With Orioles pitchers and catchers reporting to Sarasota for the open of spring training next week, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. Underwhelming. While I’ve followed the logic of each offseason move in isolation and acknowledge a substantial payroll increase, it’s tough seeing the body of work matching the makeup of last year’s roster that included Corbin Burnes. For now, the margin for error just looks smaller than it needed to be.
2. That said, much of that money isn’t committed beyond 2025, and this roster is littered with young position talent still ascending compared to those contenders leaning more heavily on 30-somethings fighting decline. I’ll take that, but extending even one of the core young players would help galvanize this fan base.
3. Perhaps a trade for a high-impact starter is imminent or arrives by July. Maybe Grayson Rodriguez stays healthy enough to take that next step. It’s not impossible for even Kyle Bradish to contribute late. But you’d sure feel better about this rotation bumping Zach Eflin and Rodriguez down a notch.
4. Spending $28 million on a 35-year-old who’s never pitched in the majors and a 41-year-old isn’t how I would have addressed the starting pitching, but Tomoyuki Sugano and Charlie Morton should help the back half of the rotation, which is indeed important. Still, where’s the upside for October coming?
5. Adley Rutschman going from fringe MVP candidate over his first two years in the majors to below replacement level over the final three months of 2024 didn’t draw enough attention. Whether he was hurt or not, the 27-year-old bouncing back to look like himself again couldn’t be more critical.
6. Decisions to move on from Danny Coulombe and Jacob Webb — who both dealt with elbow problems last summer — weren’t popular, but I much prefer this bullpen to last year’s, especially with the Andrew Kittredge signing. Even if Felix Bautista isn’t completely back to pre-injury form, there’s more upside.
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7. Jackson Holliday didn’t have the rookie season he envisioned, but he showed enough improvement in the second half of his age-20 season to remain very optimistic. That doesn’t mean he’ll be an immediate All-Star, but consider the second-year growth many of his current teammates displayed at more advanced ages.
8. The wild card in the bullpen could be Gregory Soto, who is 30 and only a couple years removed from being an All-Star reliever. He quietly overcame a nightmare start with his new club last August to pitch quite well with better control over his final 20 appearances of 2024.
9. I wouldn’t have committed five years to Anthony Santander either, but the time is now for Heston Kjerstad to justify Mike Elias drafting him second overall in 2020. Though it won’t be a straight platoon with Tyler O’Neill, the upside is there if — a big if — both stay healthy.
10. Is there another level for Gunnar Henderson to reach? You can’t expect it, of course, but he would have been my AL MVP through the end of last June before a less spectacular second half. That we’re even posing the question speaks to how special the 23-year-old really is.
11. I have to chuckle at the attention being paid to hitters pleased with the left-field dimension changes as though the pitchers aren’t the unhappy ones now. I always expected the organization to settle on a happy medium for left field during ballpark renovations, so we’ll see how this plays out.
12. The Yankees are deserving division favorites, but they lost Juan Soto and are counting on plenty of 30-somethings with injury risks. After years of projection systems and sports books not loving the Orioles, they seem to like them more than fans and media. There’s still much to like about Baltimore.
