It's been a week since the Orioles were being heavily linked to free agents Yovani Gallardo and Dexter Fowler. No surprise that it's a week later and there have not been any signings announced, not even the "deal done pending physical" kind. The Orioles do not rush these things, even with the date for pitchers and catchers to report to spring training coming up on the calendar, well, tomorrow.
That does not mean that talks have dissipated just because there's been no continuous string of news. On Wednesday afternoon, MASN's Roch Kubatko offered what he termed a "non-update update" to say that the O's are still confident of signing both Gallardo and Fowler, specifically because at this point the two sides are just working on money.
You'll also see in the tweet the cryptic quote that "price changed recently" - which, from the perspective of an O's fan is hopefully a positive thing. The less money they spend on these guys, the more money they can sock away for a Manny Machado contract extension or something.
UPDATE: In fact, the money question, Kubatko later elaborated in an article, is the exact opposite of what an O's fan would be hoping:
The holdup in both cases revolves around guaranteed money, according to a source. The cost apparently has risen as more free agents come off the board, and that's especially true with Gallardo, the most appealing option available as spring approaches.
If you find yourself even further underwhelmed by the prospect of signing Gallardo because, rather than trending towards a bargain price, he is apparently getting even more expensive, congratulations: You are paying attention to reality.
(end update)
Kubatko even presents the tantalizing possibility that the O's could sign Fowler even if they don't complete a deal with Gallardo. That's surely happy news to anyone, including myself, who just can't manage to get excited about the idea of Gallardo signing here. It'll probably still happen, but it's nice to know the O's could improve the outfield by getting a high-OBP player whether or not the Gallardo move happens.
Much less exciting is this one:
#orioles like Jay Bruce, but there are concerns about drop in production. It came up again today in conversation I had. OK, that's it.
— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) February 17, 2016
"Orioles like player who batted .222/.288/.406 over the past two seasons, but there are concerns about drop in production" is the kind of sentence that invites the sarcastic reply to Sherlock Holmes about an inability to find any excrement in the vicinity. Let's hope they go ahead and stay away from giving up prospects to take on that $12.5 million salary for this season.
There's been no news, but the fact that it's a week later and the team is still confident of pulling off the two signings is something interesting. Whether or not that's a positive development is something that will surely be debated from now until it happens (or not) and beyond.