Baltimore Orioles: Facing Another Mediocre Offseason?

Sep 18, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Baltimore Orioles hat and glove lays in the dugout at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

With the reported $154 million contract offer to Chris Davis now being withdrawn, are the Baltimore Orioles now facing another lackluster offseason?

Without doubt, a good percentage of the O’s fanbase was emotionally invested in seeing this winter perhaps be categorically different than the past. This was especially bolstered by the unprecedented offer wherein 86-year-old Peter Angelos himself was an active agent.

But Davis turned it down. It would be more accurate actually to say that Scott Boras turned it down.

Here is a perspective on a number that big. Most of us can’t relate to this, but Davis would make over $60k a day (every day of the year for seven years) with this contract! Really? That’s not enough? But I digress.

So in the wake of this rejection, are the Orioles facing yet another offseason of minor moves here and there, the sorts of deals that some disenchanted O’s fans refer to as Dan Duquette’s bargain basement, dust bin pick-ups?

No small part of the fanbase remains bitter about the events of just one year ago, believing that re-signing either Nelson Cruz or Nick Markakis would have been sufficient to have had the Orioles repeat as AL East champions. Yet another part is encouraged that the O’s certainly look to be willing to spend more money than ever in the past.

So are you a believer, or are you a doubter?

The believer would say, “Look, this really is a different year. The Orioles have already gone so far as to re-sign Darren O’Day, a move not really anticipated to work out. And they have made another big move in securing Mark Trumbo, along with other smaller moves like Vance Worley, etc. And now they have $22 million more that they can spend since Davis turned down that annual amount.”

The doubter would answer, “Yes, it is nice to get O’Day back, but the Orioles need a lot more than that. Trumbo is only for one year, not seven. And don’t expect that $22 million to be available for anyone else or for several anyone elses.”

The believer would say, “But didn’t you hear how Duquette emphasized going after left-handed, outfield hitting? Now he has the money and opportunity to do that.”

But the doubter would reply, “Don’t you know that Duquette has the ability to talk and say nothing? He talks a bigger game than he delivers. And that sum of money can only buy you one mid-level pitcher and a mediocre corner outfielder. Don’t get your hopes too high, you’ll just end up disappointed again. So get prepared for a bunch of cheap AAAA types of deals and re-tread types of players trying to resurrect a largely dead career. We’re going to be back to throwing a bunch of cheap mud on the wall and hoping that some of it sticks and we hit a lucky bargain.”