Recent reports have Dexter Fowler admitting that he returned to Chicago because Baltimore wouldn’t give him an option in a potential new contract. Still, it sure seemed that the outfielder and the O’s were going to get something done, but it suddenly fell apart. Instead Fowler took a deal for only one-year to return to the Cubs, but isn’t guaranteed a starting spot, as Jorge Soler will also be vying for a starting role in the outfield. Turning away from a guaranteed starting spot, and to be the leadoff hitter, for a contract worth $35 million over three years just because the O’s wouldn’t offer an opt out, clause smells fishy. Baltimore the last few years have been very sketchy when it comes to finalizing deals, and aside from this past offseason making it more clear, the whole Fowler situation might be a bigger sign of needing to inspect the front office.
Multiple reports have always put emphasis on the O’s ownership being tight with money; not big spenders. Before the hiring of Buck Showalter in 2010, the O’s hadn’t won more than 79 games in a season since 1997. Now since Buck has taken over, Baltimore has become a big time playoff contender every year. However, the O’s have failed to bring in much help from trades and/or free agent signings, which is clearly needed to get over the hump. It could very well be that the O’s have a tight wallet, but maybe the owner is holding on to the fact that he still believes that the team can win leaning on Showalter alone. With one of the worst farm systems in baseball currently, a questionable pitching staff, and an injury prone lineup, the O’s needed to take more advantage of the plentiful free agent basket this winter.
The GM, Duquette, is known to be shy at pulling the trigger (maybe because he is afraid to spend the owner’s money), but has showed plenty of interest in signing big names. Earlier reports back in October had Duquette admitting interest of singing big contracts, such as Alex Gordon and Jordan Zimmerman. Clearly the Oâs have the offense, but if they could just have signed one lethal arm and one middle rotation guy, they could be looking at 95+ wins. But, in the end, all they got was Yovani Gallardo, who’s deal almost fell through as well. During the Winter Meetings, Baltimore had a deal to bring Chris Davis back for roughly $170 million over 7 years, but that fell through until it got rekindled over a month later! Maybe the front office did try hard after several opportunities, but there isn’t much evidence for it; they hardily were even the sleeper team for signing a few of the big names. They did spend over $200 million this offseason, but that was mostly on bringing back two veterans in Chris Davis and Darren O’Day. Is the owner only ok with opening up his wallet to familiar players? Or is there something untold about how Duquette sells his pitch to free agents and negotiates deals? Wake up Baltimore, this is not a time before the 1960âs when free agency was a rarity.
