UPDATE:
It's official! Retweet to welcome @CrushD19 back to Birdland! pic.twitter.com/zqDDMZRqjA
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) January 21, 2016
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UPDATE:
Chris Davis contract structure: $17m annual salary 2016-2022. Annual payments $3.5m 2023-32, then $1.4m 2033-37. No interest on deferrals.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) January 16, 2016
FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal also says the O's are in contact with starter Yovani Gallardo even after signing Davis to the huge deal.
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Once the Baltimore Orioles make the official announcement, the rumors will finally be put to rest. Slugger Chris Davis is reportedly returning to the O's on a seven-year, $161 million contract, according to Jon Heyman.
FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal adds Davis will receive a full no-trade clause in the deal, but he does not have the opportunity to opt out at all. The 2015 MLB home run champ will earn an average annual salary of $23 million, which is the same as Jason Heyward, who signed an eight-year, $184 million deal with the Chicago Cubs.
The Orioles reportedly offered Davis seven-year, $154 million contract at the MLB Winter Meetings, but he turned that down in hopes of landing a $200 million deal, various reports suggested. His agent, Scott Boras, recently began marketing Davis as a corner outfielder in order to increase his value since the demand for players seeking long-term lucrative deals is low at this point in the offseason.
As a result, reports suggested the O's were moving on from Davis since they couldn't afford to wait and lose another wave of talented free agents. Rumors indicated on Thursday that Baltimore offered outfielder Yoenis Cespedes a five-year deal potentially worth up to $90 million in an effort to replace Davis' presence in the lineup and in the outfield, but now Rosenthal says the O's are now "likely out" on Cespedes.
Baltimore had already acquired Mark Trumbo from the Seattle Mariners to begin preparing for Davis' departure, but now the lineup arguably has more power. It'll be interesting to see if the O's address the corner outfield spots and starting rotation after giving Davis a franchise-record contract. Rumors have linked them to various outfielders across the MLB (Cespedes, Upton, Charlie Blackmon, Corey Dickerson, Carlos Gonzalez, Dexter Fowler) and a few pitchers, specifically Yovani Gallardo.
Although the Orioles offered up a lot of money for Davis, the good news is that there's a much better chance they won't see a 15-game drop-off in 2016 like they did last year when they lost Nick Markakis, Nelson Cruz and Andrew Miller to free agency and failed to replace them on the roster.
Stay tuned for an official announcement on Davis.
