The Baltimore Orioles re-signed first baseman Chris Davis on Saturday.
According to the Associated Press, Davis agreed to a seven-year, $161 million deal. The deal is pending a physical. Davis’s deal is the largest deal in Orioles history, surpassing the six-year, $72 million deal Miguel Tejada signed in 2004. Davis, who became a free agent after the 2015 season, turned down an earlier offer from the Orioles that was reportedly worth about $150 million. The Orioles had reportedly made an offer to free-agent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes this week after negotiations with Davis stalled.Cespedes is no longer in consideration for the Orioles since Davis re-signed with them.
''I've said all along, Chris is a body-of-work guy,'' Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. ''When you get through and step back, he can do a lot of things that not many people can do. He may go some at-bats and just not look aesthetically pleasing, but he's always one swing, one at-bat away. He squares up a ball, and it goes where you can't defend it.''
Davis was acquired by the Orioles in a trade with the Texas Rangers in July 2011. He had 47 homeruns and 117 RBIs last year and has 126 homeruns in the last three seasons, according to ESPN. He has 203 career homeruns.
Davis is the third Orioles player to re-sign with the team this offseason, joining catcher Matt Wieters and reliever Darren O’Day.