Anyone watching the Baltimore Orioles' offseasons of late has to admit one thing -- they are predictable. They wait for the free-agent market to take shape, and then, where possible, strike late to get their man at vastly less than that player's original asking price.
Exhibit A would be outfielder Nelson Cruz's 2014 signing. Let him have a monster season at roughly $7-8 million less than what he is worth, and then let someone else pay him what the market will bear.
Then there is the Orioles' total disdain for giving players opt-outs. It's understandable, but hardly player-friendly to allow the market to squeeze a player's value below what it should be and try to trap him in at the lower rate. The club argues, "Hey, we are guaranteeing him a level of compensation, and if he has a sub-standard year, he won't offer us anything back."
