Plus: Elias still eyeing upgrades, space to maneuver, and a minor roster move.
Good Morning Birdland!
This has been the Orioles’ busiest offseason in quite some time, and certainly their most active with Mike Elias at the helm. The team’s latest move was the addition of veteran reliever Andrew Kittredge on a one-year, $9 million deal, a transaction that was reported late on Thursday night. But it seems that the Kittredge addition may have actually been a Plan B.
According to a report from FanSided’s Robert Murray, the Orioles had agreed to a three-year, $40-million contract with 32-year-old reliever Jeff Hoffman earlier in the week. That would have been a huge upgrade to an Orioles bullpen with some question marks. Hoffman was really good in 2024, earning his first all-star nod by loading up on strikeouts and featuring a nasty repertoire of offerings. You could have made the argument that he, alongside Tanner Scott, was the top reliever on the market.
Murray reports that Hoffman’s deal fell through with the Orioles during the physical review. The team flagged his right shoulder as a concern and nixed the offer. A quick scan of Hoffman’s transaction history does reveal some arm issues. He missed most of 2022 with right forearm stiffness, oftentimes a harbinger of elbow issues. But his shoulder has not cropped up as a concern since 2021, when he missed about two months with an injury.
Whatever the case, Hoffman’s deal with the O’s was called off. The player and his agent pivoted and instead landed with the Blue Jays on a three-year, $33 million contract. So the Orioles will be seeing plenty of him in the regular season as a member of their division rival, provided that he does stay healthy.
The Orioles’ consolation prize of Kittredge is not a terrible outcome for them. He was not as dominant as Hoffman in 2024, but he was still pretty darn good, and has a longer track record of being an above-average MLB arm.
It is interesting to know that the Orioles were willing to go multiple years on Hoffman. To this point, the Elias-led front office has been reluctant to give anyone that sort of deal. Even the contract signed by Tyler O’Neill earlier this offseason has the chance to only be a one-year pact if the player performs well enough to opt out. Deciding that a reliever, of all players, is the one worth a commitment is rather surprising.
It also feels like there is some reading between the lines to be done here in regards to the Orioles’ bullpen situation. We know that Félix Bautista is coming back from Tommy John surgery, but Elias has made comments this offseason that makes it sound like Bautista may not be quite ready to close by late March.
That could be why they were happy to pay Seranthony Domínguez a beefy $8 million in 2025 despite middling results, why they have hung onto their rotation depth, or why they pursued both Hoffman and Kittredge. The club is hedging its bets rather than going all in on one option. That’s fine as long as Bautista is ready to close sometime early in the season. If things are worse than that, well, let’s not even think about it.
Links
Elias: “We’re going to stay in the mode of looking for ways to upgrade the team” | Roch Kubatko
The Orioles right now are better than the Orioles at the start of free agency. While they may not have landed that one big upgrade we all want, the team’s depth is obvious. They are also much older, adding Kittredge and Charlie Morton has increased the number of gray hairs on the staff by a sizable amount.
Andrew Kittredge is another smart short-term Orioles signing. Are they leaving room for more? | The Baltimore Banner
If we are operating with the luxury tax threshold as the “salary cap” for the Orioles, they still have tons of space to make a big move. I would be happy with a contract extension for one of the youngsters, a trade for a big arm, or both. Thanks!
Orioles Claim Roansy Contreras, Designate Liván Soto | MLB Trade Rumors
A nice little depth addition to the pitching staff. Contreras is only 25 and has some MLB experience. He does not have any minor league options remaining, so his time on the roster could be short.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Stevie Wilkerson turns 33 today. A utility man, Wilkerson played in 163 total games for the Orioles between 2018 and ‘21. While his overall performance was lacking, he did have a few incredible moments, including a home run-robbing catch at Fenway Park and becoming the first position player in MLB history to record a save.
- Greg Aquino is 47 years old. The reliever appeared in nine games for the Orioles in 2008.
- The late Carl Powis (b. 1928, d. 1999) was born on this day. He played in 15 games as an outfielder for the 1957 Birds.
- It’s a posthumous birthday for Neil Berry (b. 1922, d. 2016). On the 1954 O’s he played five games on the infield.
This day in history
2002 – The Orioles decide to return Camden Yards to its original dimensions, just one year after experimenting with a more pitcher-friendly design. The result was 44 fewer home runs hit by the Orioles at the friendly confines.