The Orioles and left-hander John Means have avoided an arbitration hearing by agreeing to a two-year, $5.925MM contract, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). Means will earn $2.95MM in 2022, and $2.975MM in 2023, as per Baltimore Baseball’s Rich Dubroff (via Twitter). Means is represented by the Wasserman Agency.
Means had been looking for a $3.1MM salary in 2022, while the Orioles submitted a $2.7MM figure. However, it’s probably safe to assume that Means’ Tommy John surgery played a big role in this extension coming together, even if an arbiter would have only been gauging Means’ numbers from prior to 2022 in determining his salary. As per the usual timeline for TJ recovery, Means will be out of action until at least midway through the 2023 season. The extension reflects that situation, giving Means only a minor raise for next season considering that he’ll be missing so much action.
Talking to The Baltimore Sun’s Andy Kostka and other reporters, Means said the two sides finalized the extension yesterday after negotiating for the last week. “It’s nice to not have to go to court and fight [in arbitration]. Especially in a sling. Probably not the best way to go about it,” Means joked.
The new contract locks in some financial security for Means during a difficult time in his career. While there’s never a good time for a Tommy John surgery, 2022 was the first of Means’ three arb-eligible seasons, and thus his rehab will severely impact his earning potential over his next two years. Considering that he’ll miss so much of the 2023 campaign, Means likely won’t earn too much beyond his $2.975MM salary in 2024, assuming he returns healthy and pitches well whenever he does return to the mound next season.
Means somewhat surprisingly emerged as the de facto ace of the Orioles rotation in 2019-21, bursting onto the scene with a second-place AL Rookie Of The Year finish in 2019. Over his first three seasons, Means posted a 3.73 ERA, relying on excellent control and fastball spin (if not velocity) to retire batters, despite allowing a lot of hard contact and not racking up many strikeouts. Means’ Baltimore tenure was highlighted by a no-hitter against the Mariners on May 5, 2021.
We knew they wouldn’t non-tender him after the season but at least he and the team can rehab without contract distractions hanging over head
Did they run this past the Ways and Means committee?
Yes, Schiff declared this Contract a UFO
UFO meaning, Understandably Fair to Orioles?
inévitable with the TJ diagnosis that he should take the contract
Oh joy, plays for a winning organization
He will be by the time he comes back from TJ
Ha. Oh, you’re serious?
A good shot at being a winning organization, indeed. Why? Since ownership reigns were turned over to the Angelos sons, the baseball people are making the baseball decisions. No more owner involvement in the “game” part of owning an MLB team. With this new style of ownership in place, here’s hoping Elias and crew are the right baseball people to make the O’s a WO once again. I like what they’ve done so far. Fingers crossed!
Honestly this was going to be a Chaim Bloom target, signing guys off of TJ and giving them an opportunity to prove themselves is what he does. I definitely thought Boston might even of traded a prospect for Means. I like a couple of the Orioles pieces they had coming into the year, their biggest weakness is pitching depth. I see and understand the direction the team is going, there will be no easy wins in the AL East soon.
How does Bloom target Means when his present team has the potential to control him through the 2024 season? Suggesting the Red Sox would sign Means coming off his surgery makes no sense.
This seems questionable for the Orioles. $6M for maybe a half season of pitching, while he’s being built back up?
Cost certainty over having to go through arbitration is better for team and player