The Baltimore Orioles have some decisions to make regarding the players currently on their roster that are arbitration eligible, as there are 10 total players looking to get a pay raise for next season and a few of them will likely receive significant raises in pay.

Here are the Orioles 10 arbitration eligible players with their 2012 salaries in parentheses:

First Year Arbitration Eligible: Chris Davis ($488k), Tommy Hunter ($493.5k), Troy Patton ($483.5k), Nolan Reimold ($490.5k), Taylor Teagarden ($489.5k), and Matt Wieters ($500k).

Second Year Arbitration Eligible: Robert Andino ($1.3MM), Jim Johnson ($2.62MM), and Darren O’Day ($1.35MM).

Fourth Year Arbitration Eligible: Jason Hammel ($4.75MM)

If we were to only take into consideration performance for the 2012 season to calculate potential earnings via the arbitration process than an argument could be made that Davis, Hammel, Johnson, O’Day, Patton, and Wieters are all due substantial raises for the 2013 season. However, one year of performance isn’t the only thing that’s taken into consideration when determining a player’s salary via arbitration. Don’t get me wrong, it still matters but these players have track records which will be gone over with a fine tooth comb.

Oftentimes teams and players don’t even make it to arbitration because contract agreements are worked out before it ever gets to that. Arbitration can be a messy process and sometimes feelings are hurt which could negatively impact performance by that player the following season or negatively impact future contract negotiations. It’s generally in the best interest of the organizations and the players to avoid the process if at all possible.

As opposed to me going into great detail about my predictions for how much money these players stand to potentially earn through arbitration, I instead will go into detail about which players it would make more financial sense to offer a multi-year contract to as opposed to allowing the arbitration process to play out.

Chris Davis

Davis finally came out and showed why he was regarded as the next big slugger while with the Texas Rangers during his rookie season back in 2008. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride for him since that season but he seems to have finally put it all together, as he posted career highs in games played (139), hits (139), runs scored (75), homeruns (33), and RBI (85).

Even though Davis won’t earn a substantial amount of money through the arbitration process considering this is his best season since his rookie year, a span of four years, and has essentially become a full-time DH accept for when he filled in (quite well I must add) in right field after Nick Markakis was lost for the season. With that said though, I do see him earning as much as $2.5 to $3 million dollars if he and the team take his contract situation to arbitration as opposed to getting a deal done before hand.

If neither side can agree on a multi-year deal to buy out the last few years of his arbitration eligibility along with his first year of free agency then a one-year deal in the $1.5 and $2 million dollar range wouldn’t be surprising. However, if Davis has another strong season like the one he just had – or continues to improve his average and on-base skills – then he could quickly elevate his value on the open market and in sequential arbitration years which would turn him into an $8 to $12 million dollar a year player easy.

My recommendation in this instance would be to offer Davis a four or five year contract extension worth between $3 and $4 million dollars a year to see if that long-term security would be something he’d be interested in exchange for his arbitration years and first year or two of free agency.

Jason Hammel

Hammel came out of the gates at the beginning of the season and established himself as the best starting pitcher in the Orioles rotation, period. He essentially became a completely different pitcher by overhauling his arsenal with a two-seam fastball that he was able to induce ground balls at will with. The result of that transformation was a 3.43/3.29 ERA/FIP over 20 starts and 118 innings of work, while inducing ground balls at a 53.2% rate – the 11th best rate among starting pitchers in all of baseball.

He probably won’t earn much more than the $4.75 million dollars he was paid this past season if he goes through the arbitration process, mostly due to health concerns, but if he and the team do decide to go in that direction than it’s conceivable he could earn as much as $5.5 to $6 million dollars for 2013.

Given the Orioles need for continued stability in their starting rotation, and the fact that Hammel has proven that he can pitch very well in the American League East, a multi-year extension with Hammel should probably become priority number one for the team this offseason. This is Hammel’s last year of arbitration eligibility before becoming a free agent after the 2013 season and the fact that he’s the lone veteran on the staff at this point and he’s great in the clubhouse it would be surprising if the Orioles did not work out a multi-year deal with him.

As long as his knee really is okay and he won’t require an additional operation to clean it up then a three year deal for somewhere between $15 and $20 million dollars would be a very fair contract for both sides to agree to.

Matt Wieters

The trend around baseball over the last few seasons is that teams are doing everything they can to lock up their catchers, the ones with premium talent and high upside anyway, at an earlier period in their careers than ever before. The reason for that is due to the fact that quality catchers are becoming more and more difficult to find on the free agent market, or via trade, and it can take years to develop a catching prospect into nothing more than a suitable backup fairly often.

Even though Wieters has shown the tendency to be quite streaky from time to time, he is still one of the top young catchers in all of baseball on offense and even more so on defense. He has great instincts behind the plate, handles the pitching staff very well, and has threw out 39 percent of would-be base stealers on the year – which is the highest mark in the American League. If there was ever a perfect time to lock up a young player, now would be it for the Orioles concerning Wieters as he has yet to “break out” in a big way but is still worthy of a long-term contract that would buy out his arbitration years and at least a year of free agency.

The biggest obstacle to getting a long-term deal done with Wieters though will be his agent, Scott Boras, as he is a master at getting the most monetary value for his clients and the fact that Wieters plays such a premium position only drives the cost up. If Wieters were to go through the arbitration process this first time around don’t be surprised if he earns himself a salary somewhere between the $3.5 and $4.2 million dollar range.

The record for first-year arbitration eligible catchers though was set by Russell Martin when he earned $3.9 million in 2009. You can bet that Boras has his sights set on beating that number if the Orioles decide to let the arbitration process handle things, but they’d be smart not to let it get to that point. A six year deal worth approximately $40 to $45 million dollars would be a reasonable offer to get things moving along with their All-Star catcher and would go long way towards further solidifying their lineup and defense behind the plate for years to come.

Lance Rinker
Lance Rinker

Lance is the Managing Editor for Konsume, a crowd-sourced news platform driving passionate journalism.

In addition to his work on BSL, you can find Lance’s extended portfolio at his profile on Konsume and you can follow him on Twitter.

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