Grant Balfour's two year, $15 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles is off following concerns that Baltimore's medical staff had with Balfour's right shoulder.
The 35-year old Balfour had surgery on right his labrum and rotator cuff in 2005, four months after he had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. Balfour hasn't missed any time because of the shoulder since the initial recovery period from the surgery, but did miss four days in Spring Training of 2009 thanks to a contusion on his right elbow.
The timing on Balfour's shaky medicals couldn't have come at a worse time for Baltimore. Reliever Troy Patton was handed a 25-game suspension for amphetamine use on Friday morning that will sideline him for the first 25 games of the 2014 season, Free agent relievers John Axford and Joaquin Benoit, both of whom were on the Orioles' radar, signed with the Indians and Padres respectively this week. Baltimore's attention is now turning to Fernando Rodney, who comes with substantially more risk than Balfour and may also command more money as well.
