Should the Orioles re-sign their popular but oft-injured former ace?
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
This is your daily update: the Orioles have not signed another starting pitcher. I repeat, the Orioles have not signed another starting pitcher. Stay tuned as nothing continues to happen.
In the meantime, O’s fans continue to sift through the remaining options on the free agent market for a possible match, and one familiar name has been on a lot of minds. Baltimore Baseball’s Rich Dubroff has fielded multiple inquiries from Orioles fans about John Means, who remains unsigned after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery last June. To date there hasn’t been any report that the Birds are interested in re-signing the southpaw, who has spent the entirety of his pro career in the O’s organization since they drafted him in 2014.
It’s not surprising if the Orioles are looking to move on from Means. He’s made only 10 starts in the last three seasons combined, and he’ll miss at least the first three months of the 2025 season, and likely more, while he rehabs. The O’s figure to be in a hotly contested postseason battle and wouldn’t be able to count on any production from Means this season, if he makes it to the mound at all. He turns 32 in April and hasn’t been the picture of health. He certainly wouldn’t fill the Orioles’ need for a top-of-the-rotation starter.
Still, the sentimental part of me would love to see Means back in an Orioles uniform. I won’t soon forget how much fun he was to watch when he first arrived in the majors, transforming from a fringe prospect into an out-of-nowhere ace, starting with his breakout 2019 season when he was an All-Star and the Rookie of the Year runner-up. During some of the darkest years of O’s baseball, fans could at least look forward to watching Means do his thing every five days. And his no-hitter in Seattle in 2021 was one of the most incredible experiences of my Orioles fandom, and not just because I was on game recap duty that day.
It’s a terrible break for Means that he contributed so much to so many lousy Orioles clubs and then was barely able to stay on the field when the team finally got good. He needed his first Tommy John surgery in April 2022 and wasn’t around for the Orioles’ push forward into competence. He missed almost all of the awesome, 101-win 2023 season, finally making it back in September but getting hurt just as the postseason began. Then he made only four starts last year before another season-ending injury. Means deserved a better fate.
So I say: let’s do it, Orioles. Re-sign him for a two-year deal, with the expectation of having him rehab through most or all of 2025 and come back strong in 2026. Give him a chance to play a role on a contending O’s team. It might not pan out, but what a feel-good story it would be if it does.
Links
Because You Asked – The Next Level – School of Roch
Kubatko fields questions about some remaining pitching possibilities for the Orioles. Reading between the lines, he doesn’t seem convinced that the O’s will add anyone at all. Welp.
A few things the 2025 baseball season could bring – Steve Melewski
I agree with Melewski’s assertion that anyone who has already written off Jackson Holliday is an absolute crazy person. (Well, he uses nicer language than that.)
Emma Roberts shows off rare Baltimore Orioles Jackson Holliday card – ESPN
The actress immediately recognized Jackson Holliday when she pulled his rare baseball card. Unlike the editors at ESPN, who, based on the cover photo, apparently think Jackson Holliday is Heston Kjerstad.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Two former Orioles have birthdays today: 2015-19 right-hander Mike Wright Jr. (35) and 1981-88 outfielder Jim Dwyer (75).
On this date two years ago, the Orioles made a seemingly minor roster move that ended up paying huge dividends, acquiring Ryan O’Hearn from the Royals for cash considerations. O’Hearn was coming off four straight terrible seasons with Kansas City and figured to be just Triple-A roster depth for the Birds, but he rejuvenated his career in Baltimore with a breakout 2023 and followed up with a solid 2024. The Orioles picked up his $8 million option for 2025 two months ago.