Orioles Sign Grant Balfour - Contact Voided Failed Physical

[key2win]

Y! SPORTS

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Two weeks after trading their closer to Oakland, the Baltimore Orioles agreed to a two-year, $15 million contract with former Athletics closer Grant Balfour on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the deal.

Balfour's contract will not be completed until the right-hander passes a physical, the person told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the transaction had not been announced by the Orioles.

Balfour fills the vacancy left by the trade of closer Jim Johnson, who was dealt to Oakland because Baltimore didn't want to pay him about $10 million a season. Johnson had 50 saves in each of the past two seasons but was in line for a huge raise.

''It's really about the allocation of resources and to have a competitive team,'' Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said at the time. ''You have to have proper balance.''

Balfour is the first significant addition this offseason by the Orioles, who went 85-77 in 2013 but came up short in their bid to reach the postseason for a second straight year.

Balfour, who turns 36 on Dec. 30, went 1-3 with 38 saves in 41 opportunities with Oakland last season. He made $4.5 million with the Athletics in 2013. He had a 2.59 ERA and 72 strikeouts, with 27 walks in 62 2-3 innings.

In 2012, he had 24 saves in 26 chances. In 10 seasons with Minnesota, Milwaukee, Tampa Bay and the Athletics, Balfour is 28-17 with 72 saves and a 3.27 ERA.

The addition of Balfour means the Orioles won't have to try Tommy Hunter or Darren O'Day at closer. Both likely will be tried in a setup or situational role.

[gladdyontherise]

Orioles being cheap finally worked for once, lol

[OriolesFan]

$15 million for two years to a 36 year old doesn't sound cheap to me. In fact, to me, it sounds like too much. However, almost all MLB contracts, too me, seem to be way too much. Hopefully Balfour will be able to "save" a lot of games for the "Birds" and not blow as many as Johnson did last year.

[ucffans]

"Ball-four" ranks up there with the name of Bob "Walk" as not so good names for pitchers.

[key2win]

Y! SPORTS

The agent for Grant Balfour on Friday disputed a claim by the Baltimore Orioles that the free-agent pitcher had flunked his physical with the team, thereby voiding a two-year, $15 million agreement to which the sides agreed earlier in the week.

Citing two doctors who have histories with the 35-year-old Balfour, agent Seth Levinson said diagnostic tests showed Balfour's arm to be "completely healthy," possibly setting up a fight between the Orioles and the players' union.

"Now factor into the equation that Grant was a 2013 All-Star, pitched 65 games and another three scoreless innings in the postseason with a 94-95 [mph] fastball," Levinson said in a statement through his agency, ACES. "The only reasonable conclusion is that Grant is healthy and the Orioles at the last moment changed their minds."

Balfour had shoulder surgery eight years ago to repair a torn rotator cuff.

He told the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday, "I'm the All-Star pitcher I was last season. My shoulder is fine, everything is fine. I'm ready to come out there in the ninth inning, do what I do."

For a few hours this week, the Orioles and Balfour seemed a smart, comfortable union. The Orioles had traded their closer, Jim Johnson, to the Oakland A's, Balfour's previous team, so they needed a closer themselves.

On Tuesday, the Orioles and Balfour, who saved 62 games over the past two seasons, came to agreement on the two-year contract. All that stood between the offer and consummation was for Balfour to pass a physical.

By Friday afternoon, the Orioles were hastily calling the agents for other closers – Fernando Rodney, for one – because, Orioles general manager Dan Duquette said, the team was dissatisfied with the results of the physical.

"We're going to turn our attention elsewhere," Duquette told reporters in Baltimore.

Given the possible financial ramifications of the decision, Balfour could file a grievance with the union.

[gladdyontherise]

Typical Orioles, what a poor, poor organization.