Baltimore Orioles Make the Right Offer To Vladimir Guerrero

On Wednesday, I was playing around on Twitter and I tweeted “If the #Orioles offer Vlad 1 yr and $2MM, can he really turn it down? Where else is he gonna sign?”

I tweeted this not knowing that less than 24 hours later, FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal would report that the Baltimore Orioles have offered Vladimir Guerrero a one-year, $3 million contract.

If this is true—and we have no reason to doubt one of the best scoop guys in baseball—then the Orioles have absolutely made the right offer to Vlad.

In an offseason where baseball executives are handing out contracts like it’s 1999 all over again, it’s finally good to see a team have their wits about them.

Guerrero has zero leverage, so why pay him his market value?

Guerrero has zero leverage because he severely overplayed his hand. He thought he would get $8 to $10 million a year from a team like the Texas Rangers or Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

But those teams found help elsewhere and now Vlad has nowhere to go.

Vlad might sign with the Orioles, he might not, but one thing is for sure: The Orioles are doing the smart thing by offering him a contract below market value.

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