The Baltimore Orioles and Free Agents: Beware What You Crave
May 6, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Texas Rangers first baseman Prince Fielder (84) in the sixth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
2011-2012 Offseason
Prince Fielder – Detroit – 9 years for $214 Million
In the category of something too big to be true (no, not talking about his physical size), it was difficult to believe the Orioles could possibly be in on a deal for Fielder. But they were mentioned, and wow, just thinking about that left-handed bat in Oriole Park was exhilarating. I remember being at FanFest while this was being discussed and Buck Showalter saying, “What a great baseball name; how do you get a name like “Prince?”
The first two of the three years into this contract with the Tigers were very good. He played in every game both years and hit 55 home runs while batting .295. Fielder was then traded to the snake-bitten Rangers where in 2014 he only appeared in 42 games with three home runs and 16 RBIs.
The big concern about a big contract with the big guy was that the guy was too big for the big contract and therefore validated the big concern in a big way. Texas likely has a big problem for the next six years, but everything in Texas is big, right?
C.J. Wilson – Los Angeles Angels – 5 years for $75 million
Again, with the Orioles struggling so significantly in the area of starting pitching a couple years ago, along with concerns as to if the cavalry on the horizon was going to really arrive (which indeed has turned out to be a mixed bag of results), there was significant desire to see the O’s make an uncharacteristic but strong run at Wilson.
For the Angels in three seasons, Wilson has been reasonably good with a 43-27 record and 3.87 ERA … though with a WHIP of 1.374 – he’s walked four batters per nine innings. Compare this $45 million spent with Chris Tillman’s 38-16 record over the same period with ERA of 2.70 – all for about 1/30th of the cost.
Josh Willingham – Minnesota – 3 years for $21 million
It is not so much that the fans were craving to see Willingham in an Orioles uniform, but the franchise seemed to have a multi-year interest in getting him. In three years of this contract he hit 63 home runs with a batting average of .233.
Next: The Orioles have dodged a lot of bullets!