The Baltimore Orioles will have some big decisions to make this offseason after being swept in the Wild Card round, the second consecutive season the team has made the playoffs and failed to win a game.
Baltimore has not won a playoff game now since 2014, and putting the team in a position to change that is going to be at the top of the list of goals for general manager Mike Elias this winter. Spending money wisely but not being too frugal with the players that are already in house will be the name of the game all offseason for Elias and company.
With two of the top names on the free agency market coming from Baltimore in Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander, realistically it will be difficult to keep both on the roster in 2025. If it does come down to one or the other, Christopher Kline of FanSided says that the top priority of the team must be bringing back Burnes.
“Burnes has done enough over the years to earn the benefit of the doubt and a fat paycheck,” Kline wrote. “The Orioles are starting to walk the walk with new ownership, but Burnes’ free agency will be a true test of how committed Baltimore is to winning.”
Burnes was phenomenal for the Orioles in 2024 after the team acquired him from Milwaukee last offseason. It will be the fifth season in a row that Burnes will finish top-10 in Cy Young voting after he put up his best season in 2024 since he actually won the award in 2021. In 32 games this season, Burnes put up a 15-9 record with a 2.92 ERA with 181 strikeouts in 194 innings pitched. Even more critically, he showed up in the postseason.
While it didn’t lead to an Orioles victory because of zero run support, Burnes pitched an absolute gem in game one against Kansas City. Throwing eight innings and giving up just five hits and one run, Burnes held up his end of the bargain and was exactly the clutch postseason pitcher that Baltimore thought they were getting when they traded for him.
While obviously the team is far from a finished product to be able to compete for a championship, Burnes can be the ace of a championship quality rotation for years to come if the team is willing to open up the checkbook to keep him.
