Yesterday, we talked about the O’s losing Corbin Burnes, and the remaining options out there to help bolster their rotation in his absence.
Today, we’ll go over some more topics that are hot in Birdland during this – so far – disappointing offseason.
What About the Bullpen?
While I’m not as down on the Orioles front office so far this winter as many, one area where I am tending toward disappointment is with their approach to the bullpen. While I still believe they will add a capable starter, I am not convinced they will add the type of reliever they need. They made a few somewhat surprising moves at the conclusion of the season, non-tendering the contracts of Jacob Webb and Danny Coloumbe. While I can at least understand some of the thought process behind keeping Cionel Perez over Coulombe, I still feel like we may have just let our second-best reliever walk out the door.
As for Webb, I am perfectly fine with that decision. The Orioles need to upgrade the pen, and you can’t keep everyone. Webb is a serviceable but replaceable arm.
That said, I feel the Orioles need to add a legit, high-leverage arm. There are some of those guys available and that should be a priority. Mike Elias has put together some good pens in the last few years in terms of raw numbers, but I don’t feel he has had enough of the right kind of relievers. We need more big K/miss-bat type guys out there. Guys like Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffman and Jose LeClerc are some of the names that fit that bill.
I am skeptical of giving any reliever a four-year deal and I would guess Elias is too. That likely means no Scott, but I think they can add what they need for a three-year deal or less.
Another intriguing name I think is Andrew Heaney. Heaney is likely looking to be a starter but long term, I think he ends up in the pen and he could be a lights out, dominant arm out there. If a team is willing to give him more years and more money to be a reliever, perhaps he would be amenable to that.
Failing to add a high leverage arm like this, would be a failure in my eyes. While it’s nice to assume Felix Bautista will bounce back and be what he was, we do not know that for sure. Plus, you may want to rest him at times throughout the year.
The O’s are confident in their ability to find diamonds in the rough and coach them up into effective relievers. That’s all fine and good, but the time has come to supplement those players with a proven MLB fireman (to use an old term).
Do They Need to Add Offense?
I see some people talk about adding a guy like Alex Bregman. I can’t think of a worse way for this team to spend money than on an infielder, especially an aging one who is showing signs of decline. Not that I think he’s a bad player, but I think he would be a bad signing, especially for Baltimore. I know Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo didn’t look good last year, but we need to trust that the talent that everyone sees in those guys will come through.
Make no mistake about it: the Orioles will only be as good as the players who are already here allow them to be. No matter what pitchers they sign, the development of the young players already on the team is what will carry them to the playoffs or not. I personally have full faith in these kids, and I think that the O’s stand a good chance of being a much better team in 2025. The 2024 team was decimated by injuries and that was the obvious #1 cause for their struggles after the All-Star break, including in the postseason.
Get everyone healthy with a full offseason of work, and I think we see an even better offense in 2025.
That should scare the rest of the league, considering the offense was one of the best in baseball in 2024 (including still being top 10 in most categories over the second half of the season).
What About the Rest of the Division?
A theme of this offseason has been that EVERYTHING the Yankees and Red Sox have done make them that much better than Baltimore. I personally don’t understand that., While I definitely agree that they both have high upside rosters, there is a lot of downside and they have also lost a lot themselves. The Yankees have lost 15 fWAR from the 2024 team, including a likely first ballot Hall of Famer in his prime, Juan Soto. While they have brought in some very good talent, you can find warts with basically all their new acquisitions. And that doesn’t even consider the likelihood of Aaron Judge having another all-time great season. Will Carlos Rodon stay healthy? Will Gerrit Cole’s elbow continue to hold up? Lots of questions. Maybe things fall into place, but I’m not just assuming everything comes up roses in New York.
The Red Sox are similar. They will lose Nick Pivetta, and they lost Tyler O’Neill (to the Birds). Kenley Jansen may also leave. This is a team that was 10 games worse than the O’s last year. They added Garrett Crochet, who is a potential high-impact arm, but comes with a lot of risk, and they traded a good amount to acquire him. They also added Walker Buehler. While I am admittedly intrigued by his upside, he hasn’t been good for three years and is always hurt.
Like the Yankees, Boston is making big swings, but the whiff potential is there.
I also don’t think either team is done, and the Yankees will add another bat (perhaps Bregman?), but whatever they do will be risky.
Perhaps the thing that bothers me the most though is that the Orioles fan base sees these moves and thinks Elias should cower in fear and make irrational reactionary moves to counter them.
Tell me this: which is more likely? That a bunch of highly-ranked, uber-talented kids that are in or about to enter their prime continues to get better? Or a bunch of aging, oft-injured guys find the fountain of youth and get better and/or stay healthy?
Orioles fans, for years, wanted the latter type of squad. Now that we have it, the fans aren’t happy and think the teams with the aging vets are primed to dominate us.
I don’t get it. The thought process just isn’t logical.
Let’s let the rest of the offseason play out. The O’s didn’t enter the offseason with many holes, unlike other teams. They have done a good job of plugging those holes so far and hopefully Elias keeps that up.
Have faith everyone. The O’s are still an excellent team as constructed right now and they will get even better.
