Baltimore Orioles Still Have Plenty of Options to Upgrade Bullpen This Winter

Will the Baltimore Orioles look to upgrade their bullpen this offseason?

Aug 25, 2023; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Felix Bautista (74) walks off the pitcher's mound after slipping while throwing a ninth inning pitch against the Colorado Rockies at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

It has been a busy offseason for the Baltimore Orioles, but there is still some work to be done before the start of the new season.

After winning over 90 games for the second straight season, the Orioles have become a strong team in the American League. However, while they have had some regular season success with their young core, they haven’t found success in October yet.

Despite making the playoffs the last two years, Baltimore has yet to be able to win a game in the postseason with this new core of talent.

This offseason, they suffered two significant blows in free agency. The Orioles saw both Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander leave in free agency. Since Burnes was the staff's ace and Santander led the team in home runs, it was a substantial blow.

Even though they lost two of their top players, this is a talented young team that still wants to contend. However, they will need to make some improvements.

Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report recently spoke about what could be on the wish list for the Orioles before Spring Training. He highlighted the need to add another high-leverage relief pitcher to bolster a bullpen that dealt with many injuries last season.

“The Orioles are another team that walked away from Jeff Hoffman, and they were in on Tanner Scott before he felt the pull of the Los Angeles Dodgers. If it's a back-end reliever they want, they can still consider Kenley Jansen, Carlos Estévez, and David Robertson.”

Compared to the first half of the campaign, where Baltimore was looking like one of the best teams in baseball, the second half of the year was completely different. Injuries played a big part in their struggles, with both the starting rotation and bullpen suffering some major blows on that front.

In 2023, the bullpen of the Orioles was a big strength of the team. The late-inning combination of  Yennier Cano and Felix Bautista was one of the best in baseball. Unfortunately, an injury kept Bautista out for 2024 and Baltimore was never able to replace their star closer.

They tried to piece things together with Craig Kimbrel and Seranthony Dominguez, but neither was very good for Baltimore.

The hope will be that the bullpen is healthy and can return to how they pitched in 2023. However, the Orioles did have a deal in place with Jeff Hoffman this winter before ultimately passing because of a physical.

This could be an indication that they are still looking to bolster their bullpen, considering Hoffman was an All-Star relief pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies last season. There are still some nice veteran options that wouldn’t cost a ton of money if Baltimore is looking to upgrade the unit this winter.