Vladimir Guerrero joining the Baltimore Orioles is something that seems inevitable, but nonetheless, it hasn’t happened yet.
The O’s are still the only team confirmed to have offered Vladdy a contract, supposedly a one year deal for between $3 to $5 million. The holdup is that Guerrero is looking for something more along the lines of $8 million. Even that is a far cry from the 2 year deal for $16 million that he was said to be seeking at the beginning of the offseason.
The problem for Vlad seems to be that he’s past his sell by date. Most other AL teams in need of a DH have found their solution for 2011. Minnesota kept Jim Thome. The Yankees signed Andruw Jones. The Rangers are using Michael Young after Adrian Beltre supplanted him at third base. The Rays took a chance on Manny Ramirez. The A’s signed Hideki Matsui. The Angels committed significant money to bring in Vernon Wells.
So while he’s certainly still a feared hitter, whatever market he once had has dried up. His camp has tried to make the Orioles outbid themselves by floating a rumor of a better offer being out there, but that offer has never materialized, and the O’s seem to be standing firm. Maybe he just doesn’t like Baltimore?
He’s still got a gun for an arm, but his dwindling mobility have limited his value. Whenever he finally swallows his pride and goes to Baltimore, expect another big year from a seriously ticked off (read: motivated) Guerrero.