7:51pm: Norris will earn $5.3MM on a one-year deal in 2014, marking a $2.3MM raise from his $3MM salary in 2013, Connolly tweets.
5:16pm: The Orioles and right-hander Bud Norris have avoided arbitration, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link). Terms of Norris' deal remain unknown at this time, but MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him to earn an even $5MM in arbitration heading into the 2014 season.
Norris, 29 in March, posted a 4.80 ERA in 50 2/3 innings for the Orioles after being acquired from the Astros in exchange for L.J. Hoes, Josh Hader and a 2014 competitive balance draft pick. Overall, the big righty pitched to a 4.18 ERA with 7.5 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and a 40.2 percent ground-ball rate. Though last season was his first in the American League, Norris managed to limit homers more effectively than he ever has and also matched his career-best in BB/9 rate at 3.4. He's controllable through the 2015 season.
With Norris taken care of, the Orioles have five players remaining, including their most high profile cases. As can be seen in MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker, Orioles executive VP Dan Duquette still needs to come to an agreement with Chris Davis, Matt Wieters, Tommy Hunter, Troy Patton and Brian Matusz.
Hader was lights out closing games in the MWL Championship Series for the QC River Bandits in 2013.
If Bud Norris can change his delivery, he will be in good shape.
He holds the ball for everyone to see and I think that’s a bit of a problem.
If he has a good year the O’s can extend a qualifying offer & possibly get a pick for him.
I was under the impression he had one more Arb year after this year.
Based on his current performance, I think that a qualifying offer would be a huge mistake. Bud could just accept, and then the team would be overpaying for a year out of a #4/5 starter.
Hader walked 4.5 per nine as a 19yo in A-ball last season.
This trade might look better for the Astros down the road, but using the word “great” to describe a 19th round pick who’s at least three full seasons away from making an impact at the MLB level causes me to question your current ability to operate a motor vehicle.
That seems unnecessarily harsh.
Who was the last pitcher anybody could honestly project as “great” after pitching a grand total of 136 innings over two seasons while posting a walk rate of 4+ per 9 IP? I don’t argue against the kid having potential, but throwing a “great” label on the kid at 19 before he’s played anybody with more than 15 minutes of time in pro ball is a bit extreme.