The Baltimore Orioles saw one recent free agent contract hit a snag on Tuesday, while signing another free agent to a thre-year deal.
Last week we reported that the Orioles and free agent starter Yovani Gallardo had reached a deal pending a physical. Today, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports indicated that the deal has been put on hold due to issues that the Orioles identified during the medical. It is unclear exactly what those issues are.
Gallardo, 29, has been a consistent source of starts and innings. He has made 30 or more starts in each of the last seven seasons, and has never thrown less than 184 innings. He hit that mark last year with the Rangers, and also posted a career-low ERA of 3.42. For his career, he’s logged four consecutive 200+ strikeout seasons, and two seasons with over 204 innings pitched. His strikeout rate of 8.2 K/9 for his career saw a slight dip to 5.9 k/9 last season.
This isn’t the first time the Orioles have cancelled a deal due to injury issues. In 2013 they cancelled a deal with reliever Grant Balfour over suspected shoulder issues.
The Orioles reached agreement with another free agent though, coming to terms with outfielder Dexter Fowler on a reported three-year, $35 million contract. The Orioles will give the Chicago Cubs a first round draft pick as compensation for Fowler, who rejected the Cubs one-year offer earlier in the off-season.
Fowler has been a centre fielder throughout his career, but is expected to shift to right field for the Orioles who have Adam Jones manning the middle. He is also expected to be the Orioles leadoff hitter, a position they have had problems filling over the last several years.
Fowler hit .250/.346/.411 for the Cubs last season. He had 17 home runs and 20 stolen bases.
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TORONTO, ON – OCTOBER 08: Yovani Gallardo #49 of the Texas Rangers reacts after giving up a run to Edwin Encarnacion #10 of the Toronto Blue Jays in the fourth inning during game one of the American League Division Series at Rogers Centre on October 8, 2015 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
