Baltimore Orioles’ Free Agent Possibilities

Aug 28, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher starting pitcher Mike Leake (13) throws to the St. Louis Cardinals in the fifth inning of their MLB baseball game at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports

Option Trey Mancini

Mancini (1B)

Zimmermann – 4 yr/85 million (17.5, 20, 22.5, 25) SP

Pearce – 2 yr/8 mil (3 mil/5 mil) – 1B/Utility

Denard Span – 1 yr/6 mil RF

David Hernandez – 800K – RP

Eric O’Flaherty – 1.2 mil – RP

This option puts unproven Trey Mancini making a big jump to the majors, but allows the team to upgrade with Zimmermann and Span.

I’m not sure if any of these are the right answer. Maybe the team goes after Mike Leake and has a little more to upgrade the lineup, but still not enough for Davis.

As you can see, I think Pearce absolutely needs to come back, as he is someone who can play the corner infield and outfield positions, and actually can hit, unlike a lot of the middle infield options.  For more on that, see the work of fellow writer Randy Buchman here.

Finally, here are my top 10 free agents I want in Baltimore next year, in relative order of how much it will likely cost.

• Chris Davis
• Jordan Zimmermann
• Mike Leake
• Ben Zobrist
• Alex Gordon
• Yovani Gallardo
• Darren O’Day
• Denard Span
• J.A. Happ
• Justin Morneau