As the one-year deals with over-30 (even over-40 in one case) pitchers pile up, Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the Baltimore Orioles’ bullpen and Andrew Kittredge signing to continue to add arms and innings to the 2025 roster in the aftermath of Corbin Burnes’ departure to free agency.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Baltimore Orioles’ offseason, focusing on their bullpen and the signing of Andrew Kittredge. Despite the loss of Corbin Burns, the Orioles have improved their bullpen with Kittredge’s one-year, $10 million deal. They also mentioned the potential of Felix Batista post-Tommy John surgery and the depth provided by pitchers like Gregory Soto and Albert Suarez. The conversation highlighted the increase in the Orioles’ payroll to $155.8 million and the cautious optimism surrounding their pitching strategy for the upcoming season.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Orioles bullpen, Kittredge signing, pitching depth, Corbin Burns, payroll increase, Jeff Hoffman, Felix Batista, Gregory Soto, Andrew Kittredge, Charlie Morton, Tommy John surgery, bullpen depth, arbitration players, Mike Elias, new ownership
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, and I am about to talk baseball. I know it’s football season. I know the ravens are going to the Super Bowl. They’re going to win, and it’s Derek and Lamar and Lamar and Josh and Lamar and my homes and all that, but we still have a baseball team around here. And for most of the two decades that Luke and I have been doing this together, in the four decades that I’ve been doing this, or three and a half at least, on radio them and all out of January is where I got to take a time out in the middle of buffalo week or Pittsburgh week or Kansas City playoff weeks to be discussing baseball activity, but such is the life for the baseball team that has made the playoffs two years in a row and hasn’t urinated a drop, as we would say, much like Lamar ring finger is nude. And this time of the year we measure these things, the Orioles trying to put together some semblance of pitching in the aftermath of the loss of Corbin burns, Luke Jones takes a quick little time out here to come in and say, bought some relief pitching. Mr. Rubenstein, spending money on things that, at least for this week. And I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, even though I don’t have a press credential, and you do and that that’ll never not get brought, brought up, especially now that Angelos is dead. Um, they’re trying harder a couple of weeks ago, it’s nothing’s changed. Nothing’s changed. I don’t know. They’re spending some money now. You’re going to stand up and make the case for another 30 something pitcher, that if we’re going to spend money on pitchers whose arms haven’t fallen off. And you’re not going to spend two, 10 million or two, 50 million or whatever that. If you’re going to do this piece by piece and say, Well, we’re going to invest 80 million a year in pitching. We’re just going to do it year by year with guys who we checked out their arms make sure it’s good. We’re going to not sign guys the three year deals that went on last week too, which was brought up Xavier Hernandez on my timeline. So Luke, how are you? I know it’s a football week. I am and I speak for all real Baltimore sports fans, because I found you hired you kept you around and eternally grateful that you’re here. But there’s so very few people that can definitely move from Orioles to ravens the way you and I can, and the way we do, and we’re apt to do in the middle of, yeah, it’s buffalo week, and there’s you can click here, click there and listen to all of our football stuff. But what the Orioles are doing is really important. And I want to take a little time out and say, we still cover the Orioles here. Katie Griggs, by the way, thanks for the the LinkedIn. Don COVID, welcome to Baltimore. I wish you well. Says Baltimore, and I’m wearing orange on it. We want the Orioles to do well. Are they doing well, Luke, I want to throw it to you. I mean, you’re where are you in there pitching here? You know, it’s
Luke Jones 02:55
such an odd off season. And look, it’s easy to pile on. And I’m not going to sit here and say that they’ve had a great off season by any stretch of the imagination, I think, relative to expectations after being swept consecutive years in the postseason. And what’s happened with Corbin burns walking out the door, presumably Anthony Santander walking out the door. You know, it’s underwhelming. I think even, even the fairest way to paint this off season, it’s been underwhelming. It hasn’t been splashy, it hasn’t been exciting. To go back to the conversation and the point that you’ve made a lot in terms of recruiting and continuing to grow your fan base and grow your brand and all of that. But I’ve also made the point, and I’d throw their latest acquisition, which is Andrew Kittredge, on a one year agreement for 10 million I look at each of the the moves that they’ve made in isolation, and I can’t sit here and say that I’ve hated what they’ve done. It’s just the collective nature of it. When you look at the entire body of work, they’ve certainly raised the floor. They’ve improved, improved the depth of the back end of their rotation. But is there enough upside in the case of Andrew Kittredge, I think this is a good move for the bullpen. I think it’s clearly an upgrade over, you know, someone like Jacob Webb, for example, who ended up playing a pretty important part in their bullpen last year and did a nice job, but, you know, had some elbow issues and midway through the season, and you know, it was certainly, you know, a question whether he was going to do that again. So, you know, you look at Kittredge, you look at the moves they’ve obviously made with Charlie Morton, and, you know, bringing in a 35 year old Japanese pitcher in Sagano and and Tyler O’Neal Gary Sanchez. And again, you can explain and rationalize each of them those moves. And I’ll also throw out there, their payroll has gone up way more than people think when you. Oh, and I’m start
Nestor Aparicio 05:01
buying 15 and 17 and 12 and 13 and, you know, 50, $60 million and it adds up, yeah,
Luke Jones 05:07
when you look at cots baseball contract website, which is a pretty reliable source as it pertains to comparing payrolls across the league, you know where the Orioles are projected to be right now for 2,025/15 $155.8 million now I certainly hope that’s not the ceiling or the high water mark that they can ever get to, but in terms of where they were at this time a year ago, let alone talking about a couple years ago, the payroll has gone up quite a bit when you look at it in terms of percentage. Now I think it’s important to remember, a large, overwhelming portion of that has been their arbitration guys. You know, they’ve had an extensive list of arbitration players. That’s
Nestor Aparicio 05:50
about to really, right? I mean, now that’s going to look like 50, 60 million bucks, right off the bat for Richmond Anderson and and westburg, once we get there in 2028
Luke Jones 06:02
Yeah, no question. And that’s where you look at that and say, you know, is there an extension to be not, even if it’s not gunner or Richmond at this point, is there a westburg extension, for example? You know, is there an extension here? He has a similar representation. And again, I’m just, I’m spitballing, right? Because until we see it happen, it’s all conjecture. And we know that this organization is incredibly tight lipped. I mean, the latest example, and you alluded to it, you know, talking about, you know, for all the talk about Andrew Kittredge in the one year ten million deal. Now, the it was reported over the weekend that, you know, the Orioles had a three year $40 million agreement in place for Jeff Hoffman, you know, another standout reliever, until there were some concerns about his shoulder with their physical. Now I will say this, and this is where my hope is that things are different here. It’s very easy to say, Oh, well, this is the Orioles. This is what they do. It is a different regime. And I will say to their credit, nothing leaked out about this while it was happening, right? I think over the years what we’re talking about Grant Balfour, or go down the list, Giovanni Gallardo. Go way back with Aaron Sealy and Xavier Hernandez to you know, to the example that you cited, I think the question, the the concern, as far as that happening, was not that the Orioles had concerns about the physical it was that that would then be used as a negotiating chip, especially if that leaks out then, because, from the player and Agent perspective, it’s The thought of, not only are you reneging on what wasn’t, you know, a signed contract. You know, whenever it’s a handshake agreement, it is a handshake, right? It’s not ironclad pending physical means physical always, always, always. So it that was never the issue, as much as to me, that it would get out there while that player still in limbo, whether you’re talking about with Baltimore or with another potential suitor. So in the case of Jeff Hoffman, he ends up getting a three year $33 million deal with the Blue Jays. So Okay, is there some frustration on their end to think, Okay, well, one in 40, but you still got three years 33 it’s not as though Jeff Hoffman had a three year $40 million deal with the Orioles. The Orioles have concerns about it. It gets out to the media, then teams start to perceive him differently, and suddenly he’s settling for a one year deal. And that’s what happened in some of these past instances, instances that we saw. So that’s where I’ll give the Orioles the benefit of the doubt from that perspective, and then from the other perspective, in most of these cases that we’ve mentioned in the past, most of these pitchers ended up not necessarily looking great for a long period of time. Oh, the Balfour thing was like, right, right. I mean, so there’s been some vacant Hernandez was the other way around. They got screwed on him. Yeah, right. Peter had to pay him
Nestor Aparicio 09:00
that, you know, the rest of these guys, Aaron Sealy was just bad vibes with his agent for the next 10
Luke Jones 09:05
years. Sure, sure. And look, you certainly don’t want to make a habit of that, right? And I don’t think you know, this is where I give Mike Elias and new ownership, the new, you know, the not new front office anymore, but the current regime compared to talking about, well, the
Nestor Aparicio 09:21
previous regime did it under buyers remorse, not under and, right? You know, you’re saying, my arms damage. What’s wrong? Like, my arms not damaged? Aaron seelies case as an example, right? And this
Luke Jones 09:32
is where it’s always tricky. It’s, it’s such a slippery slope with pictures. Because, you know, Bucha Walter used to always say this, where, if you look at any picture, you know, you do imaging MRI, all the different potential imaging that you can do for a pitcher. These guys, you know, we’ve talked about it. The human arm is not meant to throw 95 miles per hour, let alone 100 the way that so many guys do. Now, you’re going to see something on the MRI, right? I mean, all these guys, I would think my
09:57
shoulder, and Mike Messina. And we were born five weeks apart. If we were just to do MRIs of shoulders, what his shoulders been through, it just would be unbelievable, right? Sure, it really would be. No matter how much strengthening you do. It’s insane with these guys. Nolan Ryan, right? So, so that’s why there’s always subjectivity that goes in here, and that’s why there’s always a range, right? You might look at a pitcher’s arm or this, Hey, Carlos Correa, think about his, his off season a couple years ago, with the issue, with the concern about the ankle, what he had three different deals in principle, and ended up not being, you know, his third time the charm for him. So this does happen, but, you know, with a pitcher, specifically, or with any player, and this happens, yeah, this happens in the NFL Draft grades, you know, I for now, McPhee, perfect examples. You know, people remember Pernell McPhee, of course, ended up having a relatively long career. The Ravens ended up drafting him in the fifth round, not because they thought he was a fifth round talent, but there were concerns about his health, his knee specifically, there were a lot of doubts at that point in time, with him coming out of college, whether he was going to have a very long career. So he ended up getting a fifth round, fifth round grade as a result, and the Ravens ended up getting a player that, you know, I can’t remember off the top of my head what their grade on him was, just from a pure talent level standpoint, but it was more of a second or third round player ended up going in the fifth round. So there, there’s always a range. Here you’ll sign off on a pitcher on a one or two year deal, even though, you know you don’t love how the MRI looks on his arm, but that’s a different animal than committing seven years to a pitcher, right? And that’s that was kind of, my Corbin burns, just general point, not that Corbin Burns was damaged goods or anything like that. But, well, that goes to the Ravens doctors telling Zach, or dude, you can’t play. You shouldn’t play. He still shouldn’t sought the play. Yeah, right. I mean, he tried to get cleared, right? Yeah. And that’s, and that’s the thing. I mean, the Blue Jays, their doctors were comfortable with a three year, $33 million contract. We’ll see if how it works out. You know, Jeff Hoffman, I
Nestor Aparicio 12:03
remember the stupid stuff Angelo said somebody wrote to me about the Peter principles, and like reading the real history might have been Chris Corman from the sun, actually, when he and I were talking about the real history, stuff comes up. That’s unbelievable. In regard to Angelo’s because you just said, Aaron, silly dude, I haven’t thought of Aaron Sealy until you brought him up six minutes ago, Angelo said some, some things. Like, our doctor said he only had 150 innings in him. You look like it was like a tire. You know what? I mean, like, literally, the owner of the team spoke about these guys like they were, you know, out in the fields, bailing hay, and they only had so much tread. Like, it’s one thing I think, for fans to talk about in that way, I think it’s a totally different thing. When there’s been MRIs and a generation ago, and owners like we only think he has 300 innings left, it’s like buying a used car, you know. And to your point, the Blue Jays invested in this guy, spent money, but the Orioles didn’t wreck the agent wreck relationships, because that’s that’s what I’m speaking to that you wonder why people hate Angelo so much. It’s because he did stuff that was Marty Conway. We call it unorthodox. And some would, you know, I mean, look, we’re about to have a complete creep run the country saying unorthodox things every minute of every day. By the end of the week, I there’s a price to be paid for trying to conquer Greenland and saying we’re going to annex Canada and the Golf of them. It’s the same thing with baseball players, that if you’re going to say that guy’s hurt, man, that’s what we’re talking about here. Is an ethics thing, and it’s a money thing, and all of that the Orioles played on the wrong side of that for a long time. They really did, and it cost them in relationships. And I think it is important to talk about that sort of weird little part of it. But it’s not weird when you’re trying to sign the best baseball players in the world and who you’re offending and who you’re not well.
Luke Jones 14:00
And again, there’s a way to do it. And look, that’s not to say that Jeff Hoffman and his representation aren’t irritated with the Orioles right now, but at the very least they kept it behind closed doors. He still got a three year deal for comparable compensation, even if it wasn’t quite as much. You know, three years, 33 compared to three years, 40 years, you’re still living right? You know, you’re still, rather than you have to settle for a one year deal, and suddenly there’s all these are, you
Nestor Aparicio 14:26
hold your nose in front of the world. Say that guy’s hurt, right?
Luke Jones 14:29
Well, that’s my point, right? And you know, there’s a way to handle that, and that’s where I will give Mike Elias, and you know, the front office the benefit of the doubt hearing, they pivoted, and they said, Look, you know, Jeff Hoffman, or upside and I would agree with that. You know, comparing him to Andrew kittre is going to be 35 years. Are you going to in
Nestor Aparicio 14:48
August? Wish we gone, you know, I’m saying, like, is
Luke Jones 14:51
that? Well, see that, but that’s part of it. You know, the question then becomes, okay, when you said, Look, we have some concerns about your. Shoulder will still do the same annual average, but we only want to do a two year deal. You know, did Jeff was that there? I mean, it was the reporting was Robert Murray, and the reporting was that they were still negotiating. But obviously, 1210, $12 million right? Yeah. I mean, you know, I mean, it’s, and look, you have to protect yourselves as well, and look both sides. Have to, have to look at it, right? You’re investing. But you know, to your
Nestor Aparicio 15:25
real money, though, this isn’t 100 grand a year. 200 this is like, I’m either going to have it guaranteed 20 million or guaranteed 30 million. You say my arm screwed up. Look at me. I can go out and pitch right now. What like? So there is a good faith, bad faith, part of this. And you don’t want to be on the i, right? You just, you don’t want to be doing dirty poker in baseball, no question. But
Luke Jones 15:49
it’s also not pass, fail, right? It’s not well, you’re either healthy or you’re not there. There’s a wide range there, you know, you can have that was the point I made about looking at that pitchers elbows and shoulders on MRIs, you’re going to see something. It’s just a matter of, what does it look like? Is it? You know, this guy’s got some wear and tear, but there’s no reason to think he can’t hold up for a few more years. We might have him make a slight mechanical adjustment that our sports science people think could save some wear and tear on his arm or make him a little bit better whatever. I mean, you know, just like we’ve talked, we talked about this a lot last year, getting close to right around this time when we found out about Kyle Bradish and his UCL sprain. And, you know, I cited Aaron Nola had a UCL sprain early in his career with the Phillies, and he’s still going strong. Years later, nasahiro Tanaka famously had a UCL injury, and pitched with it for years now. Probably impacted his velocity and probably impacted how he pitches. And Aaron Nola, if you look at how he pitches, considering he’s been an all star caliber, you know, number two starter behind Zach Wheeler for the Phillies the last few years. You know, he doesn’t. He’s not the guy that is max below throwing 99 you know, he throws, uh, you know, still throws hard, but not, not in that same insane realm of velocity. And it might have something to do with that elbow injury he had earlier in his career. So, yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 17:14
there. Well, it certainly gives nerds like us a chance to sit here and talk about the bullpen in a way that, I mean, there’s a real name and a real player that was ready to go, ready to come, and that that won’t be a part of this operation. And you know, it’s, it’s a, it’s a fork in the road right on this yellow brick road, orange brick road, I should say, to the Orioles, trying to figure out their pitching after dealing for one that they had no intention of signing, but then really tried hard, wink wink, nudge, but he wanted to go home and and what? And now, what are we going to do? Now? What are we going to do? So they’re doing what they’re doing, and we’re looking at it at the same time. You mean, you mentioned, I mean, Bradish, it was a year ago, like this week, right? That it became situational, that they needed to replace a guy that they felt like wasn’t going to make it for all the reasons we talked about Tanaka, all that stuff last year, and then his arm fell off anyway, May and he wasn’t available to do what you need to do. Ah, but we’re stacked in our minor system, so we’ll go get efflin, and we’ll commit a lot of money to him, and they’ve committed a lot of money. I mean, I that as I sit down on the outside, I got my number two pencil out, you know, behind my ear, and I’m like, 1710, I mean, effluent was a commitment, right? So I’m not pissing on him about burns, if he was on face value, right? They didn’t want him. It was a lot of money. They’re trying to look like they wanted him, which, in the end, that makes Camden chat happy and but there is a point where they have to go out and pitch, and that’s where you and I, that’s rubber meets the road with us. It’s not about my feelings, or Peter angelos, or, you know, Mike Elias, or how secretive they are or not, or even about their payroll. They have to go out and win, and they have to be built to win in October, as we talk about the Ravens this week, being built, and I took my Derrick Henry jersey off to put my curio orange jersey on here in a week when we were expecting to try to go to the Super Bowl, and they’ll be judged this week. But I’m not going to let the Oriole thing go by to say this off season and this time in the off season and where they are, that you’re either dealing for Dylan cease and figuring it out, or you’re not right. Are you going to go with Charlie Morton? I mean, I Yeah, which is, that’s not a punch line. That’s what they’re doing. They’re they’re going with one year, cross our fingers, 30 something year old guys to hold the weight and thinking Grayson’s going to be the next step, and effluent is going to be a two and by July, you and I are gonna say Hoffman, who we don’t, you know, we’re good, we’re good well,
Luke Jones 19:47
and by July, you might be acquiring a picture then, right? I mean, you don’t know. And you know, we’re about 11 months from where they were when they you know, Bradish was announced at the start of spring training, but right around. Now is when you know that the timeline that we’ve been led to believe that that Bradish was throwing, and it felt something in his elbow that was, you know, mid to late January they acquired burns, February 1, I think it was, you know, it’s right in, right in line from when they announced the
Nestor Aparicio 20:15
time last year, when John was selling the team to David, right? I mean, yeah, and that money that came with Corbin burns felt like new ownership, right? I mean, like, literally it did,
Luke Jones 20:25
but, but at the same time, you know, but, you know, it wasn’t a long term commitment, but, but, you know, I think one thing we talked about on the heels of the Charlie Morton signing and understanding that, yes, I get it, he’s 41 he’s not Corbin burns. They’re not asking him to be Corbin burns. They better not be asking them to be Corbin burns. But you know, for what he can be, which number three, number four starter, you know, kind of the anchor the back half of the rotation. Let’s say, you know, with the obvious high expectations for Grayson, Rodriguez and and Zach Eflin, you know, being where he is and what he meant to them even down the stretch last year. You know, it’s fine. But one thing that we talked about, if you’re not going to have that Corbin burns or, you know, Dylan cease or Luis Castillo, or throw out whatever trade target we’ve opined about, you know, as far as guys that theoretically could be available and guys that the Orioles could be in on, you know, because I, I still think that’s very much in the realm of possibilities, even if I’m not going to sit here and bet my mortgage on it happening before spring training. But we said, Okay, if your rotation is going to look the way that it does, which, you know, I don’t think it’s the, you know, it’s not the worst rotation in baseball or anything like that. But there’s some more questions about it, then you’d like for a contending team. I’m not going to sit here and try to sit here and set as well. Well, for define what you mean by depth. If you’re saying back end depth, I think they have some nice options. But if you’re talking about top half of the rotation guys, yeah, that’s where it’s thin, no question about it. So, but roll
Nestor Aparicio 22:01
out a whole bunch of fours and fives to try to get you three and a third and give up four runs. And you know, when you have enough all everyone can.
Luke Jones 22:08
But, you know, I think everyone thinks they can, but it depends if you do. Point is, if you’re going the route that they’re going. And until we see, you know, until we’re sending out the wnst text alert about the Orioles acquiring Dylan cease or Luis Castillo. This is what the rotation is at the moment, the point we had made. And this is where I like the Andrew Kittredge signing, one year, 10 million, a little bit rich, you know, just at first blush, but it’s a one year deal. I’m not going to sit here and, you know, sit here and nitpick, giving someone an extra million, million and a half, $2 million on a one year deal, you know? I mean, so, but he’s been successful. He’s pitched in the Al east, pitched at a high level for Tampa Bay for a number of years. He’s been an all star. He doesn’t miss bats at an extraordinary rate, but mitts misses enough bats. And I think when you look at the composition of their bullpen, I think he settles in really nicely as the kind of guy that you’re going to feel really good about pitching in the seventh or eighth inning day role. Yeah, sure, you know. You know. You know. You know what you need that. And I think now that you have him, and obviously so much of this bullpen still depends on what Felix Batista looking like. Felix Batista, and we’ve talked about it, he’s had ample time to recover from Tommy John. You know, by the time opening day rolls around, you’re
Nestor Aparicio 23:34
so much more optimistic on injured guys than I am, because I’m just old, and I just always feel like guys are, I say never the same. I know the modern part isn’t that way in the return rate is very high on Tommy John, but I understand that. But returning and throwing 103 is different than returning and throwing and and being mortal, good, but mortal, not sub one era before any you know what I mean, like,
Luke Jones 24:00
even if he never had Tommy John, you can’t expect that. Yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 24:06
so extraordinary. There’s a, you know, there can only, you can only go down from there, I feel like, from where he better, but, but I’m not when, when I when I’m presenting that. I’m not saying that I’m expecting Felix Batista to be peak 2023 pre injury. You expected to be a top eight closer this year? I think he’s got a chance to do that one. Okay. I mean, okay, top that’s expanded out to top half. I don’t know what their expect in again. I mean, I don’t have a media pass. I don’t talk to Michael. I wish I did for things like this to say, like, what is their expectation of him? What, where, where does he slide in? Not as a might be, but as a must be. For in in their mind, are they thinking he’s a 55 inning guy, an eighth inning guy, not the ninth inning guy, right? Like, we’re gonna like, and maybe you’ll get that out of them. In spring training as it comes along, or whatever. But as I sit here in January where the guy whose arm fell off a year and a half ago and the surgery and all of that, he’s not an IS, and he’s not Felix Batiste, that he’s Felix maybe, until, I mean, I didn’t put the name on his back of his jersey to think I’m getting what I got, you know, and that was one of the things about Derek Henry around here. Are we getting? Yeah, we’re getting too much. We getting the old are we what are we getting here? We always ask that with a hurt player, I’m much more skeptical than I am of any 41 year old Morton or 34 because those guys were doing it eight weeks ago at the level that or 15 weeks ago at the level that needs to be done healthfully. I and I know they have doctors in on him and all that. That’s why I’m like, every time I bring it up, you bring it up, and the fans do too, like, it’s stratomatic. He’s just gonna come back and be really good at whatever he not that, but you’re he’s gonna be normal. And I don’t know that I ever feel that the guys are gonna be normal. That’s all, and that’s my age.
Luke Jones 26:02
I understand what you’re saying. And look, let me be clear, that doesn’t mean that I’m projecting that he’s going to be the best reliever the American League, like he was two years ago before the injury. However, where I am more optimistic with him is he’s going to be 17 months removed from Tommy John surgery on opening day. This is why, when people were uttering the Hail Mary, possibility of Batista pitching last October, I, you know, I, first of all, Mike Elias was adamant about it multiple times. No, that he’s not pitching in October. No, he’s not pitching in October. I saw him, with my own eyes, throw a bullpen. I think it was before Game Two against Kansas City, four hours before first pitch, he was out there throwing a bullpen, not because there were any designs on him pitching in the ALCS if they had advanced,
Nestor Aparicio 26:51
but pain free. Was that going for his own Correct? Yes, exactly
Luke Jones 26:54
so. So that’s where I’m a little more optimistic on him than you are that said, Look, can you truly 100% pencil in any pitcher to stay healthy just knowing the overall climate of baseball, right? That’s why you need depth, and that’s why I like the Andrew kitcher signing here, because I do look at the makeup of their bullpen right now, on paper, you have Felix Batista fully acknowledging that he might not be the absolute best version of himself, but 17 months removed from Tommy John surgery, I’m going to be optimistic. You have Andrew kittridge Now, who’s done it, even if doesn’t have, you know these big save totals, but he’s certainly someone who’s pitched in high leverage. You still have Sir Anthony Dominguez, who did a nice job for this club last year. Down the stretch, you have yen your canoe, I think a big wild card for the Orioles, for the for whether this bullpen can be great, rather than merely pretty good. To me, is Gregory Soto. He had major issues when, first of all, he had issues to the point of why the Phillies traded them to begin with, and then his first month with the Orioles was tough, right? I mean, they weren’t using him in high leverage because he was struggling the way he did
Nestor Aparicio 28:09
quiet, and it’s when they started struggling too. Yeah, quietly,
Luke Jones 28:13
they were able to make some adjustments with him. Go back and look at his month of September. Now, they weren’t pitching him in a ton of high leverage spots fully acknowledging that, but he looked better, and he’s still young enough. He’s not quite 30 years old. I think, think he’ll be 30 by opening day, off the top of my head. But the point is, he’s not at a point age wise, where you think he’s just completely washed up stuff wise. If Gregory Soto can find the form that he had with Detroit a few years back. Man, the the makeup of that bullpen, to me, you’re starting to look like the kind of bullpen you need to have, which is, you heard me say this over and over and over last year, you need four or five, six guys that you can trust to use in just about any spot. Doesn’t mean you’re not going to have your main closer. Doesn’t mean you’re not going to have your main set up eighth inning guy, but we understand that over 162 games, the closer can’t be the closer every single game, that the eighth inning guy can’t be the eighth inning guy every single game, or their arms will be shot by June. Right? I mean, teams try to take care of these guys and manage, manage their innings, and they still break down. So point is you need that kind of depth. And when I look at where they are now with their pen, Batista with the asterisk, fully acknowledging what you’re saying, and I don’t disagree, even if I’m more optimistic, that doesn’t mean I’m 100% confident, but him, Kittredge, sir. Anthony Dominguez, yen your canoe, Gregory Soto, and I’ll throw in another name for you as potential wild card. About Albert Suarez, if he’s not in the rotation, I think he could be an interesting weapon out of the bullpen, whether he’s there your sixth inning swing guy to bridge it to the late innings, or maybe he occasionally throws the eighth inning, you know, in the way that I thought of how the Orioles used Tommy Hunter a decade ago, right? When he transitioned to a bullpen role. And no, he was never the guy, let’s be clear. But he was a useful bullpen piece for them for two or three years. You mean
Nestor Aparicio 30:09
the way they tried to use gosfin for a minute? Well, that was just, that
Luke Jones 30:14
was just not smart, the way they handled him anyway, but, but my point is, when you kind of look at the names that I just fired off there, and that’s not even talking about CNL, Perez or Keegan akin that. That’s this. That’s the kind of bullpen. Now, when you add Kittredge into that seventh and eighth inning mix, you know, as someone who’s done it and done it at a high level for a long time, that’s where I look at him and say, I like that move. You know, I especially on a one year deal. Would I have rather have had Jeff Hoffman if you felt fully confident in his shoulder? Yeah, absolutely. The guy was terrific last year for Philly, but they had concerns, and they pivoted. And I think this seems like a very reasonable pivot. You know that someone who’s 35 who is on a one year deal, is he going to stay healthy? While this question for any pitcher right again, you know whether we’re talking about Felix Batista coming off Tommy John, or knowing that any pitcher can have a UCL or shoulder injury anytime they go out there, throwing Max efforts. So I like where their bullpen is now more so than I did last year. You know, that I was not especially high on the Craig Kimbrell signing, you know, and I think a lot of people felt that way having watched what Craig Kimbrel had been for the last five or six years. But you know, I look at this move. I look at Batista coming back and having optimism, cautious as it might be, and the guys that they have, Cano Dominguez, like I said, Soto, I think, is a wild card in terms of a guy that could really be an upside guy for them if they feel that they’ve gotten him straightened out. You know, I think this bullpen has a higher ceiling than it did last year. There’s no doubt. I mean, Batista alone gives it gives them a higher ceiling, even with the unknown of him coming back from Tommy John. But, you know, I, I like the kittridge signing, and it will certainly be interesting to see. You know, what happens with Jeff Hoffman? You know, the Blue Jays are a team lot like the Orioles. You know, they’ve been desperate to make some moves. You know, they’ve, they’ve been in on, you know, they were in on Otani last year, but they didn’t get them. You know, they were in on, you know, Juan Soto, it’s, it sounded like they were at least trying, but they didn’t get them. So, you know, they got Hoffman, who, again, if he’s healthy, terrific back end bullpen piece. But you know, we’ll see if the Blue Jays, you know, their confidence in giving him a three year deal is ends up being warranted, or are we looking at this a year or two from now and saying, Oh, the Orioles were right there, and the Blue Jays probably shouldn’t have done that, so we’ll see how it plays out. But I think it was Kittredge was was a nice pivot given the circumstances, and I like the fact that the Orioles did not, you know, they made sure all parties made sure not to leak it to the media until he had a deal that is at least comparable, even if it wasn’t quite as good as what the Orioles agreement, and it originally
Nestor Aparicio 33:03
was, pitchers and catchers begin reporting on February 10, which would be the day, very hungover day here in Baltimore, if the Ravens win three football games between now and then, and it would be the day before the parade, which would be on February 11. You know, lips grill, we were doing the Maryland crab cake Tour presented by the Maryland lottery up there last week, and it snowed, and I said, Nick’s like, Hey, we got to do it. You. You want to do it this, that? And I’m like, Well, why don’t we just do it the day after the parade? And we all agreed that the parade would be February 11. So when King Henry and I put my King Henry Jersey down to put my curio wellness orange Orioles Baltimore sweater on here today for the the Kittredge welcoming committee, but the the 12th of February, we will be back in Harford County at libs grill. All that brought to you by our friends at the Maryland Labradors, the Maryland crab cake tour. Word out on Sean wells, Jessica toddles, Bob casley, Mickey Coachella, I’m coming for all of y’all up there in the north Bel Air by the community college, actually, a Towson University campus up in Harford County. I didn’t know that Luke is here. He’ll be here all week monitoring football and knockout games and Derek Henry and Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen and all that. We have our flights booked for Kansas City Barbecue arrowhead championship game. Is that revenge I taste? Who knows he’s Luke, I’m Nestor. Little baseball in here. It’s still a football week. Football is coming on the other end, I promise you.
