Mike Axisa of MLBTradeRumors.com posted a piece yesterday titled “Free Agents Who Are Costing Their Team Money.”  The list basically shows which free agents that signed this past off season are performing to a lower level than their contract dollars would expect.  Using advanced statistics to figure out how much a player is worth in terms of salary figures, here are the Orioles that made the list:

Position Players:

  • Vladimir Guerrero – $8MM salary, -$400K value ($8.4MM deficit)
  • Derrek Lee – $7.25MM salary, $200K value ($7.05MM deficit)

Pitchers

  • Koji Uehara – $3MM salary, -$400K value ($3.4MM deficit)
  • Jeremy Accardo – $1.08MM salary, -$900K value ($1.98MM deficit)
  • Kevin Gregg – $5MM salary, $0 value ($5MM deficit)

 
 
That is a $25.83MM total deficit.
 
 

It is obvious to fans and media alike that the Orioles are struggling.  While Guerrero, Lee, and Gregg seem to be getting a bit better, this summary puts the off season into perspective for those who claimed the Orioles overpaid for many free agents in the first place.

The Orioles signed a total of seven free agents this past season to major league deals.  Five are listed above.  The other two are Cesar Izturis ($1.5MM salary) and Justin Duchscherer ($700K salary).  With Izturis getting extremely limited playing time and Duchscherer still on the 60 day DL, they are obviously costing the Orioles money, but not significant enough amounts to be listed here.

In the end that means that the Orioles have so far completely failed at signing even one worthwhile free agent contract this off season.