Baltimore Orioles: Saving 15 Percent While Signing Chris Davis
Baltimore Orioles Executive Vice President Dan Duquette affirmed once again on Thursday evening that the team is indeed actively trying to re-sign Chris Davis.
Forgive me if the title of today’s post is a sort of “click bait,” but I just could not resist when reading Duquette’s remarks as transcribed by Roch Kubatko in his MASN blog. In the first airing of the revived “Hot Stove Show” on FAN 105.7 at Dempsey’s, he said …
"“Everybody knows we’re trying to sign Chris Davis.”"
But Dan, did you know that you can save 15% on car insurance by switching to Geico?
Again, sorry … but I’ll bet I’m not the only one who thought that when reading those remarks!
Duquette went on to say …
"“We like Chris Davis. He’s done some great work for us, and of course, our fans like him. But where these markets take us, I’m not real sure. I just know that the price of poker is getting expensive – particularly some of these pitchers they’ve signed. Some of these contracts are just staggering.”"
A very big problem for the Orioles (though not unique to them alone) is the timing of free agent signings. A team can hang around waiting and hoping, and like a guy who hopes to get a “yes” from the prettiest girl in the school as a prom date, end up shut out with no one to take to the dance.
Of this timing conundrum, Duquette said (referencing both Davis and Darren O’Day) …
"“At some point we have to move forward. Either you can get a deal or you can’t get a deal. I’m not sure we’re there yet, but the day of reckoning is going to come soon for the team and it’s going to come for these players, too.”"
Of course, if the Orioles are to sign one or both of these players, the remaining budget for others is quite a bit reduced. And even though there have been some signings around MLB, the free agent list grew again yesterday with an unusually high number of non-tendered players. Surely this has to intrigue the ever-vigilant bargain shopper DD, who did indeed say …
"“There are a couple of pitchers on the list that are interesting that are well-established major leaguers.”"
And it was my intent for today’s column to raise the possible issue of interest in starting pitcher Henderson Alvarez. When he is healthy, he is a very fine pitcher. But being healthy is the challenge for the recent Marlins right-hander who will only just turn age 26 in April.
Miami has apparently given up the hope that he will effectively return from shoulder surgery and elbow issue diagnoses. Alvarez would not likely be quite ready (if all goes well) for the early portion of the season … perhaps soon after.
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A bonus with Alavarez is that, if secured, he would be under team control for another year beyond this upcoming season. He could likely be obtained (estimate here) for about $3 million??
His one really great season was 2014, where he was a 12-7 All-Star for the Marlins, throwing 187 innings with a great 2.65 ERA and WHIP of 1.235. His WHIP was even better the year before in 17 starts at 1.140, but with an ERA of 3.59.
If the Baltimore Orioles were to somehow have the fortune of signing both Davis and O’Day, since it would be a FORTUNE, there would not then be enough budget for a well-established starter. The plan then would probably involve Duquette securing a wide range of pitching options and resorting to the historic method of “mud thrown on the wall to see what sticks.”
This was sadly the method used in 2015 for corner outfielders in the wake of the Markakis/Cruz departures. And inexplicably, not much of the mud stuck. In 2014 lots of mud adhered to varied vertical surfaces and the O’s won 96 games.
Next: More new free agents the Orioles could consider
Since few of the top-spending teams advanced deep into the playoffs, let alone even made the postseason, the lesson is that buying players is no guarantee for a championship. Teams need role players to come through in clutch situations and developing players to contribute ahead of schedule. Or they need a few others to experience a revival or otherwise be late bloomers. The Orioles need to have some measure of this happen again.