Chris Davis was, at one point in time, seen as the focal point of the Baltimore Orioles offense.
But just like the team itself, his career went downhill fast.
Davis’ name is in the news today because he announced his retirement.
Chris Davis has announced his retirement. pic.twitter.com/3QKvErwTzn
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 12, 2021
This comes in the midst of a year when he is recovering from hip surgery.
And while his contract is not yet up, he has decided to step away and ultimately help the team by opening up a roster spot.
Yet he is not leaving any money on the table.
Getting The Bonilla Treatment
Davis and the Orioles have agreed to defer the remainder of his contract, setting him up for the Bobby Bonilla treatment.
Now that Chris Davis has retired, the Orioles don’t have a single guaranteed contract on the books for 2022. They do, however, owe Davis deferred money through 2037.
— Joe Trezza (@JoeTrezz) August 12, 2021
Davis will end up receiving all of his original seven-year, $161 million contract he signed back before the 2016 season.
What this accomplishes is not using a roster spot on a player who may not even be able to play ever again.
Deciding to defer the payments is great for both sides and allows this painful era of Davis’ career to finally come to a close.
The Massive Deal And Downfall
The Orioles really thought they had a star slugger when Davis was signed to his seven-year deal.
And to be fair, the logic was sound.
Davis launched 53 home runs in 2013 en route to his first All-Star Game berth and Silver Slugger Award.
Unfortunately, he never matched those marks again.
While Davis did hit 47 home runs in 2015, it was all downhill from there.
Kudos to his agent for securing the contract and going from there.
The alarming thing with Davis was the amount he began to strike out.
He led the league with 208 in 2015, but it was seen as the cost of his power.
His 4.9 WAR masked any problems.
Yet he led the league in strikeouts yet again in 2016 with 219 in what ended up being the beginning of the end.
He posted his first negative-WAR value with the Orioles in 2017 and even got as low as -3.3 in 2018.
It was tough to watch and came at the same time the Orioles franchise opted for a full rebuild.
Having Davis around taking up a lineup spot no longer made sense, but he was too expensive to cut.
That is why he and his sub-.200 average stayed in the lineup from 2018-2020.
There was a point in time when Davis was a successful player and the Orioles essentially ended up paying him for past performance.
His 7.1 WAR in 2013 proves the talent was there at one point.
While the end of his career was bad, anything he did would not have helped the team much anyway.
However, he could have been a nice trade piece if he was even average on offense.
Alas, he is now gone and Orioles fans can move on without having to cringe every time the former slugger steps to the plate.
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