Should the Orioles trade Adam Jones?

Jesse: There’s been a lot of speculation lately as to whether or not the Baltimore Orioles should trade center fielder Adam Jones. In my mind, the thought of this is ridiculous.  Jones has done a very good job so far as an Oriole.

In 2009, he was named an All-Star and won a Gold Glove. Last season he had some injury problems, but did knock 25 balls out of the park and helped bring 83 runs in. He also had 12 stolen bases, the most in his career.

If you look at the Orioles’ history of trading big names with a lot of potential, it’s not a pretty one. Most recently, the team traded pitcher Jeremy Guthrie for two pitchers from the Colorado Rockies that haven’t accomplished anything in their careers. In 2010, they traded Miguel Tejada to San Diego for a minor league pitcher.

Tejada ended up having a very good season. In 2009, they got rid of Aubrey Huff for a minor league pitcher.  They even traded Curt Schilling back in the early 90s. Pretty sure the Yankees know all about him and his ankle.

If the O’s were to trade Jones, whom would they get in return?  Another minor league prospect that will take years to make it into the big leagues and possibly not even become productive?

Jones is only in his seventh season in the big leagues. Keep him, let him become even better, and build around him.

Sam: If the price is right, the Orioles should definitely pull the trigger.

What has kept the 26-year-old Gold-Glove winning center fielder in Baltimore is the fact that the Orioles view his upside to be sky high and are asking for a big package in return. I don’t blame them. He is a rare breed of center fielder for this day and age. He hit  25 home runs last year and he has hit the third most home runs by a center fielder in the last three seasons. Not only does he score runs, he prevents runs defensively with his top-notch range and his golden arm.

What the Orioles are asking for him might be too expensive in the eyes of interested clubs. But the fact remains that his on-base percentage has steadily declined in the last three years and his strike-out-to-walk ratio is not where it should be, which means his plate discipline is not where it should be after five seasons in the majors.

Judging by the Jeremy Guthrie trade, the Orioles will trade away their top players if they can get quantity and quality in return. The Braves were prepared to offer starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens and Martin Prado for Jones.

If I were Dan Duquette, I would have accepted that trade.

I don’t know who in the right mind would offer that, but if by some chance that offer is thrown Duquette’s way, he should definitely take it.

Which MLB team had the best offseason?

Jesse: It seems that Los Angeles has a very high chance of bringing another championship back to the city. And no, it’s not because of Chris Paul becoming a Clipper. The Angels reeled in the best player in baseball in Albert Pujols and brought in a successful pitcher in C.J. Wilson from the Texas Rangers.

Let’s break that down: Pujols enters a lineup already including Vernon Wells, Torii Hunter, Bobby Abreu and Erick Aybar.

They added an ace in Wilson to a pitching staff that already includes Jared Weaver, Dan Haren and Ervin Santana.  I could end the discussion right there if I wanted to.

They also brought in Jorge Cantu, who is a solid pick up.

Their biggest loss may be Fernando Rodney, who is not the greatest closer in the world. I think it’s safe to say the majority of Angel fans would rather have Wilson instead of Rodney.

You could make a very strong argument that the Miami Marlins had the best offseason.

They brought in Jose Reyes, Heath Bell and acquired manager Ozzie Guillen.

Their new logo and colors are classic Miami and pretty awesome.  However, they still have to compete with the Phillies and Braves in their division, whereas the Angels’ only real threat is the Texas Rangers, who just lost their ace to the team we’re talking about.

When it’s all said and done, at the end of the 2012 season, we will all look back and see that the Angels had the best offseason in the MLB.

Sam: No franchise made more of an effort this offseason to draw the attention of their fans then the Marlins. Not the Florida Marlins, the Miami Marlins.

With a new $2.4 billion ballpark, new uniforms, new manager and new spending habits, maybe, just maybe, they will have new attendance records, too.

It’s extremely unusual to see the Marlins playing as big a role in free agency as they did this year.

For a team that had a payroll of $56 million last season, Miami made quite a few uncharacteristic premier signings that look really good on paper.

The biggest signing was of the $102 million variety in shortstop Jose Reyes.

One of the game’s best leadoff men, he hit .337 last season and is an extra base-hitting, base-stealing machine. This pushes Hanley Ramirez over to third base, where he can focus on returning to his MVP-like offensive production.

The Marlins also added key pieces to their pitching staff, signing two of the more reliable starting pitchers in the league.

Mark Buehrle comes over from the White Sox and has pitched 200-plus innings in each of the past 11 seasons, with 13-plus wins in all but two of those seasons.  They inked starter Carlos Zambrano, who had a lot of success with the Cubs before things went sour.

If Zambrano can get his head out of his ass and Josh Johnson can return successfully from injury, their rotation is good enough to keep them in the playoff hunt until season’s end.

If any Marlins fans are reading this, please support your team for once. They are trying so hard for your affection, yet you keep letting them down.