The Baltimore Orioles let closer Jim Johnson walk this offseason, and turned to former Oakland Athletics closer Grant Balfour to take over. Balfour recorded 38 saves for the American League West champion A's, and has compiled 62 saves over the past two seasons. He also incited "Balfour rage," a raucous reaction to his heavy metal intro that whipped Oakland fans into a frenzy and made late-game situations very difficult for opposing batters.
Balfour was inked to a two-year, $15 million contract pending a physical, but that examination has turned up problems that place the deal in "serious jeopardy" according to Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com.
Kubatko wrote that the issues discovered "need to be resolved." These shoulder ailments come as a surprise, since Balfour didn't hit the disabled list at all in 2013; his only medical red flag from last season was a knee operation he underwent during spring training. In 2005, Balfour had Tommy John surgery.
The disheartening news is a blow to the O's, who thought they had their new closer and let potential options John Axford and Joaquin Benoit sign with the Cleveland Indians and San Diego Padres respectively. They can't bring back Johnson either, who ironically signed on in Oakland.
In the past two seasons Johnson vastly outpaced Balfour in the saves category, reaching or topping 50 in each of the past two years, and bested Balfour slightly in ERA in 2011, although they were comparable. The Orioles were third in MLB last year in blown saves, however, as Johnson posted a less-than-stellar 3-8 win-loss record, as opposed to Balfour's 1-3. The Orioles let 27 save situations escape them, while Oakland ranked 10th in that category (20).
If Balfour's shoulder nixes the deal, the options available to Baltimore are Fernando Rodney and Chris Perez. They also may try to promote from within for the start of the season, while inking former Boston relievers Andrew Bailey and Joel Hanrahan. Balfour is 35 years old, so any serious shoulder injury could be a devastating blow to his ability to move forward as a Major League reliever.
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