As of this morning, the Orioles have 10 arbitration-eligible players with unresolved contracts heading into the contract deadline.
This coming Thursday, the 9th, is the deadline for players and teams to come to terms on contracts for 2025.
If the two sides are unable to come to a resolution prior to Thursday, they’ll each have to file their respective contract demands and likely head to an arbitration hearing later this month.
The Orioles resolved two of these situations earlier this winter. They came to terms on a one-year deal with infielder Emmanuel Rivera, and chose to DFA reliever Jacob Webb, who subsequently signed with the Rangers.
The full list of names remaining on the list are catcher Adley Rutschman, infielders Jorge Mateo, Ryan Mountcastle, and Ramón Urías, and pitchers Dean Kremer, Keegan Akin, Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells, Gregory Soto, and Trevor Rogers.
Orioles arbitration deadline: Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle headline the group of eligible Orioles’ players
None of these guys will be particularly expensive.
Rutschman is entering his first year of arbitration and Cot’s Contracts has him projected for $5 million.
Mountcastle is projected to earn $6.2 million, which will likely be the most expensive arbitration deal the Orioles make this year. None of the other eligible players feel at risk of being DFA’d at this point.
Coming into the winter, there were definitely questions about the likelihood of retaining Soto.
However, after the O’s let Danny Coulombe walk in free agency, the need for an additional left handed reliever remains high, so Soto is a near lock to remain in Baltimore for the time being.
The full list of eligible Orioles players, including their salary projections, is as follows:
Ryan Mountcastle – $6.2 million
Adley Rutschman – $5 million
Gregory Soto – $4.5 million
Jorge Mateo – $3.3 million
Dean Kremer – $3 million
Ramón Urías – $3 million
Trevor Rogers – $2.5 million
Tyler Wells – $1.9 million
Kyle Bradish – $1.6 million
Keegan Akin – $1.2 million
Even after the signing of Charlie Morton, it seems likely that the Orioles will keep lefty Trevor Rogers around.
The O’s gave up a couple talented players in Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers to acquire Rogers and it’d be a bit rash to give up on Rogers after a few dozen rough innings.
He might not make the MLB roster out of spring training but expect to see Rogers return to Baltimore at some point in 2025.
In the rare event that all of these projections are accurate, the Orioles will be pushing upwards of $160 million in terms of their CBT payroll figure heading into 2025.
Even if they part ways with one or two of the remaining players on this list, they’d still be in line to post their highest payroll figure in nearly 7 years. Barring any late surprises, the Orioles’ 2025 roster is coming into pretty clear view.
