Baltimore Orioles Insider Says They Likely Won't Pursue Superstar Outfielder

With an offseason full of major decisions looming, the Baltimore Orioles need to figure out what to do with their outfield.

Sep 14, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto (22) reacts after hitting a single against the Boston Red Sox during the third inning at Yankee Stadium / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles aren't focused on this upcoming winter.

After officially punching their ticket to the playoffs, they're hoping to find their form and get hot enough to make a magical run to win the World Series.

When their season eventually comes to an end, whether they are holding the trophy or not, this organization has a lot of massive decisions to make when it comes to their impending free agents and who they might pursue as replacements if they aren't able to keep them on this roster.

The two headliners are Anthony Santander and Corbin Burnes.

It was expected the Orioles might not be able to keep their ace around considering how attractive he'll be on the open market, but there was always some hope they would be able to re-sign their star slugger even with the talented outfield prospects coming up.

Santander has played his way into a lot of money this winter, whether that is from Baltimore or another team.

If the Orioles aren't able retain their 40-plus homer, 100-plus RBI man, there will be a massive void in right field no matter if Heston Kjerstad is able to take the next step immediately or not.

Because of this scenario, there has been some thought that Baltimore could turn their attention to landing Juan Soto if the opportunity presented itself.

Roch Kubatko of MASN is throwing some cold water on that notion.

"If they don't outbid teams for Santander, they ain't doing it for Soto," he said when answering a mailbag question.

This completely makes sense.

Santander, their virtually homegrown guy, is going to cost much less in free agency than Soto will this winter, so it wouldn't be logical for them to spend more money on someone who isn't their own star.

Of course every team would love to have Soto on their roster, but for the Orioles who already have questions centered around how much cash they are willing to spend this winter, aggressively keeping Santander makes more sense.

What Baltimore does regarding the future of their slugger is something that is going to be heavily monitored whenever their year ends.