Orioles Setting A Dangerous Precedent With Physicals (Circa Gallardo): Fowler Leaves To The Cubs

Dexter Fowler re-signed with the Cubs for a minimum 1 year deal of $15 MIL in 2016 (with a mutual option for 2017) if he or Chicago don’t want to opt out after the upcoming season. Fowler had been said to have a 3 YR/$33 MIL in place with the Orioles before this happened. Maybe Fowler didn’t act 100% in good faith with Baltimore – however the O’s don’t exactly have a great track record with treating players in regards to physicals anyway.

Hunter Stokes (BBBA Featured Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21

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Wow, didn’t see that coming did you Orioles brass?  Dexter Fowler leaves his deal with you guys and re-signs with his old team in Chicago.

I have to wonder if the way things went down with Yovani Gallardo didn’t weigh on Dexter Fowler’s mind.  The track record for Free Agent’s having deals going south is about a 50/50 proposition with the O’s.

In one way I am disappointed that Baltimore didn’t land Fowler, because I think that deal would have definitely narrowed the gap in the AL East.

The Orioles had a deal with Yovani Gallardo for 3 Years and $35 MIL (with the potential for a 4th year at $13 MIL), and now it is a 2 year deal for $22 MIL that could end up with $35 MIL for a 3rd year. They may have won that agreement – however the player can’t be happy with O’s for the reneg.  While Peter Angelos and the brass are reluctant to signing Free Agent Pitchers (and position players) that have small things possibly wrong in their strict physicals, this is a bad way to conduct business for future relations with guys on the open market.  Who would want to sign there based on what has happened recently (or even show up for a physical!).

The Orioles may have even have the best all around offense if Manny Machado did what he did in 2015 (with a slight uptick) and veterans J.J. Hardy and Mark Trumbo even having average years.

While Peter Angelos and the brass in Maryland still landed Gallardo, the damage of waiting may also have cost them in not zeroing in on closing the deal with Fowler.

With the way the O’s are flunking Free Agents in physicals over the last several years (Grant Balfour), Grady Sizemore, and the way they acted with Gallardo, it may serve a warning shot for everyone across the MLB world to never ever sign in Baltimore.

I am pretty sure if you took an MRI on any pitcher – you could find something wrong. You might say that Baltimore is just being cautious in the money they dole out.  I would reply “some club is always the worst out of the 30 for PR” with the players.

It will not even matter if Baltimore turned out to be right in the long run (like they were with Balfour and Sizemore), the way this is being perceived is setting a dangerous precedent.  Players talk to each other. 

Lots of the MLBPA will not see the way the O’s chiseled a guaranteed year – and up to $15 MIL for that 4th year out Gallardo.  It looks bad, and the repercussions may end up worse than if the club signed the man, and he fell apart physically.

Matt Wieters is going to be gone for sure.  Manny Machado may out price himself in the next few years.

If you are the Orioles you can’t stop trying to acquire a Starting Left Fielder here.  Go and trade for Jay Bruce, or at the least maybe ink Austin Jackson.  That is if you are not going to blow it up by your pending physicals forthcoming.

From some of my friends who I have talked to in Baltimore, the fan base is pissed about the latest events that have happened.

It sucks because Camden Yards is a fantastic place to watch a game.  Oh, well, at least when the team is wallowing the AL East this year – $5 tickets on Seat Geek will be there to be had.

While Fowler may not have acted 100% in good faith in his dealings with the Orioles organization, who the hell could blame him?

It looks like his agent Casey Close has said the main reason why the CF rejoined the Cubs was because Chicago is giving Fowler the option to be a Free Agent again after this upcoming season, while the O’s would never agree to that, having to forfeit a 1st RD pick just to land his services.

It is time for the Orioles to regroup and activate plan D.  There is no reason to be patient here.  Perhaps if they are able to land a guy like Jay Bruce in a trade, he may provide similar offense to what Fowler would have.

Fowler was going to look great as a leadoff hitter.

Maybe Baltimore could call the Atlanta Braves to re-acquire Nick Markakis?  Having Hyun-Soo Kim, Nolan Reimold, Mark Trumbo and Ryan Flaherty receiving the lionshare of LF and RF duty is brutal when you have to compete in the AL East.

Peter Angelos, while looking half decent at times this for the winter for spending money, has a franchise that still doesn’t have single game tickets available for purchase – as they held down the same routine last year – when you couldn’t buy individual games ticket until mid March.

More bad PR for the fans to digest as most other clubs have already opened their ticket windows up.

Back to the drawing board fellas.

 

Signing Fowler would have provided Baltimore with both a Leadoff hitter and a LF. It is time for them to explore a trade for Jay Bruce or perhaps a reunion with Nick Markakis. This club is not as good as it would have been if they had Fowler. Spend the money you had appropriated for Fowler. Heck – sign Ian Desmond, and play him in a Utility role.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of bbba.work and their other members***

A big thanks goes out to our featured writer Hunter Stokes for preparing today’s post.

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