November 27, 2006
Setup Signing
The Orioles are close to bringing Danys Baez into the clubhouse:
The Orioles have struck out to this point in adding a slugger to the middle of their lineup, but they are having no such problems in overhauling their bullpen. According to club sources, the Orioles have agreed in principle to a three-year deal with Atlanta Braves free-agent reliever Danys Baez, who will join recent acquisition Jamie Walker as one of Chris Ray 's primary setup men.
Baez's deal hinges on the right-hander's passing a physical, which could happen as early as today. Though exact terms of the deal aren't known, it is believed the Orioles will pay between $5 million and $6 million per season for the 29-year-old pitcher, who has 111 saves in six big league seasons.
Baez has pitched well over his six-year career, usually posting an ERA below the league average. Last season, his walks dropped, but so did his strikeouts and his ERA went up.
The Orioles blew 21 saves last season, only converting 35 of 56 opportunities for saves. Since Ray blew just five chances, most of those blow saves came from middle relievers giving up the lead before the ninth. The Orioles have to hope Baez can be better in that area.
If the Yankees signed a setup man to $6M+/yr there would be an outroar from the baseball community. Where is the outrage at this contract? I guess the Pierre and Mathews Jr contracts have softened everyone up on overpaying players. ARod, Jeter, Damon, Matsui, and Posada (and even Giambi) look like they have pretty fair contracts now, eh?
I like the Yanks approach this winter, making reasonable offers on some free agents, but not entering a bidding war that ends in a ridiculous contracts for mediocre players. Hopefully they will take the same approach with Zito/Schmidt and see what their youngsters can do.
An outroar, huh? I don't remember anybody crying about Kyle Farnsworth's 3/$17, which is close to $6MM a year.
And yes...the 2 LA teams have really loosened everyone up. I'm not being sarcastic or anything, either...those two deals...ridiculous. But the real fun won't start until the end of next season, when Ichiro, Andruw Jones, Chris Carpenter, Jermaine Dye, Carlos Guillen, Torii Hunter, I-Rod, Vernon Wells, Mike Young, and Carlos Zambrano are all set to be free agents. Many of them will probably sign extensions...but regardless...I'd say that's a pretty solid FA class.
I hear the O's are also closing in on Chad Bradford, just waiting to see if the Mets step it up to keep him.
re: Danys Baez & the Orioles
He'll help the Orioles win a pennant about as much as Joan Baez singing the national anthem will help the Orioles win a pennant.
--art kyriazis, philly