MLB upstarts must spend if they want to contend

Bob Nightengale | USA TODAY Sports

They re-captured the magic the past two seasons, resurrecting franchises and making long-awaited returns to the postseason.

Yet the way the Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles are conducting off-season business, their owners seem satisfied with their mere cameos.

Major League Baseball teams are bloated with money, spending $1.7 billion - with a B - so far this winter, but these blue-collar franchises with passionate fan bases are acting as if we're back in the '50s.

You know something is horribly wrong when the Houston Astros shell out $30 million for journeyman starter Scott Feldman, and it's more money than the combined total of free agents the Pirates, Indians and Orioles have signed this winter.

"We're trying,'' says Orioles manager Buck Showalter, whose team has shed $10 million in payroll since October, "we just don't have that kind of money.

"The winter's not over.''

No, but unless the ownership of these teams start reaching into their wallets, their seasons may be.

The Pirates ended the longest losing streak in North American team sports history last year by winning a National League wild-card berth, and a town's passion was reborn. They drew 2.25 million fans with a franchise-record 23 sellouts, to go along with a 22% TV ratings increase over their previous record.

The Pirates can't afford to underrate the importance of sustaining their newfound success. Yet, all they've done is sign starter Edinson Volquez to a one-year, $5 million deal, after making sure that Charlie Morton stays put with a three-year, $21 million deal.

"It's all crucial,'' manager Clint Hurdle said. "They want a team they can be proud of, all the stuff that a blue-collar team can relate to.

"Obviously, the winning factor is the piece that's been missing. I do think they have a belief now in place that they haven't been able to hold onto. It's not just hope anymore.

"We needed to give them more of that.''

And that means giving them more than Volquez.

They still need a first baseman, a shortstop, and the return of free-agent starter A.J. Burnett would certainly help.

Not until last season had the Pirates and Cleveland Indians made the playoffs together. Yet the Indians aren't doing a lot for the perception that their playoff run may be short-lived, doing little more than signing outfielder David Murphy to a two-year contract.

This is a franchise that could lose six integral pieces of their pitching staff with starter Scott Kazmir and reliever Joe Smith already gone, and starter Ubaldo Jimenez expected to earn more money than the Indians' entire payroll.

"I'm hoping this is kind of a springboard into next year,'' manager Terry Francona said, "and opposed to a nice little year that ended quicker than we wanted. Saying that, it's going to be hard to do.''

Indeed, the Indians have watched the Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox all drastically improve on paper. The powerful Detroit Tigers are still the king of the AL Central.

And the Indians are left trying to figure out whether they should trade their ace Justin Masterson or sign him to an extension.

It's life in Cleveland, where they will always play the underdog role unless someone like Dan Gilbert swoops in and buys the franchise and starts spending like the rest of the big boys on the block.

The Orioles, who won the AL wild card in 2012 and won 85 games last year, have a golden opportunity. They have a young, exciting team and play in one of the game's most glorious ballparks.

The trouble is they're in the American League East - where the Boston Red Sox are cleaning up World Series parade confetti and the rival Yankees have already dropped $310 million to try and match them.

And the Orioles are for now spending money like they're in the International League.

"We're trying to paddle underneath the water,'' Showalter said, "and stay up a little.''

They traded All-Star closer Jim Johnson rather than pay him $10 million in arbitration. That's fine, so long as they replace him with a viable alternative. With All-Stars Chris Davis and Matt Wieters two years from free agency, the Orioles window is now; this is no time to be finishing second in bidding for necessary parts.

The price of poker has gone up in baseball. It takes a whole lot of chips to stay in today's game. If you don't have the money, it's time to get out.

If the Orioles, Pirates and Indians fall short in 2014, and go back to their losing ways, the fans won't be coming after the players or front office.

It will be owners Peter Angelos, Bob Nutting and Larry Dolan feeling the heat.

They need to decide if they want to stay in this high-stakes game.