With the World Series in the rearview mirror and free agency upon us, the Orioles have made a series of moves these last few days.
Regardless of what their futures hold, ace pitcher Corbin Burnes and right fielder Anthony Santander — both All-Star selections in 2024 — were always going to receive qualifying offers from general manager Mike Elias, which would entitle Baltimore to draft-pick compensation should they decline the one-year, $21.05 million deals and sign elsewhere. Burnes and Santander — two of only 13 players to receive qualifying offers from their 2024 clubs — have until Nov. 19 to make their respective choices.
Less certain were the Orioles’ decisions on 2025 club options for several notable contributors, a list including first baseman Ryan O’Hearn ($8 million) and relievers Seranthony Dominguez ($8 million), Danny Coulombe ($4 million), and Cionel Perez ($2.2 million). O’Hearn, Dominguez, and Perez ultimately had their options exercised, but Coulombe being the odd man out raised eyebrows among fans and media on Monday.
(The Orioles also declined their $16.5 million option for designated hitter Eloy Jimenez last weekend, but there was no chance that was ever being picked up.)
Over the last two seasons, only Felix Bautista — who missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery — and Yennier Cano were better in the Orioles bullpen than Coulombe, who posted a 2.56 ERA and averaged 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings over 94 appearances covering 81 frames. In 29 2/3 innings this past season, the veteran lefty pitched to a 2.12 ERA and averaged 9.7 strikeouts per nine as a dependable higher-leverage reliever.
So, why would Elias turn down a very reasonable $4 million option for Coulombe when he should have no shortage of payroll flexibility under new owner David Rubenstein?
Of course, Coulombe missed more than three months of 2024 after undergoing surgery to have bone chips removed from his pitching elbow in June. And though he returned in late September to register four scoreless appearances as well as a scoreless outing in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series loss to Kansas City, his average fastball velocity was down considerably (89.0 mph) from where it was over the first three months of the season (91.3 mph). Coulombe also turned 35 last week, so you wonder if the Orioles have major concerns about his health and age in projecting how he’ll fare in 2025.
In contrast, Perez — whose overall numbers weren’t as impressive as Coulombe’s — will turn 29 in April. The Orioles will also have a full offseason and spring to work with hard-throwing lefty and former All-Star selection Gregory Soto, who pitched well in September and will turn 30 in February.
Per Statcast, Coulombe allowed a 45.7% hard-hit percentage and a 90.3 average exit velocity last season, which were both career worsts. He also recorded his lowest swinging-strike percentage (9.9%) since the abbreviated 2020 season. To be clear, these numbers alone aren’t grounds for not wanting to bring him back, but they wouldn’t make one feel better if weighing potential health concerns.
No matter what happens with Coulombe in 2025, you hope Elias and the Orioles were paying attention to how critical deep bullpens were last month as the Los Angeles Dodgers overcame a litany of starting pitcher injuries in the regular season to win the World Series. And though the back end of the Orioles bullpen will look much better with the return of a healthy Bautista to go with Cano and Dominguez, replacing what Coulombe provided these last two seasons won’t be easy.
