Lost in all the hand-wringing about how slugger Mark Trumbo is the new Nelson Cruz, who cashed in on one league-leading season in Baltimore and left Camden Yards in the dust, is that they arrived here in decidedly different ways.
Cruz was an Oriole on a one-year free-agent contract, using his time here as a make-good after failing to catch on once he was done in Texas. Trumbo, however, was traded from Seattle in his final year of salary arbitration, with the Orioles taking on $9.15 million in salary.
As players build service time, the system ensures them pay bumps that some teams might find too steep.