Control at what cost? Do you really want to bank on a year of control when his cap hit is going to be 35+ million? Maybe more if QBs keep signing monster deals? That's almost as bad as Vrabel's decision to punt on 4th and 2 from midfield. The notion that there is no impetus to get a deal done on the Ravens side is pretty silly given his projected cap number.
And he missed a lot of last year as well.
I mean, there has only been a few years of his career and you can point to him missing chunks of each season due to injury in most years.
I mostly agree with you. By the way, Santander played 141 games between the majors and the minors in 2019 and had no time on the IL that year. I recall that some of his missed time in 2017 seemed to be the result of the O’s manipulating his Rule 5 status, though not entirely. In 2018 he only missed about four weeks. He was in the minors when that season ended and didn’t get called up. His injury history really hasn’t been that bad.
If they are deemed ready. Means, Cobb, Kremer and Akin have been deemed ready. I am not sure about Zimmermann. He has not spent much time at AAA and he didn't do well in the small amount of time he had in the majors. Elias/Holt will be watching in ST. Is he ready or does he need some more time at AAA. Elias and Holt will be the judges.
I agree this is a transition year. Its not about winning so guys will get chances when deemed ready. But it may not be at the beginning of the season for Zimmermann, Baumann, Lowther or Wells.
But I think Tyler Wells and Sceroler have a better than average chance for the Rule 5 guys to make it as long/mid relievers. If Holt thinks he can make them decent over the season they can increase the starter depth in 2022. Winning does not matter in 2021.