How do early Orioles’ careers of Henderson and Machado compare? | MAILBAG

Question: How would you compare Gunnar Henderson to Manny Machado at the same time in his career? Machado was the last homegrown superstar the O’s had. From: David Lando

Answer: David, Henderson is ahead of Machado statistically for the first three years of his career. Machado had a knee injury that resulted in surgery that limited him to just 82 games in 2014. That was his third season, and Henderson played well enough to finish fourth in voting for the American League Most Valuable Player.

Over their first three seasons, Henderson had a 16.2 WAR (Wins Above Replacement), and  Machado had a 9.7 WAR.

Henderson hit 37 home runs and drove in 92 runs last season, figures that Machado didn’t approach until his fifth season, 2016. Of course, Machado had two Gold Gloves and a Platinum Glove by then.

It’s an interesting comparison, and I guess we can look at it again a year from now.

Question: Would it be advisable to sign John Means to a minor league contract with incentives if he makes the club at any point? From: Julius Silvestri

Answer: Julius, I’ve gotten a lot of questions about John Means this offseason. While it’s possible the Orioles sign the starting pitcher to an incentive-laden contract, I would think it would be a major league contract, and might not be any time soon.

I think they’ll wait until he’s further along in his rehabilitation.

Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.