MLB Insider Shocked by Orioles Lack of Action This Winter
There is a lot to be excited about when it comes to the Baltimore Orioles entering the 2024 season. Free agency is not on the list.
The Orioles have the best farm system in baseball, a roster stocked with talent and is coming off a 101-win season, their first season of 100 or more wins since 1980.
But, to date, the Orioles have signed just one free agent of note — closer Craig Kimbrel, who inked a one-year, $13 million deal.
One baseball insider, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, wrote that “It’s hard to believe” the Orioles haven’t done more.
Indeed, it is surprising. The Orioles are an inviting team, given all of its young talent and the success of last season.
Yet, the Orioles’ payroll is just $73 million for 2024.
Kimbrel, in all honestly, is a bridge measure for the Orioles, who will be without their closer, Félix Bautista, for the entire season after Tommy John surgery. When Bautista returns, he’ll be under team control for several more years and Kimbrel will likely be looking for a new team.
Offensively, the Orioles look set, with returning players at every position, including Rookie of the Year Gunnar Henderson at third base and Silver Slugger catcher Adley Rutschman. That doesn’t include No. 1 prospect Jackson Holliday, who is waiting in the wings, or the other five Top 100 prospects the Orioles have in their system, some of which are MLB-ready.
What is perhaps most surprising is the Orioles’ inability to bring in a veteran starter. The Orioles have talent in their rotation, but it’s remarkably young and their top veteran, Kyle Gibson, departed in free agency.
In spite of being linked to multiple free agents, most of the speculation around the Orioles is centered on Chicago White Sox starter Dylan Cease, a former Cy Young finalist who is attractive in trade because he has two years of team control left. The White Sox have set a high price.
Recently, MLB.com hypothesized that the Orioles could send three Top 30 prospects — including catcher Sam Basallo — along with infielder Ramón Urías to the White Sox for Cease. The site admitted that might not be enough, as the White Sox would likely want one of two Orioles Top 100 prospects — outfielder Heston Kjerstad or corner infielder Coby Mayo.
With a well-constructed roster, the Orioles may not need to spend that much. But the team’s window to truly contend seems wide open, meaning that spending should be happening.
In the end, it could be all about what the Orioles WANT to spend. While the O’s just signed a new lease with the city for Camden Yards, the Angelos family may not be keen on spending more money as rumors of a team sale appear to be dying down.
It may be frugality, it may be the market or it may simply be timing. But, yes, the Orioles’ lack of spending this winter is, as Nightengale put it, “hard to believe.”
