Davis’ return gives Orioles dominant lineup

By: Corey Johns

It’s actually funny how quick fans can flip for or against a player. After it was reported that Chris Davis rejected the Orioles initial $158 million offer in hopes of finding a significantly larger contract from another team, many wanted the Orioles to just scream at the top of their lungs that they were done with him and quickly move on to another free agent. But now that he is back after lengthy negotiations on a seven-year, $161 million contract, he is welcomed back with open arms.

It is a day to celebrate that the man who had led the Major Leagues in home runs two out of the last three years and overall in homers and RBIs in that span is back in the black and orange. He is the dominant power-hitter that the Orioles need in their lineup and with the addition of Mark Trumbo, the Birds once again look to make the most powerful lineup in all of baseball.

Davis, Trumbo, Adam Jones, Manny Machado, Matt Wieters, Jonathan Schoop; all of them have the ability to crush the ball out of the park. If J.J. Hardy can return to being the league’s top power-hitting short stop now that he is healthy, he is potentially a seventh home-run hitter I the lineup.

But it all starts with and is built around Davis. He has earned the reputation as one of the most dominant hitters in the league for a season. He’s come up with hit hits and has been one of the most productive batters in baseball for the last three season. Fans never fully appreciate their own guys as much as fans around the country might, but he is the prototypical big bat any team in the league would want as their cleanup hitter.

Because Davis has re-signed, there is plenty of reason to optimism that the Orioles can turn things around and get back to the playoffs in 2016 after missing out in 2015 but what makes it even better is that he is our guy, coming back home to lead the effort.

Davis is not a home-grown player, but he was a little-known guy who was sort of just thrown into a deal when the Orioles got him. The Orioles traded Koji Uehara to the Texas Rangers for Tommy Hunter and Davis in 2011 and at the time there was a sense that he had potential to be a good but not great power bat who would probably strike out at lot, have a low batting average and maybe hit 20-something home runs on a good year. Certainly, few expected him to be as good as he has been but he took off after he got his chance with the Orioles.

And a very underrated aspect of his game has been how good he has been becoming a full-time first baseman. Davis has worked hard to solidify his spot as the corner infielder. He was almost exclusively viewed as a designated hitter before, who might be able to contribute in the outfield if needed.

So while he is not a home grown player, he is most definitely one of the Orioles guys. He is one of the top guys the Orioles are building their franchise around and it is a delight to see him back with the team, no matter how painful the negotiations might have been.

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