So one big domino in the free agent market fell yesterday when the Detroit Tigers re-signed designated hitter Victor Martinez to a four-year deal worth $68 million. They made him a top priority and got a deal done quickly.
Martinez, who turns 36 next month, is coming off a huge year where he batted .335. He led the American League in OBP at .409 and led the majors in OPS at .974. He hit 32 homers with 103 RBIs and raked from both sides of the plate.
Where does that deal leave the Orioles'...
In the Twitter world, where many of us get our daily baseball news in 140-character bursts, ESPN's Buster Olney sent this out yesterday about Nelson Cruz:
The Orioles offered Nelson Cruz a three-year deal before he went into free agency. They're positioned to wait out as he talks w/ other teams— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 11, 2014
Later, a Boston reporter tweeted that Cruz wants five years and the Orioles won't go that far. Well, that's a relief.
Being sarcastic here,...
Many Orioles fans are happy tonight as the manager they appreciate got honored as American League Manager of the Year.
After winning the Baseball Writers' Association of America award for the third time, the Orioles' Buck Showalter was asked about the great fit he has become in Baltimore. The fans love him and he feels the same toward them.
All that winning and two playoff appearances in three years doesn't hurt either.
"I take a lot of pride in it," Showalter said of being the Orioles...
It doesn't yet appear that Orioles fans have much reason to worry about watching the longest-tenured Oriole, Nick Markakis, play for another team next season.
But if Markakis' agent is going to meet with other teams this week to see what is out there, the Orioles management can certainly do the same.
One player that may be worth the Orioles looking at is free agent outfielder Nori Aoki. After playing in Japan for eight seasons, he has recorded a slash line of .287/.353/.387 the past three...
He had a very solid 2014 season pitching for Double-A Bowie at just 21, and right-hander Zach Davies has carried that over to the Arizona Fall League.
After going 10-7 with a 3.35 ERA for the Baysox, Davies is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in six starts for the Glendale Desert Dogs of the AFL. In his last four starts, he has given up just one run over 17 innings.
Davies has made steady progress since the Orioles selected him in Round 26 of the 2011 draft and he'll likely be as close to the majors as...
If we could magically produce an Orioles Mount Rushmore, which four Orioles do you put on the mountain?
There have been six Orioles that have had their numbers retired. They are the six elected to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, and the six that have statues at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
How do you pick just four?
No. 4 - Earl Weaver is the greatest manager in O's history. His career winning percentage is .583. Cooperstown called Earl in 1996 and the Earl of Baltimore died Jan. 19, 2013,...
Trying to project or predict a major league team's future payroll is a difficult proposition. But we can at least make some projections that could get us in the ballpark, no pun intended.
Here is a look at a projected 25-man Orioles roster for 2015 and what it might cost the club. Right up front, I will say I included Nick Markakis, but did not include Nelson Cruz, Andrew Miller or Delmon Young. I did not include T.J. McFarland, who could potentially start in the minor,s but did include Ryan...
Nelson Cruz has said several times that he would like to remain an Oriole. But he has not said he would sign with the Orioles if their contract offer is not the best he can get as a free agent.
Would he take less money or a contract for fewer years than he could get from another team? That is a whole different story.
As I wrote earlier this offseason, Cruz has earned his payday. He batted .271 with 32 doubles, 40 homers, 108 RBIs and a .525 slugging percentage for the Orioles last season.
He...
It sure seems there is a pretty good chance that the Orioles will come to an agreement on a new contract with outfielder Nick Markakis, whose six-year deal worth $66.1 million ended this season.
But pretty good chance does not mean definite. Markakis can now negotiate with any other team. It would sure seem strange to see him playing for another team in 2015 and beyond but there is no indication of that happening right now. At least not yet.
MLBTradeRumors.com projected Markakis could get a...
If you were told there would be no math, you were misinformed about today's blog.
Let's take a look at how much more money a list of 11 arbitration-eligible players will cost the Orioles in 2015. To do this, we look at the salaries those players earned in 2014 and what they are projected to make in 2015 through arbitration, according to projections from MLBTradeRumors.com.
* Ryan Flaherty from $513,000 to $1 million. * Zach Britton from $522,000 to $3.2 million. * Miguel Gonzalez from...
He doesn't throw that hard. He doesn't get a lot of wins or strikeouts. Sometimes it seems he doesn't get a lot of respect.
But maybe some of that is finally changing for right-hander Miguel Gonzalez. He had yet another solid season for the Orioles in 2014 and by now, it appears some people are noticing.
In 27 games, including 26 starts, this year, Gonzalez went 10-9 with an ERA of 3.23 over 159 innings. In his last 13 starts, beginning July 1, he went 6-4 with a 2.09 ERA. He pitched well...
Some Orioles fans are not happy with Chris Davis. Not only did his batting average drop to .196 this season, but he ended the year serving a 25-game suspension for taking Adderall.
Davis let down his organization, teammates and Orioles fans. One year after leading the majors with 53 homers, he ended this season on the restricted list and was not available to the Orioles down the stretch and for two playoff series.
What a difference a year makes. This time last year, we were pondering whether...
Last Monday, Baseball America released its latest list of the Orioles' top 10 prospects. If you didn't see the list the first time, Dylan Bundy tops it for the fourth straight year.
Here is a look at the list and where those players might start the 2015 season.
1) Dylan Bundy, RHP: Believe it or not, Bundy has pitched 16 2/3 innings in his life at the Double-A level. I expect there is a good chance he returns to the Eastern League and begins the 2015 season with Bowie. He needs to build on...
Heading into free agency, the Orioles, Red Sox and Yankees all had one key reliever that could have hit the open market. Now that number has been reduced from three players to two.
While Andrew Miller and David Robertson are likely to test the market and accept offers, Koji Uehara will not. The former Orioles right-hander signed a two-year deal worth $18 million to stay with the Red Sox.
That seems to be too much money to pay for a reliever that struggled late last season and will turn 40 next...
One great thing about the sport of baseball is it lends itself to many opinions about all aspects of the game. Some of us value strikeouts, whether they be a pitcher getting a lot of them or a hitter amassing too many. Some value homers, others like players more versed at attaining a high on-base percentage.
They are all just opinions, but sometimes (hopefully here often) they produce spirited and interesting debate.
With that in mind, and looking forward to hearing your opinions, today I...
When it comes to the Orioles offense, we pretty much know what we are going to get. They are going to score enough runs to win enough games to make the playoffs and they are going to do it with the longball and not as an offense that features variety.
Despite some fans' constant calls for better on-base percentage and more working the count, the Orioles - as individual players for the most part and as a team for sure - just don't excel in that area and that is not likely to change much....
It seems that after the playoffs, some Orioles fans are concerned about Zach Britton - and those concerns have something to do with Jim Johnson.
The thinking goes that when Johnson struggled at times during the 2012 playoffs, those carried over to his 2013 season when he saved 50 games, but suffered nine costly blown saves that led to his departure from the team.
Britton had some struggles during the 2014 playoffs. He gave up a run during a save against Detroit and threw just five strikes in 20...
In the World Series, the San Francisco Giants are 2-0 when Madison Bumgarner has started and 1-2 when anyone else has.
Since the start of the National League Championship Series, the Giants are 4-0 when Bumgarner starts and 3-3 when anyone else has.
The Giants have played 15 postseason games and Bumgarner has started six times.
That begs these questions: Can a team ride one ace pitcher to the World Series title? Is that fair?
With off-days during playoff series and now several days off between...
For the fourth year in a row, pitcher Dylan Bundy has been ranked the Orioles' No. 1 prospect by Baseball America, which released its latest list of the top 10 Orioles prospects today. You can read the full list here (subscription required).
Last year, the top four prospects were all pitchers; this year, after the top two pitchers, the next three are position player prospects.
Here is a look at the list with a brief comment on each player:
1) Bundy: He had a healthy year with no setbacks and...
Later today, Baseball America will release a new Orioles top 10 prospects list and we'll find out who's in and who's out.
We know for certain that three members of last year's top 10 will not be on the list today. Kevin Gausman, who was No. 2, and Jonathan Schoop, who was No. 5, now have too much major league time to qualify for the list. Pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez, No. 3 last winter, was traded to Boston for Andrew Miller.
Last year, the top four on the list and six of the first eight were...