Next up for bidding is free-agent first baseman Chris Davis, most recently of the Baltimore Orioles. Born in 1986, he stands at 6 feet 3 inches tall and has led the American League in home runs in two of the past three seasons. Can we start the bidding at $100 million? The Orioles start us off at $100 million. Do I hear $120 million? Orioles again. How about $140 million? Come on, people, this is a great price for Davis, who can even play third base in a pinch! And we have $140 million from -- Baltimore. Oh, and Baltimore also calls $150 million. And $161 million. Are you guys sure you know how this works? Sold to the team from Charm City for $161 million, unless they care to make another bid!
That's not quite how the auction for Davis went this offseason, but it's not that far off. With most of the market turned off by the asking price from Davis and his superagent, Scott Boras, the Orioles were the prime bidder this winter. The question was whether Baltimore would spend enough to bring back Crush, especially after the team's initial seven-year, $150 million offer was met with the sound of crickets. After hints about pulling the contract off the table, and a proposal dangled to Yoenis Cespedes, the O's offered $161 million and closed the deal.
The O's are one of those teams stuck in the middle. They need to improve to be among the top-tier playoff contenders, but don't have enough in their farm system or enough remaining targets in free agency to make large upgrades without a lot of creativity. That left the O's in an awkward position. Bringing Davis back might have resulted in a crippling contract in future years, but not bringing him back might have meant a crippled offense in 2016.