There are now 53 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day. We\u2019re getting there! WBC-participating pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota in just eight days, while the first Grapefruit League game for the Orioles is 19 days away. We\u2019re in the month where fake games will be happening! That\u2019s more fun for me than it typically is since, you know, I\u2019m sick of all of this snow\/ice lingering around.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m also kind of sick of all the speculating about Framber Valdez. Just sign a contract already, man! Get the best deal that\u2019s out there right now. I don\u2019t think anybody\u2019s going to blink and give you more. Maybe the market has gotten really weird for him and there\u2019s nothing even worth signing right now, I don\u2019t know. If nobody\u2019s even offering like 3\/100, then sure, wait it out.<\/p>\n
My suspicion is that Valdez could get that from the Orioles today, maybe he wants a few million more in AAV or maybe he wants an extra year. But it\u2019s February 1 now, and again, some people will be in camp in eight days! It\u2019s time to get some certainty here. I\u2019ve been on \u201cValdez or bust\u201d train for a while, so I don\u2019t think there are even any alternatives worth considering for the O\u2019s at this point. Zac Gallen, Lucas Giolito, Chris Bassitt, whatever, I don\u2019t care. Unless there\u2019s a surprise injury to a starting pitcher that we don\u2019t know about beyond \u201cmaybe Zach Eflin isn\u2019t going to pitch before May\u201d then they don\u2019t need any more back end guys.<\/p>\n
Perhaps for the sake of negotiating, Mike Elias needs to pretend he might sign one of those other guys. He has some credibility in making that claim. We know he\u2019ll sign a mediocre-at-best starting pitcher who nobody really wants. He\u2019s got a real track record of that and he might still do it even in this winter where he\u2019s otherwise been fairly aggressive in getting things done. I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m surprised it hasn\u2019t gotten figured out yet.<\/p>\n
Orioles stuff you might have missed<\/p>\n
Mailbag: Is it Framber Valdez or bust for the rotation?<\/a> (The Baltimore Sun)
People are wondering whether the Orioles really have any interest in non-Valdez pitchers left out there. I\u2019m skeptical, but there\u2019s no way to know for sure until we see who\u2019s left after Valdez signs.<\/p>\n