Orioles owner Peter Angelos, said to have taken a strong personal interest, is in the middle of the talks, as it seems he is quite interested in keeping Davis – who hit 47 home runs with 117 RBI in 2015 – in Baltimore.
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Davis has been offered a contract by the Orioles in the $150 million range over seven years, give or take some time or salary deferment. They know that if they did not throw him a strong offer, another team would do it in a heart beat. Davis also led the majors in strikeouts this year with 208; despite being prone to slumps at the plate, Davis has been valued for his prodigious power.
The Orioles need to bolster multiple areas of the roster this offseason, and it’s fair to assume bringing Davis back would end any notable involvement they would have in the free agent market. “We tell him we love him every day”, Duquette said on MLB Network.
If Baltimore signs Davis, it would be the biggest deal in Orioles history. “Whether we can come up with the type of deal (Davis’) agent is demanding, that’s another story”.
Duquette met with Davis’ agent, Scott Boras, at the winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday.
Despite Davis coming off of a season where he dominated with his bat, the 2014 season is still well-within recent memory and may scare some teams off from making a long commitment.
The Orioles want a decision from the free agent pretty quick. “Believe me, he’s gonna make a good call where he wants to go with his baseball and his career and his life”. But if Boras had any other offers on the table, you can be sure the O’s – Davis’ presumed favorite location – would have been contacted by Boras to start the auction.
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If there is one thing Angelos and Boras know, it’s that time is nearly always against the team. I’m not privy to that.
