Vladimir Guerrero Agrees to Deal with the Baltimore Orioles

Computer issues still persist at home, but I happen to be camping out at my parents' house for easier travel to and from work this week in the ice and snow, so I've got a chance to update the blog from here.

As you can see from the title, my question of where Guerrero would end up this off-season is finally answered.  Reports are that his deal with the Orioles is for one year and worth $8 million.  He will be their primary DH, pushing Luke Scott into a playing-time battle with Felix Pie in left field.  Guerrero caps off Baltimore's anti-youth movement of this off-season.  He joins Derrek Lee, Mark Reynolds, JJ Hardy, Justin Duchscherer, and Kevin Gregg as veteran additions to the team.  It seems, though, no matter what the O's do this year, they'll still probably struggle to get as high as third place in that tough division.

The Orioles were a pain to the Rangers last year, even though they were never in contention.  Buck Showalter brought some change and improvement to the team through the last two months of 2010, so that will be something interesting to watch for in 2011.  It will suck to have to pitch to Vlad in those 9 or 10 games the Rangers and Orioles play this year, but that's better than if he had signed with the Angels or A's, and the 19 games that would go with it.

Vladdy's one season with the Rangers is obviously a memorable one for everyone involved.  It marked the first time the franchise, as well as Vlad, reached the World Series.  His bat was relatively quiet for the majority of the post-season, but it was his big double in the fifth inning of Game Six of the ALCS that helped the Rangers get past the Yankees.  He provided line-up protection for Josh Hamilton, who was able to see better pitches with Vlad looming on deck, and helped propel Josh to an MVP season.  He was an upbeat influence on the clubhouse, especially the Latino players.  I'm a bit disappointed that he won't be back for another round with us, but I can understand why the team would want to go in another direction.

Vlad's 2010 health may turn out to be the exception rather than the rule, and his numbers after the All-Star break were pedestrian, at best.  He proved in the World Series that he's not a viable outfielder anymore.  He's an over-aggresive baserunner that ran into more than a handful of outs trying to stretch singles into doubles and doubles into triples.  I don't knock the effort, but it seems at times he doesn't accept that his legs aren't 25 years old anymore and hurts the team by trying to do too much.

Still, like I said, I'll miss having him here, and I'll enjoy that he's not in our division anymore.  Thanks for helping lead our team farther than we've ever been before, Vlad.  Your part in Rangers history will not be forgotten.