Baltimore Orioles Could Finish in Fourth Place of AL East This Season

The Baltimore Orioles have had a puzzling offseason, and it could result in the team falling down the ranks in the American League East.

Jul 27, 2022; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias stands oil the field before the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

There is no question the Baltimore Orioles have made transactions that have changed their roster this offseason.

Activity for the sake of being active is not a good thing, however, and the majority of the moves the team has made, have been just that.

Adding aging veterans Tyler O'Neill and Gary Sanchez remains the most puzzling of the transactions this winter, while their best move has been adding... aging veteran Charlie Morton?

While the Orioles have been busy scouring the market for mediocrity, the rest of the American League East has surpassed them with ease. Excluding the Tampa Bay Rays, of course.

The New York Yankees passed Baltimore in 2024, even making it as far as the World Series, and have gotten better this offseason.

The Toronto Blue Jays added former Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander through free agency along with Andres Gimenez and Max Scherzer, and still have Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette.

The Boston Red Sox have even improved their chances at contention after acquiring Garrett Crochet from their feet-warming brethren the Chicago White Sox while also signing Walker Buehler.

It is easy to see the American League East has, once again, regained its crown as the best division in the American League, and it is with no thanks to Baltimore.

Of course, injuries always have to be accounted for, and while the Yankees have improved their roster immensely with Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger and Max Fried, Giancarlo Stanton still remains a fragile pane of glass in an otherwise picturesque window.

The Blue Jays are hoping Bichette can return to form after his 2024 campaign was mired by injuries, plus a rotation with an average age of 34 years old does not scream "five ERA Title qualifiers."

The Red Sox dealt with injuries in their own right in 2024, with Triston Casas and Trevor Story spending more time on the IL than the active list. Plus, this will be Beuhler's first full year after Tommy John surgery, and Crochet's second as a full-time starter.

Of course, most do not like to plan for injuries.

And with that being the case, the Orioles should forget about finishing second in the American League East in 2025.

After one of the worst offseasons a contender has ever presented its fans, on paper, Baltimore should only be considered the fourth-best team in the powerful AL East.