Orioles targeting ‘rotation upgrade,’ bullpen help at winter meetings, GM Mike Elias says

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mike Elias doesn’t want to talk too much about the Orioles’ starting pitching depth.

As the Orioles’ general manager navigates the winter meetings, his club has seven realistic options for the 2024 rotation, with some candidates far more likely than others.

“I definitely don’t like to talk about starting pitcher depth with the baseball gods always within earshot,” Elias quipped from the Orioles’ suite at the Gaylord Opryland Resort during a slow first day of the winter meetings. “We’ve got a decent group that’s returning, a lot of successes last year. We feel pretty good about some of the numbers that we have.”

As opposed to previous offseasons, the Orioles don’t need to simply add an innings eater to the rotation. In back-to-back seasons, Baltimore signed a veteran right-hander who went on to lead the club in wins with Jordan Lyles in 2022 and Kyle Gibson last season. After a 2023 campaign in which Kyle Bradish, Dean Kremer, Grayson Rodriguez and Tyler Wells all set single-season highs in innings, the Orioles don’t need someone to simply stabilize the rotation. They need someone to elevate it.

In his first time speaking with local media since his end-of-season news conference in October, Elias said a “rotation upgrade” is one of the Orioles’ top priorities this offseason.

“We want to make the team better,” he said. “It’s pretty clear that there’s probably a little more avenue for that on the pitching side, just because our position player group is almost entirely returning and we have more on the way.”

Additionally, Elias said the Orioles engaged in the relief pitching market — which he said has “picked up” on the trade front — given the team’s absence of closer Félix Bautista, who will miss all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John elbow reconstruction. That addition, though, doesn’t necessarily need to have closing experience for the Orioles to be interested.

“There’s only so many of those guys. You don’t want to restrict yourself too much, but it is something that we are talking about and placing a little bit of value on,” he said. “There’s guys that we’re talking about trading for, there’s free agents that have had that ninth-inning experience in their career … but it’s definitely not a requisite to make the acquisition.”

However, that doesn’t mean an addition is guaranteed. Elias expressed the challenge of acquiring arms in the current market, given “all but a handful” of teams are looking to compete in 2024 and virtually every one of those teams would like more pitching.

The top starters remaining on the market include free agents Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Shota Imanaga and Eduardo Rodriguez as well as trade candidates Dylan Cease, Corbin Burnes and Shane Bieber. The top relievers are free agents Josh Hader, Jordan Hicks, Robert Stephenson and Aroldis Chapman, and trade candidates David Bednar and Emmanuel Clase.

“I think 30 of these suites right now there’s teams talking about [being] out looking for pitching and pitching depth, so it’s a very competitive market,” Elias said. “I think we’ve expressed the desire to maybe come away with a rotation upgrade this offseason if we can, but I can tell you a few weeks in, they’re not growing on trees and it’s not easy. We’re doing the best that we can within the market.”

Bradish and Rodriguez are locks to remain in the rotation after their success in 2023. Bradish emerged as the Orioles’ ace, ending the season with a 2.83 ERA to finish fourth in AL Cy Young voting. Rodriguez struggled in his first 10 starts, but once he returned from his midseason demotion, he was one of the best starters in the AL with a 2.58 ERA in the second half.

John Means, so long as he’s healthy, will also be in the rotation. Means was the Orioles’ best starting pitcher during the rebuild but missed almost all of the 2022 and 2023 seasons with an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. The left-hander pitched well in his September return, posting a 2.66 ERA in four starts, but he wasn’t available in the postseason because of an elbow flare-up.

That would leave four pitchers competing for the remaining two spots in the rotation if the Orioles don’t add anyone: Kremer, Wells, DL Hall and Cole Irvin. Kremer would likely have an inside track to remain after going 13-5 with a 4.12 ERA. Elias said Hall and Wells’ roles won’t be determined until at least spring training, but both have experience in short relief, while Irvin, who is out of minor league options but was tendered a contract for his first arbitration year, could be a long reliever if he’s not in the rotation.

“I’m hopeful that this pitching staff will look stronger at the end of the offseason than it did a month ago,” Elias said. “But the way, shape, form or person that that’s coming in, I just don’t have a crystal ball right now.”

While it’s nice to be the team that makes a splash at the winter meetings, Elias said the Orioles don’t approach them with a “sense of urgency” to make moves simply because everyone is gathered in one place for a few days.

“We’re not worried about making any deals while we’re here,” Elias said. “I think it’s possible that something happens or you hear something, but in no sense are we feeling any pressure from the event.”

Around the horn

• Elias said reliever Dillon Tate, who didn’t appear for the Orioles in 2023 as he battled a flexor strain in his forearm, is healthy. “That really sucked last year,” Elias said.
• Elias also officially announced the club’s changes at pitching coach: hiring Drew French from the Braves, shifting Chris Holt to director of pitching and parting ways with Darren Holmes. Elias said it’s possible the Orioles hire another pitching coach to partner with French.
• Former Oriole Wade Miley signed the biggest deal of the winter meeting’s first day. The left-hander signed a one-year, $8.5 million contract with the Milwaukee Brewers.