Chris Davis is Gone, Now the Outfielders Can Be Too

Chris Davis officially came off the board this weekend when the Baltimore Orioles seemingly bid against themselves to sign the DH to a seven year deal worth $161 million deal. Davis turns 30 years old this season meaning this deal will take him almost to his age 37 season which goes to show you how expensive 50 home run power has become across the Major Leagues. I say the Orioles bid against themselves because at least publicly no other team showed much interest in Davis. Not for seven years, not for over $150 million and not for the draft pick. If I'm wrong I'll be the first one to say I'm wrong but I don't think I am this time but anyway that's a discussion for another post. This post focuses on the fact that Davis, indirectly anyway, was holding up the outfield market so now the outfield market can get a move on.

You may be asking how a DH that has spent minimal time in the outfield and at the corners in the infield can affect the likes of Justin Upton (who has since signed with the Detroit Tigers since this was written) and Yoenis Cespedes, well I'll tell you how. The Baltimore Orioles were said to be interested in Upton a huge deal but there is no way the team could afford both Davis and Upton, they were only going to get one and it seems like they preferred Upton. Also the Orioles had shown at least marginal interest in Cespedes as well but at the end of the day there is one less team for the agents of Cespedes and Upton to use against each other.

Now we have teams like the Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves and New York Mets interested in Cespedes while not many teams have come out publicly and said "Upton is our guy" just yet. But they will. The Davis signing will be the straw that finally breaks the camels back, the last domino to fall before they all start fall,  and that Jenga piece you just shouldn't have pulled out. The outfield market is coming to an end and so is the offseason. Both Upton and Cespedes will have jobs before the calendar turns to February, write it down because I just did.