Baltimore Orioles' Critical Offseason Has Been Underwhelming So Far

The Baltimore Orioles have not done as much as hoped this offseason to improve their standing for 2025.

Nov 7, 2023; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias speaks to the media during the MLB General Manager's Meetings at Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles took a step back in 2024 from where they finished in 2023. After winning 101 games and the American League East in 2023, they won 10 fewer games in 2024 and had to settle for a Wild Card berth.

Both years resulted in first-round playoff exits, and this offseason has been much like the others, albeit there has been no trade for a bonafide ace.

In fact, that ace that they traded for last offseason, Corbin Burnes, is still a free agent, and there has been no indication that the Orioles are even in contention to bring him back.

Reports surfaced earlier in the winter that the new team owner, David Rubenstein, is willing to spend money to remain competitive. However, that same report stated that a source inside the organization has made it clear that Mike Elias does not want to spend and would rather prove to the rest of the league that winning can be accomplished by building a solid farm system.

Baltimore has certainly done that, with their 26-man roster playing host to players like Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman, among many others, who were drafted and developed by the club. Both players came from the same draft, and Henderson has quickly become one of the best offensive-minded shortstops in MLB.

That is not to say that the Orioles have not spent any money to this point in the offseason, as they have signed free agents Gary Sanchez and Tyler O'Neill, as well as international free agent pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano.

All three players are on the wrong side of 30, and they account for a combined $38 million of the team's current 2025 payroll of $77.7 million before arbitration rulings.

Sanchez is not the player that he once was in the mid-2010s with the New York Yankees. He has not hit 20 or more home runs in a single season since 2021 and has posted only a 93 OPS+ since 2020, after posting a 121 in that metric from 2015 through 2019. Despite the decline, he is at least the cheapest of the three at only $8.5 million in 2025.

O'Neill is the most expensive of the three, and possibly the least likely to make any impact. The outfielder has played in 100 or more games in a single campaign only twice in his career, with the most recent being 2024 with the Boston Red Sox. Even in crossing the 100-game threshold this year, he still dealt with a plethora of injuries and only took the field 113 times. He's set to make $16.5 million in 2025.

Sugano had a fantastic 2024 in Japan, but celebrated his 35th birthday in 2024 and has dealt with injuries this decade. In those leagues, pitchers start once a week as opposed to here where they usually make two starts a week. Sugano did make 24 starts in 2022 and 2024 but failed to do so in 2021, 2022, and 2023, combining for only 56 across those three years. The increased workload of MLB does not play in his favor.

There have been moves that the club could have made to better improve their standing for 2025, but they have yet to make any move of significance. As they remain mostly stagnant, the rest of the American League East, specifically the Yankees, have been active in free agency and on the trade market, improving their clubs for the coming season.

It has been nothing short of an underwhelming offseason for Baltimore thus far, and things do not look to get any better before pitchers and catchers report.