Mike Elias Shares Surprising Take on Which Unit Will Be Strength of Baltimore Orioles

At this point in the offseason, there aren't many ways for teams around the league to make some game changing moves, something that could ultimately plague the Baltimore Orioles.

General manager Mike Elias stated they're going to remain active when looking for ways to improve the roster via free agency and trades, but barring another blockbuster trade late in the winter to bring in an ace-caliber arm, the Orioles will enter the 2025 campaign with a roster that looks worse on paper.

Of course, that could change.

Jackson Holliday could take the next step in his career and show why he was considered the consensus top prospect in baseball for years. Tyler O'Neill and Gary Sanchez could replace the departing power left behind by Anthony Santander. Coby Mayo and Heston Kjerstad could turn into solid bench pieces.

However, it's one area of the pitching staff that Elias is confident in right now.

"I think the bullpen is also going to be a big strength of this team with a lot of experience and also upside and just all-around talent there and a lot of hard throwers," he said per Roch Kubakto of MASN.

That's surprising on a couple fronts.

First, Baltimore's relief staff ranked 23rd last year with an ERA of 4.22.

While bullpens are notorious for having year-over-year changes either positively or negatively, it's hard to imagine that the return of Felix Bautista is going to completely revamp this unit to the point where they are one of the best aspects of this team.

Second, there are some fresh faces in the bullpen alongside some volatile arms.

Everything could work out, something Elias seems to think will occur, but if the new additions don't perform up to expectation and the hot-and-cold pitchers aren't able to deliver consistent results, they could be looking at another tough performance.

But, there is also good reason why the Orioles boss is feeling this way; depth.

Despite losing Corbin Burnes, this seems to be a deeper pitching staff than they had last season based on the number of pitchers who got experience due to injury.

Following the signings of Tomoyuki Sugano and Charlie Morton, Baltimore seems poised to move Albert Suarez into the swingman role, giving their bullpen one of the best arms on this roster. That then pushes other people into some more natural roles, along with having Bautista closing out games instead of a makeshift group.

In 2023, the Orioles relievers ranked fifth with a 3.55 ERA and in 2022 they ranked ninth.

There is more reason to believe they'll get back to that type of performance than what happened last year when they were decimated by injury.