A look at some of the available corner outfielders

With the Orioles in the market for at least one corner outfielder, let's look at a few free agents the team could pursue. There is also the trade market, but there is no way to know which players are available through that avenue.

Dexter Fowler: After the deal that turned out not to be a deal last winter and the hard feelings that resulted, you have to wonder if the Orioles would even travel down this road again.

But putting that aside for a moment, Fowler seems a perfect fit in several respects. He would bring decent defense, speed and on-base capability. He is also the leadoff hitter the club is said to be seeking.

The switch-hitter hit .276/.393/.447 with the Cubs in 2016 with 25 doubles, seven triples, 13 homers, 84 runs, 13 steals and 48 RBIs. He has a career .366 OBP and the only Oriole that played at least half the time that beat that last year was Hyun Soo Kim at .382.

Fowler is one of three major league players to walk 65 or more times every year since 2011, along with Andrew McCutchen and Carlos Santana. He is certainly a good fit, but will the Orioles pay what it would take and give up a draft pick? Could they overlook what happened last February? I wrote about that recently; click here to review that.

Ian Desmond: He is coming off a very solid year, batting .285/.335/.446 with 29 doubles, 22 homers, 107 runs, 21 steals and 86 RBIs. He has produced 20 homers while also posting 20 steals in four of the last five years. He has played 154 games or more for four straight seasons.

Last year, the Orioles ranked last in the American League in batting average against left-handed pitchers at .234 and last in OPS at .692. In 2016, Desmond hit .338/.373/.507 against lefties. Fowler, by the way, is a career .302/.392/.442 batter versus southpaws.

But Desmond has been used as an outfielder for just one year. He played 128 games in center and 27 in left last season for Texas after holding down shortstop for several seasons for the Nats. Desmond had a red-hot first half last year and batted just .237 after the All-Star break. He also got a qualifying offer.

Josh Reddick: Reddick was traded from Oakland to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 1. For the year, he hit .281/.345/.405 with 17 doubles, 10 homers and 37 RBIs. Yes, that is low on the RBI total and that was in 439 plate appearances.

Reddick, who turns 30 on Feb. 19, would bring a defensive upgrade in right field. He won a Gold Glove in 2012.

His stats were much better with Oakland before the trade when he hit .296/.368/.449 and his OPS+ with the A's of 127 would be topped only by Manny Machado at 128 on the 2016 Orioles. But Reddick's career stats are .255/.316/.430 and he is just a .218 career hitter against left-handed pitching.

One area he would help the team is the ability to make contact the put the ball in play. His strikeout rate was 11.2 percent in 2015 and 12.8 percent last year. The best on the Orioles last season was Kim at 14.7 percent.

Michael Saunders: He had an outstanding first half, batting .298/.372/.551 and then a terrible second half, batting .178/.282/.357. How do you explain that? Saunders' overall stats for 140 games include these numbers: .253/.338/.478 with 32 doubles 24 homers and 57 RBIs.

A left-handed batter, Saunders will be 30 opening day and MLBTradeRumors.com projected that the Orioles would be the team to sign him for three years and $33 million.

Saunders hit better against left-handed pitching, batting .275/.358/.569 while going .247/.332/.451 against right-handers. The falloff he had in the second half must create some concerns about signing him and his defense was rated below average.

This group of four is by no means the only quartet the Orioles could be looking or even a list of the top four free agents in the outfield. I will take a wild guess that Yoenis Cespedes is unlikely for the Orioles. Also, some of what happens with other players - like Mark Trumbo, for instance - could impact what moves the team makes elsewhere and/or how much budget they have to make moves.