The Orioles faced the unenviable task of resolving contracts with 11 arbitration-eligible players, but have now signed all but one of those players.
So, what's been the cost? The Orioles will give between $21,556,000 and $22,206,000 in raises to those players, depending on the resolution of the contract of outfielder Alejandro De Aza.
Barring another significant addition, the Orioles' total payroll will be in the $118 million range, higher than last year's club record of $107 million.
And that's after losing Nelson Cruz, Nick Markakis and Andrew Miller to free agency.
Both executive vice president Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter have said a byproduct of success is that players that helped eventually get paid.
This year, it was not the big-name players who received the largest raises. Chris Davis, who is now the team's third-highest paid player, received just a 15.9 percent raise. Catcher Matt Wieters signed for just 7.8 percent more money after missing most of 2014.
But the Orioles have a group of several players who made huge jumps in salary in their first year of arbitration eligibility, highlighted by right-hander Chris Tillman, whose $3.769 million salary is nearly seven times what he made last season.
Right-hander Miguel Gonzalez and closer Zach Britton -- both in their first year of arbitration eligibility -- each received raises of more than $2.6 million. Both will net more than five times what they made in 2014.
Outfielder-first baseman Steve Pearce also cashed in on his breakout season. Pearce made just $850,000 last season, but will make more than three times that in 2015, with a base salary of $3.7 million. It comes at a great time for Pearce, who becomes a free agent after this season.
Pearce, Davis, Wieters, Norris and De Aza – as well as left-hander Wei-Yin Chen -- are all free agents following the 2015 season.
Here's a closer look at the Orioles' 11 arbitration-eligible players:
Player 2014 salary 2015 salary Raise % Raise
Davis $10.35 million $12 million $1.65 million 15.94
Norris $5.3 million $8.8 million $3.5 million 66.04
Wieters $7.7 million $8.3 million $600,000 7.8
De Aza $4.25 million $5M or $5.65M $750K to $1.4 mil N/A
Hunter $3 million $4.65 million $1.65 million 55.00
Tillman $546,000 $4.315 million $3.769 million 690.3
Pearce $850,000 $3.7 million $2.85 million 335.3
Gonzalez $529,000 $3.275 million $2.746 million 519.1
Matusz $2.4 million $3.2 million $800,000 33.3
Britton $521,500 $3.2 million $2.679 million 513.7
Flaherty $513,000 $1.075 million $562,000` 109.6