FanPost

The Orioles lost out on Victor Martinez. C'est la vie.

By now you've undoubtedly seen the news that the Detroit Tigers have picked up free agent catcher/first baseman Victor Martinez for somewhere in the neighborhood of four years and $50 million. Which is a monster chunk of change. It's nice to see a pretty strong hitter leave a divisional rival for a non-divisional rival, so it feels like a net gain in Baltimore (sort of).

The really interesting, pertinent news of the day was that the Orioles were right there in the bidding, offering 4 years and $48 million. Which is a monster chunk of change, considering Victor Martinez would have robbed the Orioles of a top 50 draft pick and play a slightly above average first base in Baltimore.

It's exciting to be in a free agent race, and right there, too, but the Orioles dodged a bullet by not overpaying for a long-term designated hitter. In the American League East cellar, the Orioles can't really afford to overpay for that kind of player, even though the short-term gain would have been exhilarating.

But you can't deny a tinge (or more) of disappointment to losing out on another good free agent. Martinez turning down Baltimore for Detroit feels an awful lot like how a lot of players have been turning down Charm City in the past decade despite the money (allegedly) being there: Paul Konerko, Vladimir Guerrero, Mark Teixeira, Carl Pavano. It's becoming a storied history of quality free agents saying "thanks but no thanks".

That's life in the cellar of the AL East. We can talk all we want about Buck Showalter and a strong finish and the promise of Adam Jones and Brian Matusz, but in the end Baltimore remains one of the toughest sells in baseball. The direct competition and the present state of everything is almost always going to force the Orioles to pay a buck fifty on the dollar for these top guys. It's a bitter pill. It's frustrating. It's why the most important thing has been and needs to continue to be developing our core guys.

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