Another look at Yovani Gallardo and Dexter Fowler

Maybe today we find out if Yovani Gallardo will be in the Orioles rotation or not. Just when fans were getting used to the thought of the right-hander being about to join the team came the news of additional medical tests taking place. The physical is not complete, the signing is not final.

The Orioles did get one of the two players they have been pursuing last night when they agreed to a three-year deal with outfielder Dexter Fowler.

Meanwhile, over the last few days, several fans have expressed concerns about Gallardo. Everything ranging from his strikeout rates declining to his velocity declining to his poor second half in 2015.

While Gallardo has fanned fewer batters the last few years, his bottom-line results like ERA have held strong. In fact his 3.42 mark last year was not only 11th best among American League starters, but it was his career best, save for a 1.88 mark he posted in four starts and 24 innings for the Brewers in 2008.

Evan Grant is a reporter for the Dallas Morning News and he covered Gallardo with the Texas Rangers last year. He talked about some of the concerns about Gallardo in a WBAL Radio interview on Monday night.

Grant on why Texas did not re-sign Gallardo: "They were not interested in a long-term deal with Gallardo. I think they felt like they have significant dollars tied up with so many other guys, they were not in a position to tie up another $10-15 million to a pitcher right now. I think what the Orioles did in terms of the value and what the current value of that deal is, it's a very fair deal for Yovani.

"The Rangers have limited dollars this winter. I think they felt a little bit more comfortable going back to Colby Lewis at less money than it would have taken to bring Yovani back. And, also, after they gave up a big package for Cole Hamels last year and thinning out their minor league system, they looked at the draft pick and slot money they'll get as a real asset."

Grant on Gallardo's second half: "People will look at some things from his second half and say this is a five-inning pitcher most of the time and that is kind of how the Rangers managed him. Jeff Bannister and his staff felt like the third time through the lineup, things got much more difficult for Gallardo. They were cognizant of that.

"But what he did do with a good bullpen and a lineup that could score runs, was give the Rangers a chance to win and then turn things over to some plus arms in the back end of the bullpen in the second half of the year."

Grant on if the metrics and peripheral stats make a long-term deal for Gallardo questionable: "There are a lot of metrics that suggest this is not a guy that you want to invest five or six years at with premium dollars. But what he does do and will work well for a manager like Buck Showalter, is you can plug him in and you know what you will get. He's not going to deviate very much.

"Has his stuff diminished significantly over the last three or four years? Yes, it has. Has he learned to battle more with lesser stuff? Yes, he has.

"This was a year with a lot of attractive free agent pitchers. But by no stretch of the imagination is this a guy that the Orioles took that can't go out and be a big contributor in a championship rotation."

If the concerns over Gallardo do not get resolved and the signing gets nixed, the Orioles will be back to where they were earlier with the rotation. And that is a competition for the fifth starter's spot that could include Vance Worley, Mike Wright and Tyler Wilson, among others.

While we wait to find out more about Gallardo, here are a few more notes on Fowler:

* The Cleveland Indians led the American League last year with a .366 OBP from the leadoff spot in the batting order. Fowler has produced an OBP of .363 or better five times and his career OBP is .363. His career-best is .389 in 2012.

* Fowler's walk rate last year was 12.2 percent. Among O's with 150 or more plate appearances in 2015, that would have ranked second on the team behind only Chris Davis at 12.5 percent. Nolan Reimold was at 11.8 with Manny Machado at 9.8 and Ryan Flaherty at 8.6.

* Fowler did strikeout a career-high 154 times last season. He has fanned 100 or more times for seven consecutive seasons. But even with that many strikeouts, his whiff rate of 22.3 percent would have been only eighth among O's with 150 plate appearances.