The O’s were in the mix for Snell, Meoli talks up the minors, and more thoughts on the bullpen.
Good Morning, Birdland,
The first major free agent domino of the offseason has fallen. Blake Snell and the Dodgers have agreed to a five-year, $182 million deal. Reports indicate that the deal does not include any opt outs, so Snell will be on the Dodgers payroll through 2029, his age-36 season.
MLB.com reporter Mark Feinsand said after the Snell news dropped that the Orioles were in the mix (along with the Yankees and Red Sox) to sign Snell. Now they will move on to the other big arms on the market, including Corbin Burnes.
Snell did make sense for the Orioles, but not on the type of deal he ended up signing with the Dodgers. A similar average annual value but on a shorter deal (maybe three years?) could have felt right for the O’s. But it should be noted that Snell has long stated his preference to stay on the west coast, so this was always going to be an uphill climb for the Birds.
The $36.4 million that Snell will be earning per year on this deal is informative of what other arms are going to want/get in this market. We cannot expect Burnes or Max Fried to settle for less when they are both younger and arguably better than Snell.
One positive, from the Orioles perspective anyway, is that this deal should eliminate the Dodgers from the sweepstakes for the other pricey starters. There’s only so many spots in the rotation, several of which are now occupied by Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Tyler Glasnow. Clayton Kershaw may still re-sign with them. Dustin May and Bobby Miller are lurking. The point is that it’s a lot of pitching, which is good, but it’s tough to justify another high-cost arm. Roki Sasaki is a different category.
For now, the Orioles still have lots of options. They all have flaws, and they will all be expensive—whether via trade or contract. Mike Elias will (hopefully) land one of them. But it won’t be Blake Snell. From some perspectives, that is dodging a bullet. For others, a brutal miss.
Links
Taking another shot at Orioles spring storylines | Roch Kubatko
Please, Orioles, give Roch some news to write about! The guy keeps coming up with spring storylines because the roster hasn’t changed in a meaningful way yet this offseason.
4 takeaways from Baseball America’s Orioles prospect list | The Baltimore Banner
Jon Meoli has the best insights about the O’s farm system of any other the local reporters. He seems excited by the pitching even if they are yet to get a ton of run nationally. That doesn’t mean they are all stars in the making, but it is noteworthy for the organization that still needs to prove itself in terms of homegrown pitching development.
5 candidates to be the Orioles’ opening day closer | The Baltimore Sun
It is possible that Félix Bautista is not at 100% for Opening Day. That would be a bummer, but it would also be smart for the club to protect him if they have any reservations about it. Bautista will be the closer at some point in 2025. The bullpen might just have to tread water in the interim.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Eloy Jiménez turns 28 today. He played in 33 games for the Orioles last year after a rather surprising trade with the White Sox. Those games did not go well, and the O’s declined his option for 2025. He is currently a free agent.
- Jason Berken is 41 years old. The right-handed pitcher spent parts of four seasons with the Orioles from 2009-2012, and even got himself a t-shirt night at Camden Yards. These were the dark ages, folks.
- Tim Laker is 55 years old today. A catcher, his Orioles career spanned seven games in 1997.
- Randy Milligan celebrates his 63rd birthday. He spent four seasons with the Orioles from 1989 through ‘92, posting an .812 OPS and 130 OPS+ in that time.
- The late Bill Short (b. 1937, d. 2022) was born on this day. He pitched in 11 total games for the Orioles, the first few coming in 1962 and then the others coming in 1966. In between he worked away with Triple-A Rochester to get another big league chance.
- A posthumous birthday for Johnny Schmitz (b. 1920, d. 2011). The southpaw wrapped up his 13-season career with 19 games on the 1955 Orioles.
This day in O’s history
1963 – The Orioles send first baseman Jim Gentile to the Kansas City Athletics in exchange for first baseman Norm Siebern.