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Chris Davis TBOH Staff Pick: the AL

By Matt Veasey

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The TBOH staff believe that the Chris Davis final decision will come down to the Orioles and Astros.

Once again the TBOH staff was split in our opinion as to a landing spot for one of the many intriguing free agents on this year’s market. One of the top power bats in that process this off-season is first baseman/outfielder Davis, who has spent his eight-year big league career with the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles.

Staffers Ethan Witte and Tyler DiSalle kept Davis with Baltimore, while myself and Ryan Gerstel like the Houston Astros to woo the slugger home to his native Texas to become their new first baseman. Alexis Girardo went with the Saint Louis Cardinals, while David Mosemann sent him out west to the Los Angeles Angels.

It has been rumored that O’s owner Peter Angelos has already met with Davis’ high-profile agent Scott Boras to begin what would likely be the largest free agent contract in the franchise’ history. Ethan believes that Davis will get just that with a “5-year, 100 million” deal.

But in arguing for the Astros’ position, Ryan stated that “the Astros will be in the first base market this off-season” and feels that Davis would “fit perfectly with the Astros’ young lineup.” Ryan also noted the short left field wall at Minute Maid Park as an excellent home run target for Davis’ opposite field power.

Boras has already seen one of his clients, catcher Matt Wieters, leave the market, albeit temporarily, by accepting a qualifying offer from Baltimore. Even with accepting that offer, Wieters gets a 90% increase in salary. Boras will make his real money on the Wieters deal next year. He won’t have to wait much more than a few weeks for the Davis payoff.

The 5th round pick of the Rangers in the 2006 MLB Amateur Draft out of Navarro College in Texas, Davis actually made his big league debut with the Rangers playing in Houston on June 26th, 2009. He got his first start the following day at home against the Phillies.

At the trade deadline in 2011, the Rangers sent Davis and pitcher Tommy Hunter to the Orioles in exchange for closer Koji Uehara. Davis proved a perfect fit for Camden Yards, bombing a career-high 33 homers in his first full season with the O’s in 2012.

The following season of 2013, Davis took it a step further, blasting 53 home runs and driving in 138 to lead the American League in both categories. He posted a .286/.370/.634 slash line and finished 3rd in the AL MVP voting that year. For that fabulous performance he was rewarded with the only All-Star appearance of his career, as well as a Silver Slugger Award.

In 2015, Davis showed that he remains one of the top power hitters in the game, ripping 47 homers while knocking in 117 and popping 31 doubles. He will turn 30 years old on Saint Patrick’s Day, right in the middle of spring training. Playing first base should allow his bat to remain effective for the full five years of a deal.

My own choice of the Astros is based on that young, emerging club having a need at the position, and a fairly low payroll in the near future. Putting Davis into the middle of a batting order that already features young studs Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, George Springer, and Carlos Gomez would push them closer to World Series contender status. And again, he is a good old Longview, Texas native to boot.

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The Phillies could certainly use the big bat in the corner outfield, but first base is likely blocked by one more Ryan Howard season. Besides, the Phils are not expected to be players in the free agent market this off-season, so they are out.

Both the San Francisco Giants, who seem to be in on every big name this off-season, and the dark horse Colorado Rockies have been rumored as involved in the Davis market, along with the teams that we picked above. It appears that the Orioles, Astros, and possibly the Cardinals would be the front-runners at this stage.

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