The Baltimore Orioles’ offseason plans typically revolve around their skill to build a farm system instead of paying veteran free agents top dollar. Case in point: there will four of their first-round draft picks in the last six years in the batting order next season.

However, the team have somewhat flipped their offseason script this year by signing a few veterans to notable deals.

Who left in free agency?

This offseason has been rather difficult for the Orioles, who have lost Corbin Burnes (Diamondbacks), Anthony Santander, John Means, Austin Slater (White Sox), James McCann, Jacob Webb (Rangers), Danny Coulombe, and Eloy Jiménez (Rays) to free agency.

Burnes and Santander are enormous losses whose production have yet to be properly replaced.

In Burnes’s only season with Baltimore, he had a 2.92 ERA over 194.1 innings with 181 strikeouts. He was the first Orioles pitcher to start the All-Star game since Steve Stone in 1980.

Corbin Burnes earns a spot on the All-MLB First Team for the second time in his career! pic.twitter.com/uKPquxbb8E

— MLB (@MLB) November 15, 2024

Santander made his first All-Star appearance in 2024, playing in 155 games and hitting .235 with 44 HRs and 102 RBIs.

Those were the most home runs and RBIs that he has hit in a season over his eight-year career.

Pitchers Webb and Means are also notable losses. Webb had 14 holds out of the bullpen as a set-up man over 56.2 innings while posting a 3.02 ERA.

Means, meanwhile, has struggled with injuries over the last three years but has been outstanding when healthy.

He had Tommy John surgery in 2022 and 2024, which resulted in him pitching less than 25 innings in in that span. However, he pitched under a 2.70 ERA in the last two shortened seasons.

Who have the Orioles added this offseason?

The Orioles have added veterans who can be productive, but they are far short of replicating the production Burnes and Santander delivered.

Tyler O’Neill signed a three-year deal for $49.5 million but has an opt-out after just one season.

Charlie Morton ($15 million), Gary Sanchez ($8.5 million), Tomoyuki Sugano ($13 million), and Andrew Kittredge ($10 million) all signed one-year contracts as well.

O’Neill brings experience in the outfield where he has won two Gold Glove awards while with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Last season, he played 113 games for the Boston Red Sox, hitting .241 with 31 HRs and 61 RBIs. He will slot into the middle of the batting order while playing left field.

Tyler O’Neill is ready to bring the power to Baltimore fresh off his 2nd career 30+ HR season 💪 pic.twitter.com/Oz1Y2oLyFC

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 8, 2024

Charlie Morton, the two-time All-Star, brings 17 years of experience to a starting rotation whose remaining members struggled last season.

With the Braves in 2024, he had an 8-10 record, throwing 165.1 innings and logging a 4.19 ERA and 167 strikeouts.

Gary Sánchez brings a decade of experience behind the plate that includes two All-Star appearances and a Silver Slugger Award.

He will fill the McCann role of backing up Adley Rutschman at catcher. Last season, Sánchez hit .220 over 89 games for the Milwaukee Brewers with 11 HRs and 37 RBIs.

Sugano comes over from Japan after a 12-year career in the NPB. Last season, he had a 15-3 record over 156.2 innings with a 1.67 ERA, 111 strikeouts, and only 16 walks.

Sugano brings an exceptional track record from Japan, where he was a two-time Sawamura Award winner, the equivalent of the Cy Young Award in Nippon Professional Baseball. He also won four ERA titles in his career.

Shohei Ohtani, Yu Darvish, Kodai Sanga, Shota Imanaga, and Kenta Maeda are just a few Japanese pitchers who have succeeded after coming overseas from the NPB.

Perhaps the Orioles’ best find this offseason is the replacement to fill Webb’s set-up role.

After pitching 70.2 innings for the Cardinals and posting a 2.80 ERA with 37 holds and 67 strikeouts, Kittredge is joining the Orioles,

Newest Orioles Andrew Kittredge folks.

1.5 WAR (2nd best in career), 70.2 IP (2nd best in career), 8.5 K/9, 150 ERA+.

I really like this signing by Mike Elias. pic.twitter.com/4Ks1I5SXr4

— Tyler Barberis (@tylerbarberis_) January 10, 2025

How should we rate the Orioles offseason?

Though Santander’s production has yet to be met, the Orioles added O’Neill to an offense that ranked seventh in batting average, second in home runs, and fourth in RBIs in 2024.

The emergence of former first-round picks Colton Cowser (fifth pick, 2021) and Jordan Westburg (30th pick, 2020) greatly impacted these numbers, joining the likes of Santander, Gunnar Henderson, and Rutschman in the lineup.

The offense returns eight players who played in over 100 games for the Orioles in 2024. So, Santander’s loss will not hurt the offense as much as the loss of Burnes impacts the starting rotation.

Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez, and Dean Kremer are the returning projected starters, but none had an ERA under 3.50 last season.

The team needs an ace, but the options in free agency are slim at this point. There have been rumors that the Orioles will re-sign Means, but because he had Tommy John Surgery in 2024, he likely will not be available until the second half of 2025.

Jack Flaherty is available for a reunion, but fans would be hesitant with this acquisition after the Orioles traded for Flaherty at the 2023 trade deadline from the Cardinals.

He pitched just 34.2 innings and had a 6.75 ERA. Although he had a bounce-back 2024 with the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers posting a combined 3.17 ERA and 194 strikeouts over 162 innings, he seems like a longshot at best for Baltimore.

What’s going on with Jack Flaherty? 🤔

“Lately, I haven’t heard too much,” says @WillSammon. pic.twitter.com/dy2NSGW2hD

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) January 13, 2025

This offseason has been disappointing for Orioles fans. After losing two of the team’s more productive players, fans wanted a significant splash acquisition.

It should be noted that Executive Vice President/General Manager Mark Elias suggested that the team was not done making moves this winter, telling MASN: “We’re very fortunate to be in a spot where we can examine opportunities as they come up, so we’re staying in contact with everyone, and we’re open for business and fluid, and that could come in a number of shapes and sizes, if at all.”

If the Orioles do not make any more acquisitions, it will be an extremely lackluster offseason, but the team will return enough firepower to compete for an AL East division title at the very least.

They will rely on a strong offense to put up runs and hope the starters can hold opposing teams down until a bullpen that returns Felix Bautista in 2025 can enter the game.

Is that a strategy that can carry them all the way to a World Series title? Only time will tell.