What’s the value of having a player for the 2022 season whose biggest career accomplishment is that one time five years ago he punched Birdland villain Jose Bautista and that was kind of funny? The Orioles have arrived at this answer: The MLB minimum salary. That’s what it will cost to employ Rougned Odor, since contract machinations mean it’s the Rangers who will owe the bulk of the $12.3 million Odor would have earned in the final year of a six-year, $49.5 million contract he signed before the 2017 season.
The Athletic’s Dan Connolly broke the news that the Orioles were nearing a deal with Odor on Monday evening while fans were sitting around waiting to see which arbitration-eligible Orioles would and wouldn’t be tendered 2022 contracts.