The GM made the remarks in answering questions at this week’s meetings for all team GMs.
Hello, friends.
The market is open. Free agents are out there to be signed. A couple of not particularly earth-shattering deals came together just yesterday while general managers and some agents have the first of the offseason’s sets of meetings. The Angels agreed with veteran Kyle Hendricks on a $2.5 million contract, while the Guardians re-signed their incumbent free agent catcher, Austin Hedges, at $4 million.
You could have maybe considered Hedges as a backup catcher possibility for next year. He can’t hit but he’s good at the actual catching stuff. A fairly quick reunion with his current team suggests that he was probably always going to end up staying there.
The meetings included a media session from agent Scott Boras, who represents Corbin Burnes among the Orioles crop of free agents. Boras is known for, among other things, playing on words to sing his clients praises:
Agent Scott Boras on his client RHP Corbin Burnes: “Essentially, he continues to be a Corbin copy of his previous seasons.”
— Jake Rill (@JakeDRill) November 6, 2024
Boras is certainly going to hope that some front office or ownership group believes this about Burnes, although it isn’t true. He’s been going in the wrong direction since winning the Cy Young in 2021. Burnes started out from such a high place that he’s still been very good even while experiencing this decline, but the pattern is what it is and this idea of a seven-year deal that keeps being thrown around seems crazy to me.
Many years ago now, as catcher Matt Wieters was headed towards free agency, Boras said of his client, regarding his onetime reputation of being good offensively and defensively, “This guy is General Jackson and General Lee. He is the North and the South. He can do it all.” Except, at that point, he couldn’t! 2016 was Wieters’s worst-hitting season up to that point in his career. He had to settle for a relatively small two-year deal, which was a bust.
Closer to the present, following Mike Elias’s now-infamous “it’s liftoff from here,” Boras addressed the idea of the Orioles having made some aggressive offers by saying, “Baltimore has feathered up.” That’s what he said, but the Orioles didn’t make any notable signings ahead of that 2023 season. They had nothing to show for it.
What Boras said didn’t end up mattering. This fact also didn’t matter, since the Orioles went on to win 101 games even though they only signed Kyle Gibson and Adam Frazier. As for contract signings for Boras or any other agent’s client, the only thing that matters is what goes down in the room where it happens. Although in the 21st century it could easily be a text message chain where it happens. Wouldn’t make for as catchy of a Hamilton track, though.
Around the blogO’sphere
Mike Elias weighs in on Orioles offseason at GM meetings (Orioles.com)
Possibly the latest Elias quote that’s going to get people thinking about a substantial free agent signing that never ends up happening is: “With the sale of the team behind us, we’re in a position where, I think, (free agent) dictates will be made by the recommendation of the baseball ops department, and the financial support for things that my group wants or needs is definitely going to be there.”
Looking at several free agent predictions for Burnes and Santander (Steve Melewski)
Early expert predictions – some more expert than others – range from $196 million to $247 million guaranteed for Burnes, with Santander generating a wide range of $69 million over three years to six years and $142 million. That last one comes from The Athletic’s Jim Bowden and should be taken with a big grain of salt.
Danny Coulombe has been reliable for the Orioles. So why did they decline his option? (The Baltimore Banner)
One signal seems to be that the fastball velocity is declining and a belief that will result in other results declining soon too. For now, Elias is still acting like there’s a possibility of bringing back Coulombe, though, so who knows.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Today in 1989, Gregg Olson was named as the winner if the AL Rookie of the Year Award. Olson’s win was the first ever by a relief pitcher and came on the heels of a season where he posted a 1.69 ERA in 85 innings across 67 appearances. Tied at 3.3 bWAR with Olson were Royals swingman Tom Gordon and future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. We’ll find out on November 18 if Colton Cowser can join the list of Orioles ROY winners.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2015-16 outfielder Dariel Álvarez, 2006 pitcher Kris Benson, and 1955-59 infielder Bob Hale.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: Pacific explorer James Cook (1728), scientist Marie Curie (1867), novelist Albert Camus (1913), baseball Hall of Famer Jim Kaat (1938), musician Joni Mitchell (1943), and singer-songwriter Lorde (1996).
On this day in history…
In 1492, a meteorite struck in a wheat field in the region of Alsace in present-day France. The Ensishelm meteorite, named after the closest village, is recognized as the oldest meteorite with a precisely recorded date of impact.
In 1811, future president William Henry Harrison, then the governor of Indiana Territory, led a force against Tecumseh’s confederacy in the Battle of Tippecanoe. The nickname “Tippecanoe” stuck to Harrison and was used in his 1840 campaign.
In 1916, Jeannette Rankin was elected to Congress from Montana, the first woman to be so elected. Rankin holds the distinction as the only member of Congress to vote against US entry into both World War I and World War II.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on November 7. Have a safe Thursday.