Has the Chris Davis situation hurt the O's offseason efforts?

A reader asked this here yesterday and it is a fair question: Is Chris Davis controlling this offseason for the Orioles?

While Davis and what is happening or not with his free agent negotiations may be controlling the conversation and discussion about the O's offseason, he is not controlling the team or its front office. The Orioles have continued to talk with other free agents and they've made some moves. In fact, they traded for Mark Trumbo, a potential first base replacement if Davis leaves. That was the first step in the team not putting all its eggs in Davis' basket.

The club seems fully prepared to move on without Davis, although that is not clearly their first choice. They made a legit offer and it appears no other team has matched or topped it to this point. But that can change and this would not be the first time it seemed agent Scott Boras had few options, but in the end got his client a huge and surprising contract.

I don't think the Davis situation is controlling the Orioles right now - but it is controlling the discussion about the Orioles offseason. Nothing more than that.

Fan sentiment seems to have turned against Davis. Some are asking if he wanted to stay here as much as he said, why then not sign for $150 million?

But Davis could re-sign, start bashing homers again in April and easily win those fans back. He already did it once. When Davis got suspended and missed the 2014 playoffs, that angered some fans. They were further frustrated when he hit .196 last May and struck out 40 times that month. But more hits, homers and RBIs soon followed, and Davis was back in the fans' good graces.

A key question that remains though is if signing Davis is even the best move here. If the club lost Davis to another team and instead wound up with outfielder Alex Gordon, pitcher Scott Kazmir and infielder Pedro Alvarez, they might be better off.

Signing that trio would round out the O's outfield, add two more lefty hitters and one left-handed pitcher. A combination of Trumbo at first and Alvarez at DH would produce a lot of homers. The O's would then have Trey Mancini and/or Christian Walker waiting in the wings as their potential future first baseman.

Throw in a Doug Fister on a one-year make-good type of deal and that team could have the makings of a contender. If Gordon and Hyun Soo Kim were the corner outfielders, some much-needed OBP capability would be added with a team that already had plenty of power. Even without Davis.

At this point, Davis is easily the most talked about player linked to the Orioles. Fans are impatient over his situation. They wanted it resolved long before this. They want to know what their 2016 team will look like.

Those that run the team may even be anxious, as well. But they also know that Davis is far from their only option to get better. His situation can dominate the airwaves, blogs and message boards. But even as the calendar is about to turn to 2016, the O's front office still has plenty of places to turn to improve their team. With or without Davis.