Thursday Thoughts: Nothing Wrong with O’s Due Diligence

This is a weekly column that dives into eight random thoughts about the Orioles/MLB. Why eight? It’s a nod to Cal Ripken Jr. of course. That, and doing 2,632 of these would be a little overboard. – A.S.

1. It appears that our nightmare concerning Yovani Gallardo’s physical is over. News has come down that the Orioles have agreed to a restructured contract with the right-hander. Instead of a three-year contract, it’s a two-year deal with an option.

Lots of confusion on $$ in new Gallardo deal. It's $20 million over next 2 seasons and then $2 mil buyout or $13 mil club option. #orioles

— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) February 25, 2016

I’m on the record as being completely fine with the O’s being extra cautious with their physicals. It may seem like a headache, but if I was investing millions of dollars on baseball players, I would want to do my homework as well. I don’t understand the backlash the club receives from many national media types when it comes to these situations, because they’ve been proven right in the past.

Gallardo once went on dl when prince collided w/him on play at 1B, once for groin. Orioles medical roulette is a mistake.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 24, 2016

There are a number of tweets like this from Heyman, and many others. It’s asinine of them to think this way. They aren’t the ones spending millions of dollars. No one points out that the Orioles were right about Grant Balfour, Tyler Colvin or Aaron Sele. They also don’t point out that the Dodgers did something like this with Hisashi Iwakuma and the Yankees did it with Tommy Hunter. Regardless, it seems like the Orioles got the insurance they desired in the restructured deal, and they also completed their rotation. Everyone can be happy.

2. There’s also reason to be happy about the other signing the Orioles made this week. Dexter Fowler completes the team’s starting lineup, and gives them an essential piece at the top of it. Fowler will slot in as the leadoff hitter and right fielder nicely, and came at a discounted price (aside from the draft pick he costs).

If Fowler can produce a big on-base percentage and be the duck on the pond for the big bats, the Orioles may have one of the more potent offensive attacks in baseball. A lineup that has Jonathan Schoop and J.J. Hardy hitting at the bottom of it is an order I can get behind. Fowler gives the O’s their first “real” leadoff hitter since Brian Roberts was in his prime.

3. Don’t look now, but the team that never spends money on free agents in the offseason has spent more than any other club this winter. With this week’s deals for Gallardo and Fowler, the O’s have committed upwards of $280 million dollars on baseball players, including deferred money. It may not be something we see on a regular basis. It may even be Baltimore’s version of winning the lottery. But the next time someone calls the O’s cheap or complains that they don’t make the effort to spend money on free agents, you can point to that offseason before the 2016 season.

I’m not saying the Orioles have spent the money in the greatest ways. Some would argue they aren’t in a great place with their finances because of these moves. But you have to at least credit the team for trying. No one can accuse them of being bargain shoppers.

4. I read an interesting take that got me thinking about the future of Orioles ownership earlier this month. Drew Forrester of DrewsMorningDish.com took on the topic of Peter Angelos preparing to sell the team on February 11th. Forrester made many good points about the way the O’s have spent this offseason, and mind you, he wrote this before deals were given out to Gallardo and Fowler. His take was that Angelos is positioning himself to sell the team in the near future. The way some of the contracts reached this offseason are structured, what with deferred money and such, speaks to that idea. Angelos won’t be around to pay out the end of Chris Davis’ contract in the late 2030s. It’s an interesting concept to think about, the fact that Angelos may not be the owner of the club for very much longer. I know it’s something many have wished upon for years now, but we may be seeing the last few seasons of his tenure as owner of the franchise.

What remains to be seen, is where it goes from there.

GulfBird Sports/Craig Landefeld

5. I don’t make much of Manny Machado’s comments earlier this week at the start of spring training. If you missed it, Machado said, “I hope they keep me here long term.” That’s all fine and dandy, but many don’t think it will happen unless they have the chance to restructure his deal before he hits free agency in 2019. Now is the time to start thinking about that. It may only be 2016, but that pressure is going to build like someone shaking up a can of soda.

We all know Machado has the chance to become a perennial MVP candidate for many years, but there’s got to be some hesitation too. Not only has the club taken a deep dive into the financial waters this offseason, but it’s easy to forget that Machado has warts. Don’t take this as me bashing Machado in any way, shape, or form. He’s great. But if you look at it from the club’s perspective, you can’t forget that this is a player who has had two knee surgeries already in his young career. Is re-injury a risk? All of the factors need to come in to play when even dreaming of making Manny an Oriole for life.

6. By the time you read next week’s “Thursday Thoughts,” the Orioles will have played real baseball games. Okay, not “real” baseball games, but baseball games against other teams. It feels like it’s come up awful quick, doesn’t it? March is nearly upon us, which means April is almost here. While spring training may feel like it lasts forever, there isn’t a ton of time between now and Opening Day. I’m curious to see how the few position battles work themselves out in O’s camp. There’s really only room for two bench spots and maybe a bullpen spot or two, depending on how the team structures the roster with players that have options remaining. It may not seem very consequential to the players that will see a lot of time on the field, but remember, the Orioles use a 40-man roster during the season, not just the one with 25 players.

7. Late last week, a rumor circulated about the sale of Natty Boh beer at Camden Yards. It either wasn’t going to be sold any more, was only going to be sold in limited capacity or nothing was changing.

My question is, does it really matter? I recognize how important it is to have a good beer selection at a baseball game. Natty Boh isn’t a good beer. I’m as nostalgic as anyone, trust me. I haven’t lived in the Baltimore area for more than five years, so I am not even around the stuff all that often. When I come back to visit, sure, I’ll drink in a Natty Boh for old times sake. But if there is a better beer available, why is that a bad thing? Natty Boh isn’t even produced in Baltimore any more, and hasn’t been for years. It’s one thing if you want to buy some Natty Boh away from the ballpark to drink. It’s cheap. Why would you want to pay $7-$8 for one? It doesn’t make any sense.

8. I was really confused, and somewhat bothered by comments Cal Ripken Jr. made last week about changes he’d like to see made to the youth game in order to attract a new generation of players and fans. Ripken has been hired by MLB as a special advisor, and spoke last week about some new rules because the game of baseball “can be the most boring sport in the world” to some. Among the potential changes:

-Starting every inning with a runner at 1st base.

-Starting each inning with a different count.

-Requiring players to steal bases.

-Switching from three outs an inning to five batters an inning.

As a fairly traditional person, these things scare the hell out of me. Ripken says he wants to test the ideas out in youth tournaments and consolation games to see how they work. I understand that in this fast-paced world, you sometimes have to make changes to keep up, but these just feel like gimmicks. They feel like the NFL changing the extra-point distance, just because they could.

What’s next? Is every batter going to have to become a switch hitter? Are we going to force teams to play with two outfielders? Baseball is a great game as it is. On the field, the game has never been played at a higher level. I don’t see the need for changes like these. Maybe we need to start showing children the beauty of a game that isn’t played at the speed or pace of football, basketball or hockey.

Sometimes in life, it’s nice to slow down, and take everything in.