The Orioles had been eradicated from the postseason by the Royals yesterday, sending them into offseason mode. Basic supervisor Mike Elias spoke to the members of the media right this moment to handle varied subjects associated to the membership. Most notably, he stated that supervisor Brandon Hyde would return in 2025, although he was noncommittal about the remainder of the teaching employees. Moreover, he stated that he’s “fairly assured” that payroll shall be going up subsequent yr. Particulars had been relayed by Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner (X hyperlink) and Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (X hyperlink).
It was one other good season for Baltimore in a way, as they gained 91 video games and made the playoffs for a second consecutive yr. However, it was additionally disappointing for a lot of followers. The O’s gained 101 video games in 2023 and had a seemingly countless provide of younger expertise, which set expectations pretty excessive coming into 2024. The membership was sturdy for a lot of the 2024 season however limped to the end line with 10 fewer wins than the yr earlier than, settling for a wild card berth. For a second straight yr, they had been shortly swept out of the postseason.
The frustration will naturally result in some finger pointing, although it appears Elias isn’t putting blame at Hyde’s ft. It’s all the time robust to discern whether or not a supervisor deserves credit score and/or blame for a staff’s efficiency and there have been definitely issues that had been past the skipper’s management this yr.
Rotation accidents had been a key storyline for the O’s this yr, as every of Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells every required UCL surgical procedure in June. The membership tried to handle the rotation on the deadline by buying Zach Eflin and Trevor Rogers. The Eflin pickup labored out effectively, however Rogers struggled after the jersey swap and waas optioned right down to the minors. The rotation points had been additional compounded when Grayson Rodriguez hit the shelf with a lat damage in August, which finally ended his season. Some gamers additionally simply struggled because the season wore on, with Craig Kimbrel and Adley Rutschman being two outstanding examples.
Whereas Hyde’s contributions to the 2024 outcomes may be debated, it appears Elias and the franchise have determined {that a} new skipper gained’t be essential. The membership hasn’t been forthcoming about Hyde’s contractual standing. It was reported in April of 2022 that Hyde was beneath contract past that season as a part of an extension that was quietly labored out in 2020, however with few particulars accessible aside from that. He finally gained American League Supervisor of the 12 months honors for the 2023 season and caught round for 2024. It’s unclear if that 2020 extension remains to be going or if the 2 sides have finished one other deal away from prying eyes, however it appears Hyde shall be again within the dugout subsequent yr regardless.
Elias and his entrance workplace staff shall be tasked with constructing a roster that provides Hyde an opportunity to have a greater end in 2025. There shall be some notable subtractions, because the O’s are set to lose ace Corbin Burnes and slugger Anthony Santander to free company. The departure of Burnes will deprive them of a star who posted a 2.92 ERA over 32 begins, plus eight innings of one-run ball within the playoffs, whereas Santander’s exit takes a 44-homer bat out of the lineup.
The truth that Elias expects to have extra monetary assets to complement the roster is nice information, although it’s additionally not shocking. The Angelos household wasn’t investing a lot within the membership through the closing years of their reign. Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, 2024 was the sixth straight yr by which the membership ran a backside 5 payroll.
New proprietor David Rubenstein’s buy of the membership was formally accredited by the league on the finish of March and it’s usually been anticipated that he would ramp up spending from these latest low factors. The aforementioned Eflin commerce was maybe a optimistic omen in that regard, because the righty is owed $18MM subsequent yr. As proven in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, Kimbrel’s $13MM one-year pact is the most important deal given out since Elias took over as GM in November of 2018. Including $18MM to subsequent yr’s funds, plus the roughly one third of Eflin’s $11MM wage in 2024 that was nonetheless to be paid out, might have been a sign that Rubenstein had signed off on giving Elias extra spending energy.
That doesn’t essentially imply that Elias goes to exit and spend just like the proverbial drunken sailor. “We’ll see what occurs,” the GM stated regarding the payroll query, per Jake Rill of MLB.com on X. “We’re going to be good about it. And if it doesn’t occur for some cause, it’s not going to be as a result of the monetary assist wasn’t there. It’s going to be as a result of the individuals operating this staff thought it was the appropriate factor to do from numerous ranges on a case-by-case foundation. However I wish to reiterate that I don’t count on that to be the case.”
Finally, it might be one thing of a recent begin for Elias and his staff. They’ve seemingly had little or no monetary assets to work with, which was effective for a lot of his tenure. He and the membership had been primarily targeted on constructing a pipeline of younger prospects and have succeeded. Nearly each outlet has ranked them as having one of many prime farm programs in recent times, if not the very prime, which has allowed them to fill out their roster with younger expertise like Rutschman, Bradish, Rodriguez, Gunnar Henderson, Colton Cowser, Jackson Holliday and plenty of extra.
Some have argued that Elias ought to have had extra willingness to commerce that younger expertise because the membership grew to become aggressive in recent times, notably for extra pitching depth that might have helped them overcome their damage woes this season, although maybe the uncertainty across the membership’s future payrolls led to some hesitation to surrender low cost and controllable gamers.
How the brand new setting will change the membership’s habits shall be an attention-grabbing offseason storyline. The free agent market will characteristic numerous huge names, with Burnes the highest pitcher whereas star place gamers like Juan Soto, Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso and others shall be accessible. All of a sudden splurging on one of many prime names could be a shock however it ought to be attainable for the O’s if the need is there. Per Cot’s, the membership had a payroll as excessive as $164MM earlier than their latest rebuilding interval. They had been solely at $93MM in 2024 whereas RosterResource has them dedicated to simply $37MM subsequent yr. Arbitration raises and a few membership choices will convey that quantity up however there ought to be a lot of powder dry if the membership decides to be aggressive.
The membership nonetheless has a reasonably sturdy place participant group, even with Santander set to depart, so pitching could be the apparent place to spend. Félix Bautista is predicted to return after lacking 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgical procedure. That may bolster the bullpen, however additional reinforcements wouldn’t damage. The rotation with out Burnes might characteristic Eflin, Rodriguez and Dean Kremer. Younger pitchers like Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott might work their approach into the combination, whereas Rogers might get again on monitor after his disappointing season. Bradish and Wells might get again into the combination by midseason, however Means is slated without spending a dime company.
It looks like Albert Suárez shall be an possibility as effectively. Although he has far lower than six years of service time, gamers who return from pitching in Japan or Korea usually get provisions of their new contracts that permit them to change into free brokers no matter service time issues. That doesn’t look like the case with Suárez, regardless that he pitched within the KBO in 2022 and 2023. Per Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Solar (X hyperlink), Elias stated this summer time that the O’s would be capable of hold him past 2024.
There are a variety of choices there however there’s nonetheless an argument for making an attempt to convey again Burnes or one other proficient starter. Blake Snell is more likely to decide out and be a part of Burnes as a former Cy Younger winner available on the market. Max Fried, Jack Flaherty, Yusei Kikuchi, Luis Severino and loads of different notable names shall be on the market as effectively. As not too long ago as a yr in the past, the thought of connecting the Orioles to free brokers of that caliber would have been a stretch, however it should seemingly be extra believable going ahead.
