Baltimore Orioles: Too much devil’s advocate?

Do the Baltimore Orioles over-scrutinize potential signees and/or their deals?

The Baltimore Orioles are still in a holding pattern with Yovani Gallardo, as he still remains unsigned. However as we have seen, it appears that the O’s are the only team that retain serious interest in Gallardo – at the moment. So with that said I’m going to keep this somewhat short today.

Gallardo is obviously inrigued by the Orioles’ offer, however here’s a rhetorical question: do the O’s spend too much time crossing T’s and dotting I’s? By that, I mean…do they worry too much about details such as opt-outs, length of contract, and whether or not the player will perform throughout the length of the contract? If so, is that a red flag that keeps players from signing with the Birds?

Speaking for myself, I’m an attention to detail type of guy. So I have no problem with the O’s weighing every detail of a physical or looking for some sort of assurance that the player is going to perform at that level the entire contract. Granted we’re dealing with human beings and there can be no guarantees, however these are fair questions to have and to ask in my view. 

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But is it possible that players see how the Orioles scrutinize everything and opt not to deal with them? We all remember the Balfour incident a few years ago – a situation in which for the record the Orioles were vindicated for their attention to detail in the end. Do players see that type of scrutiny put on a player for a contract and figure that it’s not worth their time to sign in Baltimore?

I’ll be honest; my attitude would be that if a player is that concerned about the team being worried about protecting their investment, I’m not sure I’d want that guy on the team. That’s my attitude in general about things, I might add. If you’re asking me to take a leap of blind faith “just because,” that’s not going to happen. In sports you have to take calculated risks in order to succeed. Taking someone at their word isn’t a calculated risk – it’s a dumb one.

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My personal opinion is that Gallardo will sign with the O’s in short order. As I’ve said previously, I suspect that it’s being held up on the opt-out clause. With that said, if Gallardo magically signs elsewhere out of the blue with an opt-out clause, I’d say the Orioles came out ahead.

Next: Baltimore Orioles: Yovani Gallardo vs. the State of the Farm

Basically that would be a player looking for an extra leg up on the team. You can’t set youself up for failure in anything, and in my view allowing a player to break his deal would be doing just that.