The Orioles are headed into another offseason with a familiar kind of shopping list: rotation help, outfield upgrades and bullpen reinforcements. After a sub-.500 finish and a second straight miss of the playoffs following back-to-back appearances in 2023-24, the front office has plenty to sort through.
The infield is the one area that looks settled on paper, though even that could change with one move. Elsewhere, the roster is full of questions, and the biggest ones start with what kind of player the Orioles should be chasing.
One of the first decisions centers on the rotation: do they need a left-handed starter to replace Trevor Rogers?
That question assumes Rogers signs elsewhere and Baltimore settles for the compensatory draft pick. Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz and Brandon Young are the right-handed locks, while Cade Povich gives them a lefty option. But if the Orioles add multiple starters, Povich could be pushed back to Triple-A.
The more likely path may be less about handedness and more about value. If a starter is affordable and represents an upgrade, the Orioles could pursue him no matter which arm he throws with.
A trade could be the cleanest route, too. If the Rays make Drew Rasmussen available, being right-handed wouldn’t stop Baltimore from asking.
Free-agent right-hander Nick Martinez is also expected to draw attention, and MLBTradeRumors.com has linked the Orioles to right-hander Kevin Gausman.
The recent rotation picture shows how much the club has had to patch things together. The 2025 season opened with Zach Eflin, Dean Kremer, Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano and Povich in the rotation. Grayson Rodriguez’s elbow inflammation kept the Orioles from breaking camp with five right-handers, and Kyle Gibson was signed late in spring and had to be built up before making his first start on April 29.
The club has also seen plenty of different rotation mixes in recent years. In 2023, Gibson, Kremer, Bradish, Rodriguez and Tyler Wells led the team in starts, with left-hander Cole Irvin sixth.
In 2022, the top six starters were Jordan Lyles, Bradish, Wells, Kremer, Spenser Watkins and Austin Voth. Go back to 2016, and the list was even more tilted toward right-handers, with Gausman, Chris Tillman, Ubaldo Jimenez, Yovani Gallardo, Dylan Bundy, Tyler Wilson and Mike Wright making the most starts.
Left-hander Wade Miley was eighth.
The outfield brings its own set of questions, and one of them is whether the Orioles need a right-handed bat out there.
That would create a useful balance, especially if it lets Colton Cowser move into a corner spot. Cowser and Dylan Beavers both hit left-handed.
Tyler O’Neill provides right-handed power, but he also comes with an injury history he’s trying to move past. Rece Hinds is hanging onto his 40-man spot, and Blaze Alexander can fill in around the diamond and make some outfield starts.
Baltimore could use more than just a platoon arrangement. An everyday outfielder with impact at the plate and quality defense would fit best. Steven Kwan would be a strong trade target if the Guardians made him available, and his on-base ability plus four straight Gold Gloves in four seasons would make him a natural fit in left or center.
Randy Arozarena is another name to watch. He is expected to reject his qualifying offer, can play left field and bats right-handed.
But he’ll turn 32 in February, and MLBTradeRumors.com projects him for $100 million over four years. Control owner David Rubenstein has talked about an open checkbook and no restrictions, and the real question is how far that goes.
The bullpen also needs attention, especially on the left side. The Orioles declined Dietrich Enns’ $3.5 million option and sent him into free agency after he was optioned and designated for assignment following his final appearance with the club on May 25.
Grant Wolfram was one of the more durable arms in the group, making 60 appearances to rank third on the team. He posted a 4.30 ERA and a 1.318 WHIP in 52 1/3 innings, struck out 61 and allowed only three home runs, bringing his total to five over 79 major league innings.
Right-handers hit .237 with a .718 OPS against him, while left-handers hit .286 with a .729 OPS. His road ERA was 3.41 compared with 5.40 at home.
After a rough August, when he gave up eight runs in 10 innings, he bounced back by allowing two earned runs with 14 strikeouts in 9 1/3 innings in September. Wolfram didn’t allow an earned run in 15 of his final 16 outings.
Josh Walker also made a case for a bigger role. He finished with a 2.08 ERA in 31 games and strung together 21 straight scoreless appearances before giving up two runs at Yankee Stadium on Sept.
- Right-handers hit .182 with a .565 OPS against him, and left-handers hit .246 with a .628 OPS.
He had four stints on the roster, but that shuttle may be done for now.
Even so, the rest of the bullpen still looks heavily right-handed if the season started today, unless the Orioles moved Cade Povich into long relief. Luis De León worked out of the bullpen in September, but he is headed back to a starting role, likely beginning at Triple-A Norfolk. The Orioles also claimed Philip Abner on waivers this week, though his major league numbers are rough: a 6.75 ERA, a 1.765 WHIP, and 14 walks in 22 2/3 innings over 18 games.
Bullpens rarely stay fixed for long, and another wave of offseason moves is coming. A left-on-left weapon still looks like a need, even with the three-batter minimum in place.
Adrián Morejón is expected to reject the qualifying offer, but MLBTradeRumors.com projects him at $80 million over five years. Alex Vesia is another possibility, though a two-year, $26 million deal would be a steep price.
The rotation needs help, too. But adding to the bullpen could take some pressure off the rest of the staff, and that’s a familiar deadline-style move the Orioles may have to consider now.
In Other News...
Orioles First Rounder Is Finally Showing Why Fans Should Pay Attention
Vance Honeycutt spent much of his first full pro season trying to find his footing, and for a while the results matched the growing pains. The Orioles 2024 first-round pick, taken 22nd overall, had a rough run in Single-A and High-A, where the bat lagged and the strikeouts piled up, but the organization kept pushing him forward because the tools that made him such an intriguing pick were still there.
Since moving up to Double-A, Honeycutt has started to look more like the player Baltimore hoped it was getting, and that progress carried into the Arizona Fall League. He has been working with a hitting coach to tweak his swing, while also putting emphasis on the rest of his game, including baserunning and defense, which is the kind of all-around development the Orioles want to see as he tries to turn early struggles into real momentum. [Read more 🡒]
Trevor Rogers May Have Played His Way Beyond Baltimore
Trevor Rogers has given the Orioles enough to make him more than a short-term stopgap, and that is part of what makes his market so interesting now. After a solid recent run in Baltimore, the left-hander is drawing attention as free agency opens, with clubs looking at him as a young starter who can still fit into a long-term plan rather than just patch an immediate hole.
St. Louis is one of the teams being linked to Rogers, and the fit is easy to see from the Cardinals side. They need bullpen help, a veteran starter and possibly a third baseman, but they also have the payroll flexibility to chase a pitcher like Rogers if they decide he is worth the investment, which leaves Baltimore facing the familiar question of whether a rebound arm can be kept after he has reestablished his value. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Face A Fast Moving Offseason Puzzle Before Time Runs Out
With a little more than three weeks before a potential lockout could freeze the market on December 1, the Orioles are staring at an offseason that suddenly feels compressed and complicated. Baltimore has been active over the past year, reshaping the roster with notable trades and locking up Shane Baz and Kyle Bradish on extensions, but the next wave of work looks less straightforward and far more urgent.
The list of needs is clear enough: starting pitching, a left-handed reliever, a backup catcher and right-handed hitting help in the outfield. The problem is that the free-agent pool does not look especially deep, which pushes the Orioles toward the trade market if they want to keep moving the roster forward before the calendar closes on them. [Read more 🡒]