For the Orioles, there were good times and there were bad times this year, and now they head into 2025 with some unfinished business.
For the last time in 2024: good morning, Camden Chatters.
Tonight, we’ll be putting another year into the books. It’s been quite an eventful one in so many ways that extend beyond sports, but this is an Orioles blog, so we’ll keep our focus on them. The O’s were enough of a roller coaster on their own.
It was a year that took Orioles fans through every emotion. January brought the exuberance of the team’s sale from the Angelos family to David Rubenstein, ushering in a new and improved era of ownership. February and March brought spring training’s promise and hope of what the Orioles’ talented, young roster could achieve after a 101-win season in 2023. April, May, and June brought exhilaration and excitement when the Birds played like world beaters and peaked at 24 games over .500.
Then July, August, and September brought confusion and frustration — when the O’s stagnated to mediocrity, appearing almost lifeless down the stretch — capped off by October’s depression and resignation after the Orioles got swept out of the playoffs for the second straight season. November and December brought uncertainty as the Birds embarked on an offseason that so far has failed to inspire confidence among O’s fans.
There was plenty to remember about this year’s Orioles, for better or for worse. Gunnar Henderson erupted for another stellar campaign, while Adley Rutschman went backwards. Colton Cowser had a Rookie of the Year-caliber breakout, while Jackson Holliday’s much-hyped MLB debut was mostly a struggle. Albert Suárez was a delightful, out-of-nowhere surprise, but only got the opportunity because of a slew of injuries to O’s pitchers.
2024 will most fondly be associated with Corbin Burnes, whose entire Orioles career played out within the calendar year, starting with his Feb. 1 acquisition from the Brewers and ending with his signing with the Diamondbacks this past weekend. He performed every bit like the ace the O’s needed — and the greatest one-season Orioles pitcher in history — and he deserved to have a more lasting legacy in Baltimore. But New Year’s Day will roll in with Burnes no longer an Oriole and the O’s again in desperate need of an ace.
As the calendar flips to 2025, the Orioles are in an uncertain position. They’ve still got an ultra-talented core of youngsters and an excellent chance of being a postseason contender. Still, at some point in 2024 they seemed to lose the spark and sense of joy that had characterized the 2023 club, and their early playoff exit — followed by the front office’s lack of action to upgrade the team so far this winter — has fans feeling a little bit antsier than they’d like.
By the time the Orioles report for spring training, perhaps that sense of optimism will have returned. By then, the Birds may have pulled off some shrewd moves to supplement their roster and establish themselves as a World Series favorite once again. But for now, the O’s begin 2025 with plenty more work left to do.
Links
Three Orioles questions to consider – School of Roch
My answers: 1. Eflin; 2. Povich; 3. nope.
The Orioles lost Burnes. Is Rodriguez their ace in waiting? – The Baltimore Sun
I hope somebody is. Grayson seems like as good a candidate as any.
Mailbag: Do Orioles’ need a true No. 1 starter? – BaltimoreBaseball.com
A reader asks if the O’s could get by just as well by having three No. 2 starters instead of a No. 1. I’m going to say no, and also, it’s a leap to assume they even have three No. 2 starters right now.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Three former Orioles were born on New Year’s Eve: outfielder Donell Nixon (63) and the late right-hander Ken Rowe (b. 1933, d. 2012) and lefty Ted Gray (b. 1924, d. 2011).
On this date in 2008, the Orioles signed lefty reliever and former NBA player Mark Hendrickson as a free agent. Hendrickson, the tallest player in O’s history at 6-foot-9, spent parts of the next three seasons both starting and relieving for the Birds.
And on this date in 2010, the O’s reached agreement with veteran first baseman Derrek Lee on a one-year deal. The 35-year-old Lee was just two seasons removed from a 35-homer, 111-RBI season with the Cubs, but his production declined sharply for the O’s, where he posted a .706 OPS in 85 games before they traded him to the Pirates at the deadline.