrian Beltre, Adam Dunn, Derrek Lee and Carlos Pena -- and he better make sure he doesn't
.
Or MacPhail can try to deal for an impact player such as Adrian Gonzalez, Zack Greinke, Justin Upton or Prince Fielder. He made magic early in his tenure while trading away veterans Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard, but being a buyer on the trade market is a totally different animal than being a seller.
All I know is that MacPhail needs to something significant this winter to help the Orioles carry over their late-season momentum into 2011 and to fulfill the promise he made to the fan base a year ago.