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Baltimore Orioles Make Key Decisions in Bullpen With Free Agency About to Begin

Although the Baltimore Orioles declined their club option on relief pitcher Danny Coulombe, the team is welcoming back Seranthony Domínguez and Cionel Pérez for 2025.
Sam Connon|
Aug 30, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Seranthony Dominguez (56) delivers a pitch in the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.
Aug 30, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Seranthony Dominguez (56) delivers a pitch in the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

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Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles have exercised their club options on relief pitchers Seranthony Domínguez and Cionel Pérez, the team announced Monday.

Domínguez, who came over in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies in July, will now be due $8 million in 2025. Pérez, on the other hand, will make $2.2 million.

While Domínguez and Pérez will be returning to Baltimore's bullpen, Danny Coulombe will not. The Orioles declined their $4 million club option on Coulombe for next season, making the lefty a free agent.

Domínguez appeared in 25 games for the Orioles down the stretch, finishing 17. He went 0-2 with a 3.97 ERA, 1.279 WHIP, 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings, 10 saves and a 0.2 WAR in that time.

The right-hander appeared in 50-plus games for the Phillies in 2018, 2022 and 2023, going 13-15 with a 3.23 ERA and 1.145 WHIP in those three seasons. He is now fully recovered from a UCL injury that cut his season short in 2019 and the Tommy John surgery that limited him to just one combined outing in 2020 and 2021.

Domínguez will turn 30 years old later this month.

As for Pérez, he has taken the mound in at least 60 games in each of the last three years. After going 7-1 with a 1.40 ERA in 2022, though, Pérez went 4-2 with a 3.54 ERA in 2023 and 2-0 with a 4.53 ERA in 2024.

The 28-year-old southpaw carries a small price tag considering his experience and availability, however, making it a simple decision for Baltimore to keep him around for another season.

Coulombe went 6-3 with a 2.56 ERA, 0.951 WHIP and 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings between 2023 and 2024, suggesting that he might be retained as well. Instead, he will hit the open market.

The Orioles had a bit of a roster crunch on their hands, as first baseman/right fielder Ryan O'Hearn had his club option picked up as well. And with closer Félix Bautista, starting pitcher Kyle Bradish, right-hander Tyler Wells and utility man Jorge Mateo all getting activated from the 60-day injured list, there evidently wasn't enough space to bring everyone back.

Over the course of the 2024 regular season, the Orioles' bullpen ranked No. 23 in MLB with a 4.22 ERA. Closer Craig Kimbrel was let go midseason, while Bautista was out all year recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Free agency begins in earnest at 5 p.m. ET on Monday. The Orioles have 36 players on their 40-man roster at the moment, meaning they will have the flexibility to make additions without offsetting moves right off the bat.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer covering baseball for “Fastball on SI.’’ He previously covered UCLA Athletics for On SI’s All Bruins site, and is a UCLA graduate, with his work there as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for On SI’s New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Sam lives in Boston.

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