Then among the most threatening sluggers in baseball, Orioles first baseman Chris Davis re-signed with the team on a seven-year, $161MM contract prior to the 2016 campaign. Davis was coming off a 47-home run, 5.4-fWAR season at the time, but his output has tanked since he signed his contract. The lefty swinger was stunningly unproductive from 2018-19 – an 854-plate appearance run in which he hit .172/.256/.308 with 28 HRs. Davis easily ranked last in the majors in fWAR in the process, accounting for minus-4.5.
The 33-year-old Davis, cognizant of how far he has fallen with the Orioles, admitted Monday (via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com) that he recently considered retiring. “I’d be lying if I told you that wasn’t at least talked about toward the end of the season last year and this offseason,” he said. “I know what I’m capable of. I know what I expect of myself and I don’t want to continue to just struggle and be a below-average, well below-average producer at the plate. And I don’t think that’s fair to these guys. And I don’t think, honestly, it’s fair to our fans, or to anybody that’s associated with Baltimore.”
For now, Davis is hanging around and hoping for a better showing in 2020. If that doesn’t occur, though, it’ll be interesting to see if he walks away or the Orioles cut him. The soon-to-be 34-year-old still has another $69MM left on his contract (including deferrals), so an early breakup wouldn’t be easy for either side.
- Speaking of uncertain futures, Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo is going into the last season of his own lucrative the deal – the seven-year, $130MM contract he inked with the club before the 2014 campaign. It could prove to be the final season in the majors for the 37-year-old, who hasn’t decided whether to play in 2021, per Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram. If Choo does elect to play past this year, though, he’d like to remain a Ranger, according to Wilson. Overall, the gamble the Rangers took on Choo in free agency hasn’t necessarily worked out as planned, but he remains a solid offensive player and an on-base machine. Choo slashed .265/.371/.455 with 24 home runs and 15 stolen bases in 660 trips to the plate last season.
- Tigers left-hander Joey Wentz halted his live bullpen session Monday as a result of forearm soreness, Chris McCosky of the Detroit News writes. Wentz brushed it off as fatigue, though it could still be worth monitoring going forward. After all, Wentz is one of the most promising arms in the Tigers’ system. The 22-year-old joined the organization last July in a trade with the Braves centering on reliever Shane Greene. Wentz then finished the season in dominant fashion as a member of the Tigers’ Double-A team, with which he pitched to a 2.10 ERA and put up 13.0 K/9 against 1.4 BB/9 across 25 2/3 innings.
Always hilarious when a player acts like he is going to walk away from tens of millions of guaranteed dollars.
Seems to be precisely what Chris is saying. I’ll take him at his word.
For a 37 y/o DH, I’ll take Choo’s production all day. That 21MM per year hit though…
~$18.6 million?
If I’m the O’s and Davis I think you just have to realize it’s a delicate situation. I’d say this should be his last real chance to bounce back. If that doesn’t happen, they should work something out. I’m sure they have enough respect for each other where a mutual termination could be in the works where he’d get about half the remaining money. It would save the team half it’s guarantee and Davis the humiliation of riding the contract out on his steep decline.
I really do hope he manages to return to something of his former self though, it’s been just sad to see what has become of him.
I hope he marches out there everyday until that contract is done. There are records to break here and we need to consider the stories these players live for us and our children.
Feel similarly. His former self was a terrific presence in the middle of the O’s lineup. I’d love to see that back.
I really think Chris has given it everything. This offseason he worked hard on things but if there’s not a sure sign of some return to form, he’s done. The only question, as mentioned, is how that will be handled.
I wonder if there is another garbage contract that the Orioles could trade Davis for ?
The Yankees sent Kenny Rogers to the A’s for a .200 hitter named Scott Brosius, who became World Series MVP (Rogers did pretty well too).
Change of scenery ?
Choo should come back in 21′ on a 5 – 10 million dollar deal. He is so valuable to the Rangers, when he gets on in the first inning, he almost always scores. Such an asset to the team, and he’s been the leadoff hitter for god who knows how long. Such a nice guy too, he’s one of my only autograph’s,and I got to talk to him in person. And while I was talking to him, he seemed like he wanted to talk to me (which he did), and it struck me as being so inviting, he’s such a nice guy, and I hope we bring him back. I’ll be riding the Choo train until I die.
Does Choo’s wife know you ride his train? In the spirit of this comment stream’s vector. No hard feelings. Unless you want hard feelings.
In the 10 years or so that I’ve been reading this site, the comment section has really going downhill thanks to commenters like you. It used to be purely about people openly talking baseball. Now it’s filled with immature garbage like this and insults.
You must be really fun at parties.
So original
Hahahahaha. Jokes about guys liking guys are funny.
Are moderators still on here? Two heteronormative jokes in one reply section. Yikes.
Quit the site.
You are annoying
You aren’t funny no matter how hard you try.
Generally speaking… any player that gets on base is valuable regardless of if they gave you a personal belly rub one time.
Davis owes them no money back. They offered the contract and he accepted. He deserves to be paid.
Well he’s contractually and legally obligated to be paid… “deserves” or earned are debatable.
(Davis)Against RH pitching he had 109 SO in 246 AB’s. Minus his walks, he only had 105 chances to hit the ball against RHP. If you look at his season by season hit totals, he has never hit much in his career. It’s all about the HR drop. I guess he already has been to the eye doctor. With the juiced baseball he should be hitting 70 HR’s plus. Just like life, things in baseball don’t always go as planned.
Choo gets a lot of hate for his contract, and while he is overpaid he has still been a very solid player for the Rangers while also being a respected leader in the clubhouse. I feel like if his deal had been for even just $95 million his perception as a player would be a lot more positive.
If Davis endures another horrendous season in ’20 perhaps he and the Orioles could work out a buyout of some sort.
You can’t buy out a guaranteed contract, only an option. And this isn’t a Céspedes situation. He would only lose money if he retired early or was suspended without pay for some reason. Though the deferred money does complicate things a bit.
Not sure about MLB but in the NBA you can buyout contracts. In the NFL and NBA you can restructure deals.
I’m sure the Orioles can approach Davis about amending his contract, which if he agrees to, I’m sure wouldn’t violate anything.
Nobody in baseball really had a reason to negotiate a contract restructure since mlb deals are guaranteed. Last pure restructure I recall was Bobby bonilla
Perhaps buyout is the wrong word, but restructure at the very least. That’s how the Yankees got Arod off the roster after the 2016 season…buy restructuring his last year and using him in other areas of the organization.
This is the same team that traded for Mark Reynolds years ago. The Orioles during that period were so consumed by home runs it was ridiculous.
I hate the RS owners allowing the Brockstar to leave when we all know he wanted to stay, unlike Mookie n Price. And Porcello wanted to stay, n I’m sure he’ll go n have a great yr with the Mets. Noooooooooooooo the Brockstar is gone!!!!!!!!! I’m gonna really miss him bad.
As a longtime orioles fan i wish the team would just cut ties with Davis. He is a waste of money and roster space given that he has stated in other local articles he will not make any changes to improve his chances of making contact. I am so tired of watching him look at strike three to end an inning.
And to think the Tigers were allegedly considering signing Davis. Imagine his contract along with Zimmy, the Fielder and the Verlander payments? Throw Miggy’s $34MM in there and you are talking serious money.
I’m excited for next years books to be cleared! I just hope we don’t find ourselves in the trap we’re in now. Any deal over 5 years is not worth it IMO. Higher AAV for min years, or move on. This team needs to play for division winner, which is 100% manageable. Anything after that is gravy.
They would’ve been even more in cap space Hell than they already were. Well, considering that I’m a Yankees fan, I’m used to that crap lol..
The question I have is how much work is Davis putting in to get better.
Davis is hurting the team more than he is helping. He’s virtually a guaranteed out every time he steps in the box. That’s just the logistics of it and most importantly he’s taking up a roster spot from players like Ryan Mountcastle.