The Orioles were able to avoid arbitration with their top three eligible players Friday, delivering them handsome salary raises for the upcoming season. But at the same time, the window of opportunity for the team to keep third baseman Manny Machado, closer Zach Britton and Chris Tillman long term is continuing to close.
That’s especially the case with Tillman, who becomes a free agent at the end of the 2017 season. At this point, it’s a matter of running out of time to negotiate – combined with the fact that there has been little negotiation to this point.