Orioles sign Chris Davis to seven-year contract

The Orioles today announced that they have signed free agent infielder Chris Davis to a seven-year contract. To make room on the 40-man roster, infielder/outfielder Joey Terdoslavich has been designated for assignment. Davis, 29, led Major League Baseball with 47 home runs last season, the fourth-highest single-season total in Orioles history. He finished third among Major Leaguers in RBI (117), seventh in slugging percentage (.562), and 13th in runs scored (100). Since 2012, Davis leads the Major Leagues in home runs (159), ranks fourth in RBI (412) and extra-base hits (269), and seventh in slugging percentage (.533). He is also one of five players to hit at least 25 home runs in each of the last four seasons. Davis currently ranks third on the Oriole Park all-time home runs list (95) and 10th on the Orioles all-time home runs list (161). His eight career Eutaw Street home runs are the most by an individual player in Oriole Park history. Following the 2015 All-Star break (min. 225 plate appearances), Davis led the Orioles in batting average (.293), on-base percentage (.409), and slugging percentage (.669). He also led the club in home runs (28), RBI (65), walks (46), ranked tied for first in doubles (16), and second in hits (78) in that span. He was named Most Valuable Oriole by members of the local media for the second time in his career (also 2013), the 13th Oriole to win the award multiple times. In 2013, Davis was the leading vote getter (8.2 million) in the Major Leagues en route to earning his first career All-Star Game selection and received his first career Silver Slugger Award (as an American League first baseman) after leading MLB with a single-season club record 53 home runs, 96 extra-base hits, and 370 total bases. His 138 RBI in 2013 also led MLB and were the fourth-highest total in club history. Over 883 career Major League games, Davis has batted .255/.330/.506 with 203 home runs and 549 RBI. Since joining the Orioles via trade from the Texas Rangers on July 30, 2011, Davis has batted .257/.340/.526 in 618 games with a Major League-leading 161 home runs in that span. Originally selected by Texas in the fifth round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft, his 203 home runs since the beginning of the 2008 season are the seventh-most among American League players and eighth-most among left-handed hitters in that span. Terdoslavich, 27, hit .214/.254/.375 with a home run and four RBI in 28 games with the Atlanta Braves last season.