Baltimore Orioles Take Revealing Spot in Free Agency Destination Rankings

The Baltimore Orioles have a great core of young players and money to spend. But just how good a free agency destination are the O's?

Sep 20, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles pitcher Corbin Burnes (39) throws a third inning pitch against the Detroit Tigers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles are heading into an important offseason. After another strong regular season, they were eliminated from the postseason in their first series. 

Still, after years of struggling through a difficult rebuild, they have seen their plans pay dividends. Baltimore put together one of the best young core of hitters in baseball, led by MVP candidate and infielder Gunnar Henderson. 

With other young players like Colton Cowser and Jackson Holliday, the lineup for the Orioles could improve over the next couple of seasons. 

While that lineup has produce a lot of regular-season wins, it hasn’t translated to playoff success. Last offseason, Baltimore pulled off a blockbuster trade to bring in right-hander Corbin Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers to become their ace.

Burnes certainly held up his end of the bargain, but he is a free agent now and could certainly get a massive deal elsewhere. 

Recently, Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report write about some of the most desirable destinations for free agents this offseason. The Orioles ranked in the middle of the pack at No. 15. His logic? It's all about pitching.

The Orioles made the playoffs for a second year in a row, and their 10-win decline from 2023 to 2024 shouldn't obscure the best thing they have going for them: arguably the top core of hitters of any American League team. The pitching is in a less-than-great state, however, and the farm system is not what it was even as recently as a few months ago. As such, there can't be a scenario in which the O's don't add veteran talent this winter.

While there is a lot of young talent on the team, and the Orioles have new ownership led by David Rubenstein, Baltimore simply hasn’t spent much in free agency in recent years while under the ownership of the Angelos family.

Until Rubenstein and the Orioles change the narrative, they are going to be considered a small-market team. 

There is certainly a scenario that the Orioles lose both Burnes and Anthony Santander in free agency, as they are two of the best players available in free agency. 

Even though the Orioles have won a lot of games and the future is bright with a lot of young talent, the willingness of Baltimore to spend certainly hinders the franchise’s ability to be a top destination for free agents.