Will MacPhail and Orioles put on the shift to sign Burnett?

Owner Peter Angelos used to be quite doctrinaire about this kind of thing, too. There was a time when he insisted he would never spend more than $10 million per year on a player, and his obsession with thorough physical examinations is well known. He eventually cracked the salary limit - giving Albert Belle $13 million per year for five years (and didn't that go well?) and signing Miguel Tejada to a six-year, $72 million deal - but it's hard to imagine him spending even more than that on a pitcher who has thrown as many as 200 innings just three times in his eight full major league seasons.

It is not, however, hard to make an argument in favor of doing so when you consider the state of the Orioles' rotation and the fact that there are at least two teams in their division that seem willing to assume the same risk at - most likely - a higher cost. There has to come a time when the conservative MacPhail throws caution to the wind and sends a message to the waning fan base that the Orioles intend to compete, but I would be very surprised if that time were now.

The rebuilding plan still appears to be focused beyond the coming season, and a wrong guess on Burnett's durability could tie up a big chunk of the organization's free-agent budget during the seasons (2010, 2011 and 2012) the Orioles hope to be most competitive. He might turn out to be well worth the gamble, but the likelihood of his ending up here appears low for one big reason: MacPhail has never been much of a gambler.

That said, both sides have indicated a legitimate interest in exploring the possibility, so we'll just have to wait and see whether there has been some fundamental change in the way the Orioles do business during the offseason. It still looks from here as though MacPhail will wait until later in the winter to pick up a couple of medium-priced starters to buy time for more bottom-up development.

Can't argue with the logic of that, but I also can't help thinking the fans deserve a little more.

Listen to Peter Schmuck on WBAL (1090 AM) at noon on most Saturdays and Sundays.