Baltimore Orioles re-sign Chris Davis

Chris Davis has reached an agreement with the Baltimore Orioles for seven years, $161 million.

It was a hauntingly quiet week on the Chris Davis front for the Baltimore Orioles – that is until now. The news officially broke this morning that Davis and the Orioles had reached an agreement to keep the free agent slugger in Charm City. The sides agreed on a seven-year contract, worth a reported $161 million.

First off, yes that’s higher than the $154 million that had previously been offered. But do the math; Davis is going to be making $1 million more each year than what he would have made with the other offer. In professional sports, that’s chump change.

My personal opinion was that $154 million over seven years was a legitimate offer on the Orioles’ part. So in a way based on that fact it hurts a bit to have had to up it. However these negotiations are always done with a bit of leeway. Keep in mind also that the Orioles offered $154 million, and Scott Boras wanted $200 million – over eight years. So on the fact that Boras came down MUCH further than the Orioles had to go up, it appears that the O’s won the negotiation. And they won it running away.

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The one concession that the O’s appeared to make was the addition of a full no-trade clause. However that’s not a huge concession given that most players of Davis’ caliber get one of those. There’s a better than good chance that the last year or two of his contract might not be as productive as the first few. However if that’s the case and the team is struggling, there’s always the chance that Davis will waive the no-trade. But the Birds will cross that bridge when they get there.

The other thing is that there’s no opt-out clause in the deal. It’s unclear as to whether or not Boras wanted one inserted, however at the end of the day the sides agreed without one. Many fans are caught up in Davis’ production in 2014, and are still hoping that it’s a mirrage. My point would be that there’s now a full season between then and now, and you saw what Davis did at the plate last year.

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This is the biggest contract in team history, however it’s one that will help to give the team a chance at some sustained competitiveness. However you really have to tip your cap to the likes of Dan Duquette and Peter Angelos for not only getting this done, but for getting it done on close to their terms. And also keep in mind, Davis is a pretty good first baseman as well, so keeping his glove in the field is going to be a good thing.

Next: Baltimore Orioles make offer on Yoenis Cespedes

Naysayers will point out that the need for starting pitching is still desperately there – and I agree. However the point du jour is that the O’s have kept one of their own. Incidentally, if I had told you that three of the four Boras clients would be staying in Baltimore back in October, would you have believed me?! Granted Wieters is staying almost due to a technicality (accepting the qualifying offer), but you get the point.