If they say they are holding him back because of his defense when they are actually holding him back because they don't want him to become a super 2 that's lying.
I'm going with general wear. He's been trending down for years now. When the Giants didn't keep him it should have been a huge red flag for other teams.
He is getting looked at for back spasms.
I said they should cut him last year and turns out it would have cost the O's over 13M. I can't argue that between the Pandemic and looming labor issues it makes sense to cut him right now.