masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgLet’s take a look back at a few stories that appeared in this space in the last week. Feel free to revisit them and post some comments here today on any or all of them.
The new year began with this story from Monday expressing a wish for a quick resolution to the Manny Machado situation – essentially the hope for a trade to be completed soon. We are still waiting on that. It could be that the Orioles themselves are now less inclined to deal Machado. It could also be that they are just waiting…

Let’s take a look back at a few stories that appeared in this space in the last week. Feel free to revisit them and post some comments here today on any or all of them.

The new year began with this story from Monday expressing a wish for a quick resolution to the Manny Machado situation – essentially the hope for a trade to be completed soon. We are still waiting on that. It could be that the Orioles themselves are now less inclined to deal Machado. It could also be that they are just waiting on an offer yet to come. But will it ever come? As always, fans want action while the O’s front office is not averse to waiting things out.

On Tuesday, we looked at the possibility of a contract extension for second baseman Jonathan Schoop in this entry. Schoop hit .293/.338/.503 with 35 doubles, 32 homers, 92 runs and 105 RBIs, producing his best season in 2017. He compiled an .841 OPS and OPS+ of 123. Schoop was the Most Valuable Oriole and finished 12th in the American League MVP voting.

Schoop cannot be a free agent until after the 2019 season. If the Orioles buy out two free agent years for Schoop, a new deal could look like this:

2018: $9.1 million
2019: $14 million
2020: $18 million
2021: $20 million

That is a four-year deal worth $61.1 million. Add $22 million for 2022 and you could turn this into a five-year deal worth $83.1 million. That seems a reasonable ballpark dollar amount for Schoop. Or at least a good starting point to find middle ground in negotiations.

Kevin-Gausman-gray-sidebar.jpgOn Thursday, we posted this story about how effective both Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman were against American League East foes last year. That bodes well moving forward, as the Orioles play nearly half their games within the division.

Bundy went 6-5 with a 3.80 ERA in 14 starts against AL East opponents, as the Orioles went 7-7 in those games. Gausman went 7-5 with a 3.24 ERA in 18 starts against the division and the Orioles went 11-7.