Things are happening, the Orioles are planning, and we are waiting.
Good Morning, Birdland,
Some of the bigger free agent dominoes are beginning to fall, including pitchers that the Orioles were reportedly interested in at various points of the offseason. The big one was Max Fried, who is joining the Yankees on an eight-year, $218 million deal, a record for a left-handed pitcher. Meanwhile, Nathan Eovaldi is staying put in Texas, signing a three-year, $75 million with the Rangers.
Fried was a theoretical fit for the Orioles. But reports came out a few days ago that indicated the Orioles were not overly interested in any of the free agents that came with a draft pick attached, excluding Corbin Burnes. Pair that with a Yankees team ready to spend after being spurned by Juan Soto, and here we are.
Eovaldi was more attainable than Fried, although less productive overall. He wouldn’t have been a bonafide ace, but he comes with oodles of playoff experience that would have been valuable for an Orioles rotation that could use an edge. Instead, he stays in Texas and rakes in a $25 million AAV salary.
Back to Burnes for a moment. It is understood that the Orioles are still interested in a reunion, but it’s gonna be expensive. Maybe the new ownership group will surprise everyone and tell Mike Elias to get Burnes at any cost. We won’t be holding out breath.
Elias does typically complete his offseason shopping list though, and he has said he wants to bolster the rotation. The question remains to be whether the free agent market is the place to do that. Decent arms have been expensive, and frontline arms appear exorbitant. That has rarely been the sorts of waters that the Orioles have played in during the 21st century, and not at all under Elias.
There are some names on the trade market, including Garrett Crochet, Jesús Luzardo, and maybe Dylan Cease. But you can expect asking prices there to reflect what the free agent arms are getting. What feels like a more Elias-y move would be to get some sort of backend arm on a one-year deal, see how the team performs through the first half of the season, track Kyle Bradish’s progress to recover from injury, and then assess the trade market in July. It’s boring, but it also makes sense. We will see.
Links
Orioles finalize 3-year deal with slugger O’Neill | Orioles.com
The previously reported contracts with Tyler O’Neill and Gary Sanchez became official on Tuesday. O’Neill will wear 41 while Sanchez gets 24, according the O’s own roster.
Orioles have made incremental adds but need to take a big swing | The Athletic
Keith Law is right! The Orioles are good, but they have a clear hole on their roster. It they aren’t going to fork over the cash to Burnes, it is time to cough up some prospects. Maybe that is why they are hoping to collected draft picks this winter.
Another round of this, that and the other | Roch Kubatko
All of the Winter Meetings quotes you can handle!
Tyler O’Neill & Gary Sanchez are Orioles! | Ep. 204 | The Warehouse Podcast
I’ve always said the best analysis comes four days after the fact, and I stand by that.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- The late Hal Brown (b. 1924, d. 2015) was born on this day. He spent eight seasons in Baltimore from 1955-62, accumulating a 3.61 ERA over 204 total appearances.
This day in O’s history
1959 – Lee MacPhail is elected as Orioles team president.
1984 – The Orioles sign free agent outfielder Fred Lynn to a four-year contract.
1992 – The Orioles and free agent infielder Harold Reynolds agree to a two-year deal.
1997 – Free agent pitcher Doug Drabek inks a one-year deal with the Orioles.