Still waiting for free agency to kick off, a familiar face with big aspirations, and the O”s make minor moves.
Good Morning, Birdland!
Don’t let the 80-degree temperatures in the Baltimore area fool you. The offseason has arrived. For me, that means regular trips to MLB Trade Rumors to learn what all is happening in the baseball-ing world.
At the moment, we are living in between key offseason dates. Players are hitting free agency, but they cannot be signed. Most of the big news floating around pertains to contract options being picked up or not. So far, the Orioles have yet to make a call on any of their options, although they have pretty easy decisions there (bye, Eloy!).
Elsewhere in the league, some intriguing names are hitting the market:
- LHP Blake Snell opted out of his deal with the Giants.
- RHP Nick Martinez declined his player option with the Reds.
- INF Ty France elected free agency after being waived by the Reds.
- INF Jorge Polanco had his team option with the Mariners declined.
- C Max Stassi had his team option with the White Sox declined.
- UTL Cavan Biggio elected free agency after being waived by the Braves.
These are the most prominent players to have hit free agency in a way other than their contracts simply expiring. Do they all make sense for the Orioles? Not exactly. Snell and Martinez do. The O’s were said to be interested in both back at the trade deadline, and the team could certainly use one more dependable big league arm.
But the story that caught my eye more than anything on Friday was about our beloved Trey Mancini. The longtime Oriole and destroyer of cancer made it known that he wants to make a comeback in 2025.
Mancini will turn 33 in March and will be two full seasons removed from his last productive big league at-bats. He had a 116 OPS+ with the Orioles in 2022 prior to being traded to the Astros, with whom he won a World Series. But Mancini had a 76 OPS+ with Houston, was even worse with the Cubs in 2023, and did not make it beyond spring training with the Marlins this past March. That doesn’t make a comeback impossible, but the odds are long.
There is likely no player better prepared for a battle like that than Mancini. At the very least, I hope he gets a spring invite somewhere. Even if the Orioles did not make the most sense as a regular season destination, I would personally love seeing him down in Sarasota, teaching this young team a few things.
If not the O’s, there should be at least one other team that understands the benefit of having someone with Mancini’s background and experience in their camp this spring. He might even surprise them and make a push for the roster.
Links
Trey Mancini hopes to play again: ‘I have something left to give the game’ | The Baltimore Banner
For those that skip right to the links, our guy is trying a comeback! It probably won’t be with the Orioles, but it should be somewhere.
Orioles announce three minor league signings | Roch Kubatko
David Bañuelos is the name that stands out. He was on the Orioles’ 40-man roster a few times this year and even got an at-bat. Expect more of the same in 2025. The other two names are new to me, but that doesn’t make them irrelevant. The Orioles have found success with under-the-radar additions in the past. Just look at how important Albert Suárez was this past season.
Which free-agent starters might interest Orioles? | Baltimore Baseball
Honestly, they should be in on the market as a whole. That’s not to say the Orioles need a ton of pitchers, but they need the right one (or two). The injury bug bit the pitching staff in a big way in 2024, and despite that they held their own. We already know that the team will enter 2025 with injuries to address. I would not count on the depth holding up again.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Denyi Reyes is 28 today. He pitched in three games for the 2022 Orioles.
- Wilson Betemit celebrates his 43rd birthday. The journeyman infielder ended his career with parts of two seasons with the Orioles from 2012-13. He basically kept third base warm until Manny Machado was ready to make his impact in Baltimore.
- Sam Horn turns 61. From 1990 through ‘92 he was a solid bat in the Orioles lineup, accumulating a 122 OPS+ in that time.
- Paul Hartzell is 71. The right-handed pitcher made it into six games with the 1980 O’s.
This day in history
1971 – In an exhibition game, Orioles pitcher Pat Dobson tosses a no-hitter against the Yomiuri Giants to lead the O’s to a 2-0 win.
2000 – Will Clark announces his retirement from baseball. “The Thrill” had spent 1999 and part of 2000 in Baltimore, but was traded to the Cardinals for infielder José León at the most recent deadline.
2005 – Lee Mazzilli, fired as Orioles manager the previous August, rejoins the Yankees as Joe Torre’s bench coach, the role he held before heading to Baltimore.