Baltimore Orioles: Arbitration-Eligible Total Costs Update
Oct 2, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; General view of the field prior to game one of the 2014 ALDS playoff baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
It was well known as this current offseason evolved that the Baltimore Orioles were facing very significant salary increases for their unusually high total of 11 arbitration-eligible players. There were some earlier speculations that a bit of the pain could be mitigated by the Orioles not tendering one or another of the 11. The names of Chris Davis (due to his very poor season) and Bud Norris (because of his anticipated expense) were especially tossed about, along with Alejandro De Aza.
In the end, the Orioles are retaining all 11 players, and as of this date they have come to terms now with 10 of them. Only De Aza is outstanding.
The most recent agreement, as widely reported yesterday, is that reliever/closer Zach Britton has agreed to a $3.2 million deal, with an additional $300K in possible incentives. In his first A-E year, he earned it with his great performance in 2014. Consider that his ground ball percentage was over 75%! That is incredibly good, especially valuable in a closer.
The only remaining contract to be settled is that of De Aza. He submitted for $5.65 million, while the Orioles have countered with $5.0 million. It is presumed at this point that it will go to a scheduled hearing on February 20th.
So, if we presume that the Orioles lose the hearing (which is something that has not happened in many years), adding the $5.65 million to the total of the 10 completed contracts, and it tallies to $58.14 million. This is approximately $26 million more than 2014.
This total would be about a million dollars above the projections that were made on the MLBTR site. Matt Swartz of that site has devised a methodology that was remarkably accurate last year. It is very interesting to read about it.
Let me, as on other earlier occasions, put all of this together in a chart, giving you the 2014 salaries, the 2015 projections from Matt Swartz, the actual contracts signed … while also noting the years these players will become free agents (six of the 11 just next year)…
| Name | 2014 | Projected 2015 | Actual 2015 | Free Agent in: |
| Alejando De Aza | $4.25M | $5.9M | ??? | 2016 |
| Matt Wieters | $7.7M | $7.9M | $8.275M | 2016 |
| Steve Pearce | $700K | $2.2M | $3.7M | 2016 |
| Bud Norris | $5.3M | $8.7M | $8.8M | 2016 |
| Tommy Hunter | $3.0M | $4.4M | $4.65M | 2016 |
| Chris Davis | $10.35M | $11.8M | $12M | 2016 |
| Brian Matusz | $2.4M | $2.7M | $3.2M | 2017 |
| Chris Tillman | $546K | $5.4M | $4.315M | 2018 |
| Miguel Gonzalez | $529K | $3.7M | $3.275M | 2018 |
| Ryan Flaherty | $513K | $1.0M | $1.075M | 2018 |
| Zach Britton | $522K | $3.2M | $3.2M | 2019 |
| Totals | $32M * | $56.9M | 52.49 ** |
* This is an approximated number, calculating the fraction of the season De Aza was with the Orioles.
** This is the total number with De Aza’s contract yet to be settled.
When these numbers are added to the total of other contracts on the books, it explains a great portion of the reason why the Orioles were inactive over the offseason in terms of seeking to sign large free agent contracts.
A critic of the Orioles and their overly-cautious spending habits might say that it does not matter that there are 11 players at this expensive point of their careers. The Orioles would be just as cheap with or without these obligations.
Well, the next offseason will either prove or disprove that belief. A total of $42 million is involved with those who will become free agents after the coming season. They won’t all be re-signed, if even any of them are. So the Orioles should have more capacity to be much more active next year.