Examining the Chris Davis situation

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde is choosing between Renato Núñez, Pat Valaika and Ryan Mountcastle for the starts at first base as the final days tick down on the 2020 season. Núñez and Valaika more out of necessity this summer, Mountcastle as a way to get him comfortable again at the position and fit four outfielders in the lineup.

Who's on first in 2021?

Mountcastle is expected to keep getting most of the starts in left field. Valaika is more valuable in a super-utility role, with his penchant for late-inning home runs a bonus. Six of his seven homers have come after the sixth, tied for most in the majors.

Núñez is a trade candidate, and perhaps a non-tender candidate in his first year of arbitration eligibility. Otherwise, he's more likely to accumulate the majority of his at-bats as the designated hitter while upholding his reputation as an incredibly streaky power source.

Then, there's veteran first baseman Chris Davis, whose second trip to the injured list with left knee patella tendinitis has ended his season after only 16 games and 55 plate appearances - realistically if not mathematically.

Davis received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his knee, worked out at the alternate camp site in Bowie, played in a simulated game, was reinstated from the injured list on Sept. 8 and appeared in one game with the Orioles. The knee flared up again and Davis was back on the shelf.

Whether he's back on the club next spring is becoming a hotter topic with Davis down to only two years remaining on his franchise-record $161 million contract. He's owed $46 million and still unable to get close to his level of production that prompted ownership to offer a rich reward.

The Orioles have been resistant to eating such a large sum - money, loyalty and the hope of a turnaround keeping him in Baltimore.

What about now?

The timing isn't as ripe as it appears on the surface.

I'm hearing that a major consideration for the Orioles is the status of the 2021 season. There's a possibility of another truncated schedule and all of the adjustments that go along with it due to the coronavirus pandemic. There's still friction between Major League Baseball and the Players Association. No one in the industry can be certain that the sport will return to normal.

The Orioles saved at least $14 million on Davis' contract this year because of the reduction to 60 games, per the agreement between the league and union established in March.

The parties agreed to players receiving prorated salaries for any games played in 2020. And there's a very real possibility that next year's schedule also will fall short of 162.

Players released by their clubs receive full pay. The Giants released infielder Zack Cozart in January and ate the remaining $12.167 million on his contract. The Yankees parted ways with Jacoby Ellsbury in November and he had more than $26 million left on his seven-year, $153 million deal. The Marlins were on the hook, so to speak, for the $22 million owned to former Orioles pitcher Wei-Yin Chen after his release in November.

Four months before the sport shut down. Four months before anyone heard of COVID-19.

Everyone is familiar with it now.

As one person in the industry put it, the pressure to hold onto Davis increases under these conditions. It would be "irresponsible" of the Orioles to release him. There's a financial motivation to wait.

An interesting plot twist.

There's also the possibility of roster sizes increasing again, which creates room for Davis as well as the batch of homegrown outfielders.

The sense I'm getting here is that the Orioles are going to keep Davis at least through the pandemic. They aren't releasing him over the winter.

Everything is subject to change, of course, but that's the current vibe. And it's a strong one.