Some free agent pitcher talk, Duquette audio and a thank you

It is interesting to look back now at an ESPN.com story from November authored by former major league general manager Jim Bowden. He ranked what he thought then would be the 50 biggest free agent contracts this winter. He listed Robinson Cano first, projecting he would get an eight-year, $200 million deal. He was close on the average annual value, as Cano signed a 10-year deal worth $240 million with the Seattle Mariners. Bowden projected that pitcher Ervin Santana would get a five-year, $75 million deal. Now it looks like he will get less, but he's still out there for any team, including the Orioles. Bowden said this about Santana: * Santana has made 30 starts or more in each of the past four years, only once falling short of 210 innings during that span. With a shortage of starting pitching in this free agent class, he'll get overpaid because of the durability he provides. Bowden then projected that Ubaldo Jimenez would get a three-year, $42 million dollar deal and wrote this about him: * His overall stuff says Santana should be a No. 1-type starter, but his inconsistent mechanics have led to unpredictable results. When he pitches like he did last year (like he also did in 2009-2010) you get excited that he can be a difference-maker. This will be a high-risk, expensive signing for a team. Meanwhile, the O's reached agreement yesterday with pitcher Suk-min Yoon on a three-year contract. O's executive vice president made a few brief comments about Yoon during an interview on MLB Network radio on SiriusXM Radio. Click here to hear that audio. There has been plenty of debate on this blog in the last few days as to whether the Orioles should or should not give up their first-round draft pick to sign one of these two pitchers. Feel free to keep that debate going here today with your opinion. O's manager Buck Showalter indicated Thursday that he is going to take a real good look early in the Grapefruit League season at the player the Orioles selected in December's Rule 5 draft, third baseman Michael Almanzar. You wonder if one reason the O's went for Almanzar is to provide extra insurance against the possibility of Manny Machado not being ready on opening day. The 23-year-old Almanzar, from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, played at Double-A Portland of the Eastern League in the Boston organization in 2013. Over 131 games, he batted .268 with 29 doubles, three triples, 16 homers and 81 RBIs. The right-handed batter had a .432 slugging percentage and .760 OPS. Against left-handed pitching, he batted .281 with a .477 slugging percentage and .822 OPS. If Almanzar is not good enough, the Orioles can easily send him back to the Red Sox. They could even use him at third early in the season until Machado returns and then send him back under the Rule 5 rules. It makes all the sense in the world to take a long look at Almanzar as he just gives the club an additional option pending the timing of Machado's return. I want to end this blog today with a thank you. The readers here are often nice enough to comment that they enjoy my minor league coverage. One of the guys over the last five years that helped me get information to you and provide quality story ideas for this blog is Delmarva Shorebirds broadcaster Bret Lasky. Lasky has left his job with the Shorebirds for a position with the LPGA tour. Yesterday was his last day on the job there. A University of Maryland grad, Lasky broadcast more than 600 Shorebirds games and was recognized by the South Atlantic League following the 2012 season as the Media Relations Director of the Year. He played a major role in the summer of 2011 when the Shorebirds hosted the Sally League All-Star Game. Doug Newton, who was part of the short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds broadcast crew in 2012, is the new Delmarva broadcaster. "I'll be forever indebted to the Shorebirds for giving me the opportunity to learn and grow over the last five years," Lasky said. "I want to thank all the Shorebirds players, coaches, fellow employees and fans for making my job easy and enjoyable." Well, I want to thank you, Bret, for making my job easier. Bret is an impressive young guy and I'm pretty confident he's going to do well in his new position.