Orioles govt vice chairman and basic supervisor Mike Elias is in Las Vegas for MLB’s General Manager Meetings, taking the primary steps in an offseason through which he’ll try to again up his post-trade deadline promise of “liftoff from here” for the group.
Moves up to now have been minor, a byproduct of a quiet interval by the postseason and shortly afterward. Waiver claims pushed the Orioles’ 40-man roster to 6 catchers, but it surely’s shortly decreased down to 2, with Anthony Bemboom and Cam Gallagher each formally outrighted Tuesday; whereas Bemboom accepted his task to Triple-A, Gallagher elected free company. With catcher Robinson Chirinos, second baseman Rougned Odor and first baseman Jesús Aguilar additionally reaching free company, Baltimore’s 40-man roster has six openings. That quantity figures to vary by Thursday, when the Orioles must activate left-hander John Means from the 60-day injured checklist and determine whether or not to select up right-hander Jordan Lyles’ $11 million crew choice.
That’s additionally the day MLB free company begins in full, with gamers capable of signal with organizations aside from their earlier groups. The Orioles are anticipated to be lively in that space for the primary time in Elias’ four-year tenure. The GM has mentioned the crew plans to extend payroll, however not by how a lot or precisely the place on the roster he’ll look to do this.
“It’s not something obvious, that I think we’re going to target a certain position,” Elias mentioned on the finish of the common season. “I think we’re going to look at any and all ways to improve our chances of making the playoffs within the budget that we’re going to be working with, and that’s going to depend on what the market gives us, and I think there are a number of areas where we could supplement this team, so I don’t have a specific prediction about which position any major league acquisitions are going to going to come in.”
That mentioned, right here’s a take a look at the Orioles’ clearest wants as free company approaches and who is perhaps accessible to handle them.
Starting pitching
The Orioles’ rotation was an sudden power late within the yr, with the group providing way more size and consistency than it did at any level in supervisor Brandon Hyde’s earlier three seasons. But even when Baltimore retains Lyles, it is going to be an inexperienced group that, till Means returns, lacks a longtime prime starter. Adding no less than one in free company wouldn’t solely deepen the employees however higher place it for a run come the postseason.
Several premier arms can be found, together with Jacob deGrom, Clayton Kershaw and Carlos Rodón, with Justin Verlander anticipated to hitch the group if he declines his participant choice with the Houston Astros. There’s one other giant group of starters who would improve Baltimore’s rotation, together with Nathan Eovaldi, Chris Bassitt and Tyler Anderson.
Impact bat
As Elias famous, the Orioles lack an apparent place of want; the case might be made for every incumbent to retain his spot in 2023. But most may be improved upon in some trend, with Baltimore’s total offensive wants being improved plate self-discipline and success in opposition to left-handed pitching. Luckily for the Orioles, most prime free agent hitters match are right-handed, although it’s truthful to query their curiosity in coming to a ballpark now designed to suppress their energy.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is the unanimous prime free agent, but it surely’s for now onerous to think about the Orioles making that sort of funding, and he’s notably not a fan of Camden Yards’ new left area dimensions. Each of the large 4 shortstops accessible — Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson — might be a match for the Orioles. But it’s unclear how excessive “liftoff” will take the crew’s payroll, and loads of different choices can be found if Baltimore doesn’t purpose for the highest.
Bullpen assist
In 2022, Baltimore confirmed there are various methods to construct an efficient aid corps, with a set of waiver claims and castoffs posting a 3.49 ERA that ranked because the ninth finest amongst main league bullpens. But the group confirmed indicators of wear and tear because the season went on, particularly within the wake of nearer Jorge López being traded to Minnesota. Thrust into a bigger position, Joey Krehbiel struggled to the purpose of a demotion. Although he continued to carry out effectively after changing López as nearer, Félix Bautista handled arm fatigue late within the yr as his heavy utilization caught as much as him. With regression additionally a risk, including one other dependable and reliable arm to Hyde’s choices could be helpful whereas not requiring pursuit of the highest backend relievers.
Craig Kimbrel, Kenley Jansen, Taylor Rogers, Rafael Montero and Michael Fulmer all hit the market with closing expertise, although the Orioles don’t want a ninth-inning choice. Right-handers Chris Martin and Adam Ottavino or left-handers Matt Moore and Andrew Chafin may additionally show helpful.
Backup catcher
When Adley Rutschman was their beginning catcher, the Orioles went 50-34. They have been 33-45 in any other case. Although Rutschman served as Baltimore’s designated hitter in a lot of these video games, the Orioles clearly took a step again when he wasn’t behind house plate and a spot within the lineup needed to be dedicated to a special catcher. Finding a backup who could make an affect with the bat could be good, however it could be passable to seek out one serviceable defensively, given Robinson Chirinos ranked as baseball’s worst framing catcher, in keeping with Baseball Savant, and was third worst amongst gamers who caught no less than 500 innings in Defensive Runs Saved, in keeping with FanGraphs.
Willson Contreras is clearly the highest catcher available on the market and has ties to Hyde from their time with the Chicago Cubs, however signing him to tandem with Rutschman would restrict Hyde’s flexibility with the DH spot. If protection is the precedence, Christian Vázquez, Omar Narváez or Austin Hedges might be a match, whereas searching for the best offensive affect past Contreras would possibly result in Gary Sánchez or Mike Zunino, each low-average, homer-happy varieties.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com