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LOS ANGELES -- The best baseball team money can buy is no longer in the Bronx. It's in Baltimore, where the state bird is the oriole and the state plant, apparently, is the money tree.
If Oriole owner Peter Angelos always has wanted to put up his money to buy a pennant, he has a general manager only too happy to oblige.
Pat Gillick has gone on a shopping spree that could melt a credit card. His newest purchase is second baseman Roberto Alomar, a free agent who signed a three-year deal for $18 million Thursday.
Since Gillick took the job Nov. 27, he has added five players and the Orioles now have a payroll of more than $45 million. The next item of business is to talk to the first- and third-base coaches, who next season will be flashing dollar signs.
Alomar, a six-time all-star, joins recent additions Randy Myers, B.J. Surhoff, Roger McDowell and Kent Mercker.
"This signing is testimony to Peter's commitment to bring a championship back to Baltimore," said Joe Foss, the Orioles' vice chairman of business and finance.
It could have been an even greater commitment, but the New York Yankees gave pitcher David Cone a three-year, $19.5 million contract -- the highest average salary ever for a pitcher. The Orioles offered Cone $17.75 million for three years.
In five seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, Alomar averaged 11 homers, 90 runs scored, 68 RBIs and 41 stolen bases. He has batted .300 or better in each of the last four seasons and earned his fifth consecutive Gold Glove in 1995.
Alomar's deal calls for a $2 million signing bonus, $4 million in 1996 and $6 million the next two seasons. The Orioles will defer $1.7 million in each of the first two years and $1.6 million in 1998.
Cone decided to stay with the New York Yankees after keeping both the Orioles and George Steinbrenner waiting for a week.
Cone, who began last season with Toronto, was 18-8 with a 3.57 earned-run average for the season and 9-2 with a 3.82 ERA with the Yankees.
"I think he just decided he wanted to be in New York," said Cone's agent, Steve Fehr.
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