REALITY: The Baltimore Orioles signed reliever Darren O’Day to a four-year contract.
PERCEPTION: This was a great start to the off-season for the O’s. They did not attempt to re-sign Andrew Miller last year, after they traded for him in the summer. It ended up being a good thing, at least in the short term, as Miller spent a good part of the season in the disabled list. But with O’Day they have more of a history, and they didn’t want to lose him.
According to O’Day, he was ready to sign with the Washington Nationals on a three-year deal. He wanted four years but he didn’t have any teams offering that…until late in the game when the Orioles offered the 4th year and brought him back to Baltimore. It made Birdland rejoice that this offseason might be different then some of the previous.
REALITY: The Orioles signed Korean OF Hyun-soo Kim to a two-year $7 million contract.
PERCEPTION: Most O’s fans don’t really know much about Kim. He will likely play Left Field for the Birds. He has played 1B some in his career, but the Orioles are covered there so they will keep him in the OF, but he reportedly doesn’t have much of an arm.
The real upside to Kim is that he has a good On-Base Percentage and hits with decent power. He will slot in nicely at the top of the order for a team that so desperately needs that.
Many Orioles fans were looking for a big name to help in the OF, but for a player with a lot of upside and an affordable contract, this should be a great deal for the Orioles. Would Kim turn out to be a version of Ichiro? Some are saying he is a newer version of Nick Markakis. Plus, he comes with his own theme song!
https://twitter.com/MyKBO/status/677491549333094401
REALITY: The Orioles continue to talk to the agent of Chris Davis about bringing him back to Baltimore.
PERCEPTION: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported that while the Orioles may have “pulled” their $154-million, seven-year offer off the table, they are still talking to Scott Boras about bringing his client back to Birdland.
It appears that, at least publicly, no other team has stepped up with an offer to Crush. Boras is waiting for that to happen, but the Orioles can’t afford to wait around all off-season on Davis. If he goes elsewhere, they need to sign someone to take his place.
Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun says the $150 million earmarked for Davis is for only Davis. If Crush goes to another team, the Orioles will not spend over $100 million on any other player. That does not make many fans happy, who want the team to spend that money on any big-name player they can get, especially a front-line starting pitcher. But word is that while the O’s will continue to upgrade their roster, they just won’t spend nine figures to get it done.
As I’ve said all off-season – and I’ve been called “delusional” for it – I still believe that Chris Davis calls Camden Yards home in 2016.
REALITY: The Orioles are said to be interested in free-agent pitcher Scott Kazmir.
PERCEPTION: Kazmir has been on the Orioles radar for years, it seems. Heyman reported that the O’s, Royals, and A’s are among the teams interested in Kazmir, who has a number of three-year offers. As is the case with most players, Kazmir would like a four-year deal. So who will step up with that extra year?
The Orioles have only given two four-year deals to pitchers and one was this off-season to O’Day. The other was Ubaldo Jimenez and that hasn’t been a great contract for the team. Will they step up again for a player like Kazmir? His win-loss record hasn’t been great, but his peripherals have been good.
GM Dan Duquette has said all along that they want to upgrade the OF, bullpen, and rotation. If they are able to get Kazmir (or someone like him) they will have signed three players who do just that. And don’t forget about Mark Trumbo. If the O’s re-sign Davis, this will have been one of the most successful offseasons in recent memory, and we still have a long way to go. But what looks good on paper, doesn’t always play out the way we hope.
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