Rays sign Grant Balfour to two-year, $12 million deal

With Grant Balfour slotted into the ninth inning on a ridiculously team-friendly deal, Tampa Bay looks like a serious contender in the AL East. And even though they typically come out on top in the trade market, winning games is still the ultimate goal.

General manager Andrew Friedman has expressed concerns about the team’s projected $72.8 million payroll, so the team could still look to move Price to get their budget to a more acceptable figure. Price is set to earn $14 million next season thanks to the one-year deal the two sides came to in order to avoid arbitration.

Balfour took issue with the reports, opting to provide his own medicals that he received from Tampa Bay team doctors. It was originally believed that the Orioles found something wrong with Balfour’s shoulder, but the most recent reports indicate their concerns arose because of issues with Balfour’s wrist and knee.

At $12 million, the Rays have landed one of the market’s best relievers at a substantial discount. Balfour has dealt with injuries in the past, and he’s pushing 40, but Tampa Bay is only risking $6 million a year on the deal, and their medical staff has already given him a clean bill of health.

Although a shoulder injury would be a much more troubling diagnosis for Balfour’s present and future, his knee and wrist were big enough concerns for the O’s to back out of the deal. No details on the severity of these issues have been disclosed.

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Over the air, Balfour told Duquette that he did not believe there is any cause for concern over his health.

“[I was] disappointed, I had hoped to help the O’s to go to the WS,” Balfour said. “I haven’t had a DL stint in 8 years and 2 doctors said I was healthy.... I don’t have to prove that I’m healthy, I am healthy.”

On Tuesday, it appeared that the Orioles had settled on a new closer in Grant Balfour, as they agreed to a two-year, $15 million deal pending a physical. However, Baltimore found some concerns with the righty’s surgically-repaired shoulder and quickly backtracked. Though Balfour has not had trouble with his right shoulder since the 2005 procedure, Connolly notes that the Orioles are particularly cautious when dealing with players with past shoulder issues. Though Baltimore GM Dan Duquette says that he won’t slam the door on a potential deal with Balfour, he will turn his sights in another direction.

Rodney’s numbers came down to earth in 2013, and though his ERA was 3.38, his 2.84 FIP indicates that he pitched slightly better. The soon-to-be 37-year-old northpaw has proven to be very durable over his major-league career, save for the 2004 season, in which Rodney sat out the year while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

The right-hander reportedly had a bigger offer on the table from another club, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, but turned it down because he “likes the Orioles’ situation best.”

The deal includes $500,000 in deferred money for each of the two years, meaning that Balfour will be paid $14 million in 2014-2015, then get the final million in at some point in the future. Contracts designed this way -- like Bobby Bonilla’s epic pact with the Mets -- are usually orchestrated to give the teams a tax break in the present.