Baseball notes: Orioles take Davis offer off the table

The Baltimore Orioles have run out of patience in their effort to re-sign free agent slugger Chris Davis.

Executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said Saturday that the team has rescinded a contract proposal to Davis believed to be in the vicinity of $150 million.

"There is no offer on the table right now," Duquette said. "At some point we're going to have to look at some other options. I can tell you this: We're going to have a good ballclub either way."

Baltimore has been persistent this offseason in its pursuit of Davis, who had a major league-leading 47 homers last season along with 117 RBI. He hit 53 home runs in 2013 and has averaged 40 long balls with the Orioles over the past four years.

Despite being considered to be a midmarket team, Baltimore put up big bucks in an effort to get Davis back in the fold.

"We've been very aggressive on that front, and it didn't yield a deal," Duquette said. "We'll have to find some lefthanded hitters to balance the lineup."

If Davis doesn't return, the list of prospective first basemen for the Orioles includes recent addition Mark Trumbo, Steve Pearce and minor leaguers Trey Mancini and Christian Walker.

Saturday's announcement of the trade for closer Ken Giles was expected to be a formality. The four players the Philadelphia Phillies were expected to receive from the Houston Astros had been widely reported. Instead, the announcement brought a surprise.

The Phillies received righthander Mark Appel, a former No. 1 overall pick, instead of outfielder Derek Fisher. They also received five players instead of four.

The Astros drafted Appel with the first overall pick in the 2013 draft. The 24-year-old has struggled in the minor leagues, but a change of scenery could help the once-promising pitcher. He was the 2012 national collegiate pitcher of the year at Stanford.

The Pittsburgh Pirates traded righthanded starter Charlie Morton to the Phillies for a minor league pitcher.

Morton was in the final year of a three-year, $21 million contract and would have made $8 million in 2016. Between Morton, Pedro Alvarez and Neil Walker, the Pirates have moved roughly $26 million in salary commitment this offseason, though the addition of pitcher Jon Niese in the Walker trade offsets $9 million of that.