We all want our favorite teams to make moves that give the impression the team cares about winning in the short-term, long-term, and always and forever. Not every team is in the same position, however, and that’s why we’re playing GM for a day. What moves need to be made to help set a team up for the most success, whether they are playing for now or later.

The off-season for the Baltimore Orioles has been anything but full of exciting news and updates. The biggest acquisition the team has made was signing Korean pitcher Suk-min Yoon to a three-year deal, worth upwards of $13.075MM based on certain escalators in the contract. Whether he slots into the back-end of the starting rotation or the bullpen, at this point, is anybody’s best guess but it is clear more work needs to be done to guarantee the 2014 season is one met with more victories than crushing defeats, but does not screw up the long-term health of the team.

(Discuss this on the BSL message board)

Being General Manager of the Orioles for a full 24-hour period feels like such a blessing. There are so many different moves I could make that could improve the team now, improve them for the future, or do both at the same time. That’s the trick though, trying to balance the act of winning now since this team does have the core in place to do so while not screwing the pooch long-term.

If there was nothing standing in my way, here are the moves I would make it a point to pull off if I were the general manager for the Baltimore Orioles.

1. Trade Matt Wieters to the Los Angeles Angels for catcher Hank Conger and prospects.

The fact of the matter is super-agent Scott Boras intends to take Matt Wieters to free agency unless he is offered a contract indicative of what he could potentially get on the open market, with a very weak field of starting catchers available when he’ll hit free agency. Wieters is a fine catcher, one that is most certainly a top eight catcher in baseball when you factor in his 20+ home run power, but he’s not worth six years and $100MM when you can get more overall value by trading him.

First and foremost, you need a major league caliber catcher to replace Wieters and Hank Conger is a guy that is vastly underrated for his defensive work behind the dish. While Conger will never be known as a guy that carries a big stick, as long as he continues to put up league average offensive production he will be valuable behind the plate.

The group of prospects being targeted in this proposed trade is Zach Borenstein (OF), Kaleb Cowart (3B), CJ Cron (1B/DH) and Alex Yarbrough (2B).

Depending on which scout you talk to, Kaleb Cowart could be the biggest prize of this potential trade. Cowart had a horrible season with the bat in Double-A last season, likely due to the fact that he was promoted aggressively and has been one of the youngest players at every stop during his professional career (much like Jonathan Schoop). Cowart profiles well enough offensively, as he is capable of hitting 20+ home runs while hitting around .260. The real talent is with the glove, which is above average and he has a big arm.

C.J. Cron is well known for his power but he’s really just a less athletic version of Mark Trumbo and has full-time DH written all over him. He’s a solid addition to any farm system that is lacking in prospects with true power potential though.

Alex Yarbrough is a player that still has some work to do defensively at second base, and his arm does leave a little something to be desired, but he plays a position of major need for the Orioles and he has an adequate enough bat. Scouts view him as a player that will be a high-contact, low-power bat and he’s viewed as a prospect that will be a major league regular in some capacity.

Finally, we have outfield prospect Zach Borenstein who happens to be the real prize of this potential trade in my opinion. The 2011 23rd round pick wasn’t considered much of a top prospect until breaking out in a big way last year in the hitter friendly California League, but following up his breakout 2013 campaign with another strong season in 2014 could help quiet the critics. He plays a solid outfield, with his best position likely being left field and he’s a left-handed hitter that can hit for power and average.

While it’s unlikely the Angels would accept any trade involving multiple top prospects, especially with such a thin farm system, I feel a deal that included three of the four prospects mentioned in addition to Conger would be acceptable. Depending on which three of the four I could be willing to include a prospect such as Mike Wright in the deal with Wieters.

2. Make Chris Davis an offer that will be very difficult to refuse – six years, $135MM, with a limited no-trade clause

With the run environment major league baseball is currently experiencing, thanks to the focus being put on developing starting pitching and defense, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find true power-hitters on the open market so when you already have one in your lineup you don’t let him hit free agency. Chris Davis is in his prime and coming off of a career year in which he blasted 53 home runs, a franchise record, and the only way to keep him an Oriole long-term is to reward him accordingly.

Considering that super-agent Scott Boras represents Davis the only way to get Boras’ attention and present an offer to Davis would be to offer him one that lets them know we’re serious about getting a deal done. If Davis hits the open market it’s very likely he could get a seven-year contract worth upwards of $160MM. Offering him $22.5MM per year over six years offers considerable security to Davis and still offers the organization a way to not lose him in a bidding war if he were to hit the open market.

3. Offer a three year, $42MM contract extension to J.J. Hardy.

The Orioles shortstop of the future is currently the team’s gold glove winning third baseman who also may just happen to be our third baseman of the future, instead of just our third baseman for the now. Even if Manny Machado were to move back over to shortstop, his natural position, the organization has no major league ready replacement in the farm system. That makes signing J.J. Hardy, the Orioles current gold glove winning shortstop, to a contract extension one priority requiring serious consideration.

4. Attempt to trade for Matt Kemp by agreeing to take on Josh Beckett as part of the deal.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have previously made it known that they would entertain trade offers for Matt Kemp. Even though he is still owed nearly $130MM through the 2019 season he is still the kind of player I would trade for in a heartbeat and take on the entirety of the contract. To help sweeten the deal for the Los Angeles Dodgers I would also be willing to take Josh Beckett, and his full remaining salary, seeing as how they are not even sure if they would have a spot in the rotation for him.

Obviously the Dodgers aren’t going to just gift us Kemp and that is why I’m willing to offer up Nick Markakis, Bud Norris, Christian Walker and Zach Davies in exchange. The deal itself is a bit of a long-shot because I don’t believe the Dodgers are hurting for money so badly (or at all) that they’ll actually trade Kemp, but it’s certainly worth giving it the ole’ college try.

Considering that Beckett’s $17MM salary for the 2014 season, the final year of his contract, would be completely off-set (and some) by trading away Norris and Markakis the organization is really only taking on Kemp’s contract.

5. Put my stamp on the international market by offering Cuban infielder Aledmys Diaz a contract worth $34MM over six years.

This organization is incredibly thin on position player prospects in their minor league system, specifically middle infield, and since the top Cuban player on the open market plays a position of need it’s a near no-brainer that you go after him.

Aledmys Diaz is 23-years-old and primarily played shortstop in Cuba and had a .315/.404/.500 batting line with 12 home runs during the 2011-12 season, his last year before defecting. Overall, Diaz has displayed solid range at shortstop and an above average arm – though it’s difficult to truly gauge just how talented he is defensively from grainy YouTube videos of his playing days in Cuba. Scouts seem to be of the opinion that he will have to change positions (possibly to second or third base) at the major league level.

Offensively he has a history of displaying patience at the plate and a good enough eye to lay off the junk pitches from the pitcher he had been facing in Cuba. From 2008 to 2012 Diaz drew 139 walks compared to just 107 strikeouts and reportedly has a little bit of speed to work with on the bases.

Some reports have pegged his value at somewhere between $20MM and $30MM on the open market, a large part of that reason is because his signing will not go against the international free agent bonus budget for teams. The New York Yankees have already stated they are going to vastly over-spend this year on international free agents, but the Orioles should make a very aggressive run at signing the Cuban infielder. If nothing else it would display an eagerness to participate in all aspects of free agency.

It may shock you to learn that even if the moves I would attempt to make were all successful, the 2014 payroll would still only be a shade under $95MM. The contracts that would be on the books for 2015 would all come in around $90MM, but that doesn’t take the arbitration eligible players into consideration or any other signings. Either way, I feel that with these moves I have accomplished what I set out to do which was further build up this team to compete for the playoffs in 2014 without sacrificing the long-term health of the organization.