Recapping the Orioles' Offseason

Courtesy of Keith Allison

When your biggest offseason move is re-signing a player who was released by the Pittsburg Pirates half a year ago, you probably had a really quiet and uneventful offseason. That is exactly what the Baltimore Orioles have done. Dan Duquette, after leading the Orioles to a surprising playoff appearance in his first season as the general manager, decided to stand pat with the current core and hoped for a repeat performance from the group in 2013. The only major changes the Orioles made this offseason include declining Mark Reynolds’s option, letting go of Joe Saunders, signing Jair Jurrjens, claiming Alexi Casilla off waivers and re-signing Nate Mclouth.

Cleveland Indians paying for Bourn in the future

Scott Boras has always been known to wait for the market to develop for his free agent clients. Sometimes it works, as evidenced by Prince Fielder’s nine-year $214 million contract with the Detroit Tigers in late January last offseason. Sometimes it doesn’t. Michael Bourn is an example of how Boras’s plan fails as he signs with the Cleveland Indians for $48 million for 4 years. However, from the perspective of the Indians, this is an absolute steal for a player who was rumored to be asking for $100 million at the start of the offseason, even though Bourn’s presence does not push the Indians even remotely close to a place in the playoff. 

Why did the Mariners give Felix Hernandez 175 million dollars even though he may not be worth it?

The Seattle Mariners have just extended Felix Hernandez to the largest contract a pitcher has ever received, for reportedly 175 million dollars over 7 years. Hernandez is among the best five pitchers in baseball today, and will only be 33 when the contract ends. This kind of investment for a pitcher is inherently risky and Hernandez may not perform up to his contract on the field, but it is understandable why the Mariners would commit this amount of money to their only franchise superstar.