The Baltimore Orioles and Free Agents: Beware What You Crave

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Mar 31, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Former Angels outfielder Vladimir Guerrero (L) helps Angels hitting coach Don Baylor (R) after being injured during the first-pitch ceremony in the of an opening day baseball game at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

2010-2011 Offseason

I don’t remember the specific desires of Baltimore Orioles fans very much in this offseason of four years ago, but the signings of Derrek Lee and Vladimir Guerrero happened for about $8 million each.

I will confess to being particularly pleased at the time that the Orioles got Lee – having always admired his athleticism with the Cubs where he hit .298. But Lee was like a fish out of water in the American League. Working hard to stay inside the pitch and inside-out balls into right field in Derek Jeter fashion, all he did was hit lazy fly balls on a .246 average. He had a good finish to the season by going to Pittsburgh for 28 games and hitting .337… yep, back in the National League.

Vladimir Guerrero was not much better. Looking like a fellow who could not quite catch up to the speed of the game, he finished his career in Baltimore. Though he did hit .290, his power was largely gone, providing only 13 home runs in 145 games.

The top signings of the offseason four years ago were Cliff Lee returning to the Phillies for $120 million for 5 years, followed by Carl Crawford with the Red Sox for seven years and $142 million. Lee was 41-30 over four years, but does not look worth the bucks for the coming season. And Crawford has only played in 382 games in four years, hitting .277 with a grand total of only 28 home runs for the Red Sox and Dodgers.

I’ll conclude with this story: I have a friend who is in his early 30s and is single. This was not his plan for his life, but it simply has not worked out to be married for one reason or another. He admits this is a sadness of sorts, but he has also said, “But I’ve dodged a lot of bullets along the way!”

When you look at this list of “lost” free agents the Baltimore Orioles might have had if they spent money more freely, you have to also say that they too dodged a lot of bullets!