First off, let me be the first (and certainly not the last) to wish all Baltimore Oriole fans far and wide a very Happy New Year. It's hard to believe that we're right back at January 1st; didn't we start last year at this very spot?! Speaking of last year, that's exactly how we can now refer to the 2010 baseball season; last year or last season. From this point forward, this year will refer to the upcoming 2011 season, which is shaping up to be quite the spectacle in Birdland where there seems to always be more than meets the eye.
So before Andy MacPhail retired to his own New Year's Eve plans, he managed to get free agent first baseman Derrek Lee on board. I'll be very honest in saying that this threw me for a bit of a loop because I always thought that they'd end up with LaRoche. The Orioles had offered LaRoche a three year contract prior to the holidays, which was reportedly worth approximately $18-$21 million, but he balked on signing it. This tells me that he was using the Orioles' offer either as leverage for someone else, or keeping it in his back pocket in case a better offer came around from a "contender." (On behalf of the Orioles, that's incredibly insulting.) Now the joke's on him, because that offer is gone.
LaRoche wanted a three-year contract, which the Orioles were willing to do for him. Go figure, they only signed Lee for one year (I might add that this contract is still pending a physical). The fact that the contract is only for one year is interesting to me. As everyone knows, Prince Fielder of the Brewers is going to be a free agent after this season. Certainly he's a player that the Orioles would love to have, but is that a reasonable goal? Whether it is or is not, inking a first baseman to a one-year contract clearly states that the Orioles want to keep their first base options open after this season. It could also mean that they're hoping Brandon Snyder will be ready to be the everyday first baseman in 2012. This is not to say that Derrek Lee might not be the starting first baseman in 2012 either. Only time will tell, but let's focus on this year for now!
That aside, I think that this is a solid move for the Orioles, who have now solidified their infield (and perhaps their outfield) for this year. While Lee only hit 19 HR's last year, he put out 35 in 2009. Lee was also injured in 2010; he played with a bulging disk in his back for much of the season, and he had surgery in November to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb. The good news is that after being traded to the Atlanta Braves in the end of the year, he did improve his production. Overall, Lee's a career .282 hitter, with 312 HR's, and 1019 RBI. He also has a career fielding percentage of .994. With this signing, the Orioles will have an entirely new infield in 2011, with the exception of Brian Roberts at second base. Your double-play combination will be Reynolds/Hardy-to-Roberts-to-Lee.
With this signing, that means that Luke Scott will remain in the outfield, or at DH. If Nolan Reimold remains on the active major league roster going into the season, I would suspect those two would platoon in left field and at DH. As we know, Reimold was sent back to Norfolk in disappointing fashion last May after struggling mightily, however he seemed to play much better when he came back after September call-ups. Let's be clear, this Derrek Lee signing is not Mark Texeira to the New York Yankees, however it will add some pop to a lineup that was already looking perkier than it did in the doldrums of 2010. Let me also add that with the arrival of January, we're now in the last full month without formalized team activities. The voluntary reporting date for pitchers and catchers is February 13th!
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