The first offseason dominoes are starting to fall.
Happy Tuesday, Camden Chatters. Things have started happening in Major League Baseball. Nothing too exciting yet, but it’ll be here soon enough. Hopefully when it does, the Orioles will be involved.
Yesterday the Orioles announced that they exercised their options on Seranthony Domínguez, Ryan O’Hearn, and Cionel Pérez. None of that was too surprising. But what did surprise all of Birdland was that the Orioles declined the $4M option on Danny Coulombe.
Coulombe spent part of the season injured but otherwise put together his second consecutive successful season with the Orioles. The only thing that really jumps out to me about Coulombe is his age. He turned 35 years old a couple weeks ago, but given his past performance and the relative low cost of his option, it’s still a head scratcher.
That wasn’t all the Orioles were up to last year. They selected the contract of Luis González from Triple-A. He’s a lefty relief pitcher, like Coulombe. His callup puts the 40-man roster at 37.
After all that, the Orioles gave qualifying offers to free agents Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander. The qualifying offer for this year is $21.05M. Should either accept, they’ll be back with the Orioles for one more year. It’s not expected that either will accept and if they do not, the Orioles will be rewarded with a draft pick when they sign elsewhere.
I know there isn’t much chance that the Orioles will re-sign Burnes, but I am going to keep dreaming on it until he goes somewhere else. Having him in the rotation was one of the joys of 2024 and my mental state isn’t ready to let that go.
Links
Some premature Orioles prediction talk – MASN Sports
Roch Kubatko with some predictions for the 2025 Orioles.
3 Orioles named finalists for AL Silver Slugger Awards – WBAL
Jordan Westburg, Gunnar Henderson, and Anthony Santander are all up for the award for their positions.
Orioles extend offers to Burnes, Santander – The Baltimore Banner
I’d prefer they both return to the Orioles than get the Orioles a draft pick.
Orioles Claim Rene Pinto, Thaddeus Ward – MLB Trade Rumors
Pinto is a catcher from Tampa Bay and Ward is a pitcher from the Nationals.
Birthdays and History
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have two Orioles birthday buddies. Josh Lucas, who pitched in nine games for the 2019 Orioles, turns 34 today. And it’s the 54th birthday of the handsome Javy López.
López was signed by the Orioles in the offseason before the 2004 season after 12 season with the Atlanta Braves. It was a big offseason for the Orioles, who also signed Miguel Tejada, and Rafael Palmeiro. They also brought back B.J. Surhoff and Sidney Ponson for their second stints with the team. Expectations were high for that team. It didn’t go so well.
Anyway, Javy López had an excellent first year with the Orioles, putting up a bWAR of 4.8 in 2004 with 23 home runs in 150 games. But he missed time with injuries in 2005 and struggled in 2006 before being traded to the Red Sox for a player to be named later.
On this day in 1958, the Orioles hired Lee MacPhail to be the general manager. He led the team until 1965, bringing in a few good players with names like Boog Powell, Dave McNally, Jim Palmer, Mark Belanger, Dave Johnson, Dean Chance, Tom Phoebus, and Andy Etchebarren. Before leaving the Orioles in winter 1965, he laid the groundwork for the trade of one Frank Robinson. MacPhail was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1998. You can read all about his impressive career in his SABR.org bio.
In 1976, Jim Palmer was awarded his second consecutive and third overall Cy Young Award. Palmer started 40 games that year and led the league with 22 wins. He had a 2.91 ERA in 315 innings.
In 1997, manager Davey Johnson was named American League Manager of the Year the same day he resigned from the Orioles. Not Peter Angelos’s finest moment.