clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Orioles will likely sign Yovani Gallardo and Dexter Fowler

Thursday's Say Hey, Baseball includes the Orioles final free agent push, Kyle Schwarber's parking lot dinger and Hanley Ramirez's lost muscle.

Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Listen, we know it’s tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. There are all kinds of stories, rumors, game coverage, and Vines of dudes getting hit in the beans every day. Trying to find all of it while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn’t easy. It’s okay, though, we’re going to do the heavy lifting for you each morning, and find the things you need to see from within the SB Nation baseball network, as well as from elsewhere. Please hold your applause until the end, or at least until after you subscribe to the newsletter.

* * *

The Orioles have already spent a lot of money this winter -- they can thank Chris Davis for most of that. If they sign both Yovani Gallardo and Dexter Fowler, as it's expected they will, then they will likely have spent more on free agency than anyone else this offseason. Gallardo and Fowler would also help the O's move out of the weird spot they're currently in, where they have spent and spent but aren't any better than last year, and that's going to be necessary in a competitive AL East.

It's expected that Fowler would play right field for the O's, which would keep Mark Trumbo out of the outfield and leave Adam Jones in center. Fowler's defense is all over the place in terms of how it's valued, but a move to right will help him either way, and he's a better option out there than Trumbo, who should (and would) DH. Adding Fowler would also give the Orioles quite the lineup, as he would join Davis, Jones, Manny Machado, Matt Wieters and a Trumbo who gets to benefit from a homer-friendly park.

Gallardo isn't the greatest pitcher around, but he's survived in high-offense environments his entire career, and Baltimore's rotation is relying far too much on rebounds and breakouts. If they're to keep pace with the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Blue Jays, the Rays -- all it takes is for one or two of them to be any good to ruin the O's season -- then they need the assist Gallardo could give them.