Not interested in Hamilton. At all. According to Forbes the Orioles current pre-tax profits are around $13 million/yr. Hamilton will eat all of that up and most of the additional revenues that might be expected after 1 winning season all by himself. Between his substance abuse issues which relapsed within the last year, his injury-prone nature, and the fact that before this year he'd never actually hit more than 32 home runs, he seems like too big of a risk for the cost for a lower mid-market team like Baltimore. I'd rather spread the money out, get a couple of guys. My favorites are:
1) Anibal Sanchez - it's not just his end of the 2012 season, he's looked good to me for the past 3 years as he's finally been able to stay healthy. Has much better stuff and is younger than the likes of Lohse, is much more consistent than Edwin Jackson, and will come at a fraction of the Greinke pricetag. Maybe 3 years, $36 million.
2) Nate McLouth - bring him back, shouldn't cost too much, $4 or $4.5 million maybe, see if he can stay hot. He looked very good in a Baltimore uniform, he'd allow Reimold to DH and maybe have half a shot at staying healthy, and he's a better defender anyway.
3) Lance Berkman - Yes, he's old. I get that. But he's still a great OBP guy, and we desperately need that. I wouldn't even try to play him against lefties. Give him 2 starts a week against righties at first, any other righties at DH. Since 2005 the following players with at least 500 GP have better OBPs than Lance Berkman: Joey Votto, Albert Pujols, Nick Johnson (!), Manny Ramirez, Joe Mauer, Todd Helton. That's it. If you think he's getting too old, can't keep it up, here's the guys from the last 3 seasons only: Pujols, Votto, Cabrera, Fielder, Bautista, Mauer, Ortiz. None of those guys are available. And one last filter: last 3 seasons, vs R, the only 3 guys who get on base more than Lance Berkman are Votto, Fielder, and Mauer.
4) Joakim Soria - I've always thought he looks like a starter. My old scouting report on this guy, from before I got to grad school and stopped having time to scout players I'd never have opportunities to make decisions on, has him at about a 55-60 fastball velocity but 65-70 fastball command with a decent cutter and 3 above-average to plus offspeed pitches. That's a top-of-the-rotation scouting report. He's only made a handful of starts as a professional, but he did throw a perfect game in his Winter League in 2006. And for his first 4 years in the bigs, while fully healthy, his combined ERA was just barely over 2. Bring him in on a 2 year contract for $8 million with a vesting option for a third season at $8-$10 million if he's thrown, say, 180 total innings in the first 2 seasons. Let him fight Johnson for the closer's role in 2013, then stretch him out and see if he can fight his way into the rotation for '14.
5) Mike Adams - I'm suspicious he'll wind up signing something like a 2-year, $5 million deal. Even if it's a few million more than that, he's well worth it. Absolutely stud arm. And if you do sign 2 bullpen pitchers you can shop our 51-save closer with the 3+ ERA. Some guys might overrate the counting stat and ignore the ERA and WHIP that look fairly average for a late-inning bullpen arm, maybe he brings back a real quality prospect.