WEDNESDAY: The Orioles officially exercised Ayala's option today, the team announced.
MONDAY: The Orioles will exercise their 2013 club option for right-handed reliever Luis Ayala, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports (Twitter links). Though a formal announcement won't come until later in the week, executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette made it clear the Orioles intend to retain Ayala.
"Ayala had a good year and he has a reasonable contract. There's value there to the team," Duquette said.
Ayala will earn $1MM in 2013 instead of obtaining a $1MM buyout. The 34-year-old posted a 2.64 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 75 innings of relief work this past season. The Orioles have two days to decide on Mark Reynolds' $11MM club option for 2013. They're expected to decline, since he'd earn less than $11MM through the arbitration process.
Mike Axisa contributed to this post.
chicothekid
He can earn 1M or have a 1M buyout? His ERA was 2.64.
Hm, which option to decide?
cano24
100k was the buyout, not 1 mil.
Megan McDonald
“Ayala will earn $1M in 2013 instead of obtaining a $1M buyout.” How did this sentence ever make its way past an editor?