Many O’s fans were wondering what the front office was thinking when they traded Jim Johnson to the Oakland Athletics during the 2014 offseason. Johnson had led the Majors in saves in back-to-back seasons, totaling 101 saves in those two years. The main reason for the move was that Johnson was set for a significant raise that the O’s did not want to pay.
With no other true closer on the roster, the O’s were taking a gamble on Tommy Hunter to close games. In the early months of 2014, he blew multiple saves and was then placed on the disabled list. We all worried when the Hunter experiment did not last long. Who was going to be the closer now?
Little did we know that the Orioles had a hidden gem when they decided to givee Zach Britton a shot at the job. Now, the team finds itself in a similar predicament.
Britton is coming off arguably the best season ever for a closer and enters a contract year with the opportunity to break the bank when it’s time to get to the negotiating table. Kenley Jansen signed a five-year, $80 million contract today to make him the second-highest paid closer in Major League Baseball. The new deal adds him to a list that includes Aroldis Chapman and Mark Melancon as closers making over $15 million per year. Britton must be loving the money being given to closers this offseason because the hard-throwing lefty knows that his time for a payday is near.
The Orioles know what it is going to take to keep him in the mix. If Britton is as dominant as he was this past season, he could break Chapman’s record for most money given to a closer. It is hard to imagine the Angelos family shelling out that kind of money for a closer.
The topic of trading Britton has garnered a lot of interest in Birdland. Zach has two years of arbitration left, and is due for another hefty raise for 2017. If Zach isn’t traded this offseason, perhaps the club would make that move in July if the team is struggling. If the O’s are in it – like they always seem to be – trading the closer becomes very unlikely.
Baltimore does have great depth in their bullpen with Brad Brach and Darren O’Day. Mychal Givens and Donnie Hart have each stepped their game up. While it would be a big blow to lose Britton, the Orioles have the pieces in case he goes elsewhere.
The O’s cannot let him disappear without getting anything in return. Chapman, Craig Kimbrel and Andrew Miller all garnered significant returns when they were traded. The O’s farm system is depleted of talent and Britton could bring in some high-quality prospects. It’s no secret that the O’s could lose multiple players after the 2018, season so retooling now for the future would be their best move.
Let’s face it, he is as good as gone after 2018. He has been the O’s top weapon out of the bullpen since being moved there, but enjoy it while you can because he will be wearing a different uniform before long.
Orioles fans might not want to see him go, but trading Britton would be the right move for the club.
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Even though he led the majors in saves for two years straight, Jim Johnson was not good during his last year as an Oriole. He blew 9 saves that year and had 8 losses! That “off-year” of his was the biggest reason The Orioles did not make the playoffs in 2013. I liked the man but he was in a steep decline. The next year after he was traded, he had the worst year of his career with a 7.09 ERA and a TON of blown saves. The Orioles were brilliant to trade him when they did. Zach Britton is a completely different story. He blew Zero saves, saved 47 games, and had a record-low ERA (0.54) for relief pitchers. He will get over 11 million in 2017 through arbitration but is worth twice that. He had a WAR of 4.2 games. Each WAR is valued at over 8 million. I believe he was tied with Manny Machado for the Orioles’ MVP. The O’s hope t be competitive this year and go back to the playoffs. If they trade Britton now, they won’t make the playoffs this year. No one else is nearly as good as Britton as a closer. They should only consider trading him if they fall out of the pennant race by July. I DO believe they should trade Brad Brach now because he is often hittable and very replaceable (by either Drake, Gunkel, O’Day, Givens, etc) even though he had a career year last year (he was not that good in the 2nd half, however).
Why??? Look what Yanks got for Chapman. His value be just as high July of his contract year…