Chris Davis has 7-year offer worth about $150M from Orioles
— -- The Baltimore Orioles have offered slugger Chris Davis a seven-year deal worth about $150 million, a source told ESPN's Buster Olney.
Davis led the majors with 47 home runs in 2015 and has 159 homers over the past four seasons, more than any other player on the free-agent market.
If Baltimore signs Davis, it would be the biggest deal in Orioles history. The Orioles won't wait, however. They want Davis, and they want an answer from him.
Orioles general manager Dan Duquette met with Davis' agent, Scott Boras, at the winter meetings Tuesday to discuss Davis. Although Boras has a reputation for taking his time and letting the market for his clients simmer, Duquette made it clear after the meeting that the Orioles aren't interested in waiting much longer on a decision regarding Davis.
"For the clubs and the players, you have to decide at some point where you're going to play ball and who's going to be on your team," Duquette said Tuesday. "The winter meetings is one of thresholds. We're getting closer to decision time. I know that we're trying to add some left-handed hitters to our ballclub, and we've been aggressive in pursuing a couple options. So we're going to have to make a choice pretty soon."
Davis was second in the American League in RBIs with 117 this season. He also led the majors in strikeouts with 208. Despite being prone to slumps at the plate, Davis has been valued for his prodigious power. A lefty slugger, he is the only player in the past five seasons to hit at least 50 home runs, hitting 53 for the O's in 2013.
Davis' play has been instrumental in the best run in the Orioles' recent history, but a suspension for testing positive for what he said was Adderall marred the end of his 2014 season and kept him out of the team's playoff run, which ended with a loss in the ALCS.
Davis, who turns 30 in March, has also played at third base and right field since coming to Baltimore before the 2011 season.
"At some point he's going to have to make a decision -- if that's enough, or how much is enough," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Wednesday. "Believe me, he's gonna make a good call where he wants to go with his baseball and his career and his life. We're prepared to go either way. I'm not sure there was an offer. I'm not sure who's reporting all that. You know how certain things work this time of [year]. I'm not privy to that. Maybe y'all know more than I do. You know how some people use those type of things to develop other things. So I try to keep reality in mind, but I know we're interested and they've done some things to try move that along.
"But at this point, I'd like to have Chris. We're thinking about opportunities that might be around the corner for a guy like Christian Walker or Trey Mancini," he said, referring to the Orioles' first-base prospects. "There's not many people in the minor leagues that had better numbers than Trey, and Christian had another good year, too. And obviously [newly acquired Mark Trumbo] is there. And there's some other things out there. But you know, our first hope would be to bring Chris back, but the game will move on without me, without anybody. We think we've created a great opportunity for Chris, and we'll see where it goes."
Boras would not confirm the seven-year deal, $150 million offer.
"I don't know where those things come from," Boras said. "They're inaccurate. It's not accurate. Not new that those things come around, however.
"[Talks have] been ongoing. We're learning more from teams about his market and what it's doing. We've had many discussions with the Orioles. [Orioles owner] Peter [Angelos] and Dan are certainly working through the process. I don't draw lines in the sand. My job is to take information, and, unless Chris directs me to, you usually try to keep the doors open for everyone to listen and advance what they want to advance. I think when you put time frames on this, it really prevents the new idea that sometimes put deals together."
Information from ESPN's Eddie Matz was used in this report.
