How Will the Baltimore Orioles Find Playing Time for This Infielder in 2025?

The Baltimore Orioles have many decisions to make this offseason regarding some of their biggest stars on the roster.

Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles have a lot of decisions to make this offseason. 

After failing to win a playoff game for the second straight year, the Orioles front office must make some tough choices related to the future of their roster.

Baltimore’s young core has completely flipped the organization from a 100-loss team just two seasons ago to a top contender in the American League, and now the organization is at the point where contract extensions must be made.

Without a doubt, Mike Elias and the rest of the front office will not be able to relax this winter. 

While most of the focus will be on extending long-term contracts to Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, and possibly Jackson Holliday, one Orioles player will not require any attention this offseason.

In fact, he has floated under the radar for most of his career in Baltimore. 

Orioles infielder Ramón Urías was, once again, one of the best players from the plate for the team in 2024, especially when he was called back into a starting role this summer. The best part is the 30-year-old is not set to be a free agent until after the 2026 season. 

Urias found himself all across the diamond this past campaign, acting as a utilityman for Baltimore's young core. The big changes early made it tough for him to settle in, and he ultimately struggled at the plate to start the year, but once some roster changes were made, so did the play from the former Gold Glove winner.

When many looked to the great performance from Henderson, who put up 37 home runs and 21 stolen bases that was close to being only the fifth shortstop in MLB history to reach a 40/20 season, players like Urias were doing just as much keeping the Orioles afloat in the AL playoff race. 

After starting the year 58-33, the Orioles went 33-33 after the All-Star break, finding themselves as only a Wild Card team and missing out on their second straight AL East title.

In a time when it seemed that nothing was going right for Baltimore, the veteran infielder was putting the team on his shoulders. 

Urias had an outstanding July and August while the Orioles were fighting to find the wins. He had a .819 OPS post-All-Star break with seven homers and 25 RBI. The five-year pro also picked up a stolen base in that stretch, only the sixth of his career. He was doing everything he could to keep his team in the race down the stretch. 

September brought bad luck for Urias, however. He was sidelined for three weeks due to a right ankle sprain when, beforehand, he was playing the best baseball of his career.

The biggest question this offseason for Ramon Urias will be how to find him playing time in 2025 with all the young players banging on the front door of Camden Yards.

There are currently a few options to play him as a utilityman again next season and fill in where he's needed across the infield, but his bat definitely struggles when being used every day.

A possible platoon option in the middle infield with Holliday, who is still only 21 and not fully ready for an everyday role, could be a possibility as well.

Some of the pending moves this winter will undoubtedly make this picture clear moving into spring training, but having Urias in their back pocket is quite a chip to have when constructing a roster to compete in the toughest division in baseball. 

Although he is set to receive some sort of pay raise in his final year of arbitration, his value should most definitely be worth keeping on the Orioles' 26-man active roster, especially after having an offensive performance that rivaled his 2021 numbers for the best of his career.

With an offseason that is surely bound to have a ton of moving parts, some that may change the entire layout of how the Orioles look in 2025 and beyond, having someone like Urias battling for a roster spot this spring would be a welcoming sight.