The Orioles have reportedly agreed to terms with free agent pitcher Yovani Gallardo on a three-year deal worth $35 million. The deal also reportedly includes a fourth-year club option.

Gallardo, orioles have a deal. $35M, 3 yrs

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 20, 2016

ESR staff react to the news…

Phil Backert

Gallardo gives something the Orioles desperately need in their rotation and that is a guy that will start 30 games. However, I’m not sure how effective he will be. Gallardo’s WHIP is on the rise, his K rate and velocity are declining and now he will have to make most of his starts against the American League East. I don’t think I’m far off saying the Orioles have signed another Ubaldo Jimenez-type and we know how that has played out over the last two seasons.

Ryan Blake

Whenever I say the name “Yovani Gallardo” out loud, it sounds eerily similar to “Jason Hammel” or “Scott Feldman” to me. The O’s get their shaky veteran pitcher to lead a mediocre starting rotation, likely knocking Vance Worley, Tyler Wilson, and Mike Wright out of contention for that fifth spot.

Gallardo’s numbers have been fairly steady over the past few seasons, though his decline in strikeouts is a bit alarming. His FIP has hung right around 3.95 in each of the last four seasons.

Gallardo will certainly improve our rotation to an extent, though I’m not sure how I feel about giving up a draft pick for a pitcher like Gallardo. My opinion is that it would have been smarter for the Orioles to get someone like Tim Lincecum and let him battle Worley and the rookies for the final rotation spot. Lincecum has struggled since twice winning the Cy Young but maybe a change of scenery would have helped him regain his form.

Three years for Gallardo at just under $12 million per year is a decent bargain. Hopefully, Gallardo can prove to be worthy of that deal.

Stephen Adams

Let me get this one of out of the way: I don’t like giving up a 14^th round pick for an average or slightly above average starting pitcher. Especially with how bad our farm system is (and with Dylan Bundy and Hunter Harvey having huge question marks in regards to health). Duquette has gutted this system and largely filled it with AAAA players or long shots.

Now, with that said…Duquette clearly is in win-now mode. And the Orioles have been downright atrocious at drafting starters and developing them/keeping them healthy. So, to that end: bring on Gallardo, but he’s a package deal for me. If they get Dexter Fowler as well, I’m happy with the signing. If not, I’m merely meh. I don’t like giving up the 14^th pick for Gallardo, but the contract is very reasonable. It helps solidify an average rotation, because (let’s be honest) the Orioles were never going to sign a David Price or Zach Greinke.

With Gallardo being a ground ball pitcher, I think he has a chance to be pretty solid with the Orioles. Maybe a middle of the rotation/back-end starter. Regardless of how well he does, the O’s only go so far as a bounceback from Chris Tillman and Miguel Gonzalez and a big step from Kevin Gausman will take them.

Joe Polek

I am unsure how I feel. I love that the Orioles seem to be “all in” this year and are willing to give up picks to take another run at the Playoffs. But after spending all this money, have they really upgraded? If the SP staff gets back to their 2014 form, and Gallardo pitches well, then this will be a good deal for the Birds. But Gallardo alone doesn’t improve the staff. Tillman, Gonzo, and Ubaldo all have to improve.

If the O’s go out and get Fowler, then they are better defensively than last year. But the season will all come down to pitching.

Joel Katz

While there are mixed reactions among the fanbase on the Gallardo signing, I think this is a good move for the ballclub. We currently have four starting pitchers and a number of question marks among whether certain pitchers can bounce back or live up to potential. As such, Gallardo gives us a dependable workhorse who can eat up innings and solidify the rotation. Even with five starting pitchers at the outset of the season, I think there will be plenty of opportunity for guys like Wright and Wilson to prove themselves this season… The good news is that now we don’t need to rush their development and they can benefit he club in the long run.

Re: losing a draft pick, it is my understanding that this year’s draft is not very deep. As such, I am OK with the club “going for it” this year. That said, I think they really need to begin focusing efforts on signing international players.

I commend Dan Duquette and ownership for making the move, and they are clearly buying into the “win now” strategy.

Derek Arnold

I’m not going to be a downer about this – we’re all very familiar with the arguments against Gallardo by this point – declining velocity, strikeout rate, yadda yadda yadda. The fact is that the O’s needed to upgrade their rotation, and Yovani was the best option out there.

Here’s where my frustration with this deal lies: Dan Duquette was quoted this morning as saying “if we could bolster our starting rotation, that would certainly help the club.” Sure, that was very true – but it was also true in November. Where was Dan when starting pitchers – better ones, who didn’t cost a draft pick – were flying off the shelves?

Alas, there’s no sense crying over spilled Natty Boh (or whatever we’ll be drinking at the Yard this year). Gallardo was the best pitcher left out there, and now he’s an Oriole. Now let’s go get Dexter Fowler and make a run at this thing.

Jonathan French

The Orioles finally agreed to sign Yovani Gallardo after weeks of negotiations. At first glance the deal looks to be a solid one for the Orioles. Gallardo will earn $33 million over 3 years, with a $13 million club option for the 4th year, something they weren’t able to get with Ubaldo Jimenez. He’s a 2.0-3.0 fWAR pitcher according to Fangraphs, though he hasn’t seen a 3.0 fWAR or greater season since 2011. Gallardo also won’t be known as an innings eater as he averaged only 5.58 innings per start and only had 12 quality starts last season. Wei-Yin Chen led the Orioles with 20 quality starts and Chris Tillman and Ubaldo Jimenez both had 14 quality starts, so Gallardo won’t fill the void left by Chen signing with the Marlins. However, he was the best starting pitcher available and the Orioles were desperate for somebody that could take the ball every 5th day and give the team a chance to win, and they got him for a relative bargain compared to the inflated pitching prices of the other pitchers that were signed before him.

Was it worth it? Fans point to the fact that the Orioles haven’t drafted well so the pick wouldn’t have turned out to be anything, but under Dan Duquette, the Orioles drafted Kevin Gausman in the first round of the 2012 draft, Hunter Harvey in first round of 2013, and Chance Sisco in the 2nd round of 2013. They also traded two players that they recently drafted, Stephen Tarpley (2013) and Josh Hader (2012), who are well regarded prospects in their new organizations. The slot value of the 14th pick was seen as $2.97 million, so not only will the Orioles lose the pick, their overall bonus pool will shrink by that amount hurting their chances to draft better talent by going over slot in their remaining picks. That all being said, the question really can’t be answered until we see what the Orioles accomplish because of Gallardo as opposed to the career paths and accomplishments of the players the Orioles could have picked with that 14th pick.

Hopefully for the Orioles, that accomplishment will be a World Series Championship.

Matt Sroka

The Orioles’ biggest weakness currently is their starting pitching. Yovani Gallardo does not solve this weakness but his signing is a step in the right direction. With seven consecutive seasons of at least 30 starts and 180 innings pitched, the Orioles add some stability to a rotation that is about as predictable as Kanye West’s next tweet. He’s not an ace and his above average ERA may be just average in the AL East, but at least you know what you’re getting with Gallardo. The concerns about the Gallardo signing, the declining strikeout rate and losing a draft pick, are legitimate concerns; however, at the end of the day, the Orioles are clearly a better team with Gallardo than without him. Moreover, what cannot be missed here is the incredible value of a 3 years 35 million dollar contract at a time when 4th starters are getting paid like aces. Duquette knows better than anybody that February is the time for bargain free agency shopping, and it looks like he found another bargain.

Andrew Stetka

The signing of Yovani Gallardo was an obvious one for the Orioles, but only because they painted themselves into this corner. There were other pitchers on the market this offseason that may have cost a bit more, but also wouldn’t have meant spending a draft pick. Scott Kazmir was my top pitching desire this offseason, but there were others as well. The Orioles don’t value their draft picks though. That was made obvious with the Ryan Webb-Los Angeles Dodgers debacle last year. As I’ve said before, I don’t think the Orioles can do much with their picks, so losing the 14th overall pick won’t hurt them much in the long run. I fully expect them to lose another when they sign Dexter Fowler to a contract. In Gallardo, the Orioles are getting a pitcher on the decline, but a pitcher they desperately needed to avoid forcing some one else into the rotation. The O’s literally only had four starting pitchers on their roster prior to getting Gallardo. Teams play with five. It’s a corner they backed themselves into, but they got the guy they needed.