Orioles offseason guide: Pending free agents, roster needs, key dates and more

It arrived much quicker than anyone in Baltimore hoped, but the Orioles’ offseason is underway after the Kansas City Royals swept them out of the wild-card round.

Executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias expressed confidence during his end-of-season news conference Thursday that the Orioles’ front office will have the means to increase spending under owner David Rubenstein. With a pair of All-Stars entering free agency and fans clamoring for the team to sign its young stars to extensions, the Orioles face several key decisions that will have substantial long-term effects on their future.

“I am going to work tirelessly to make adjustments and improve and put us in the position to have a better outcome than we just had,” Elias said. “My staff and I will not rest this winter, and we will put ourselves in that position. There is a lot to be confident about with this team’s positioning going forward into 2025.”

Here’s a look at the Orioles’ offseason ahead:

Pending free agents (5)

Corbin Burnes

The Orioles acquired Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers with one season left on his contract — and what a season it was. The right-hander led all qualified Orioles starters in innings (194 1/3), ERA (2.92), wins (15) and strikeouts (181), earning his fourth straight All-Star selection and living up to his reputation as a former National League Cy Young Award winner.

Burnes, who turns 30 on Oct. 22, is expected to be the top starting pitcher available in free agency this winter, putting him well within range of a contract north of $200 million. While the Orioles can’t be ruled out as potential suitors given their need for an ace atop their rotation and the chance Rubenstein is willing to dramatically expand their payroll, Burnes’ market will likely need to crater enough for him to resort to a short-term deal for him to return.

The Orioles are almost certain to extend Burnes a qualifying offer, a one-year deal that teams can propose to pending free agents that’s worth the average salary of the top 125 players in MLB. If a player declines their qualifying offer and signs elsewhere over the offseason, the Orioles would receive a compensatory draft pick.

Anthony Santander

After eight years in Baltimore, Santander will test free agency for the first time this winter with a chance to cash in on a career season. The right fielder hit 44 home runs, third most in the majors, and set other personal highs with 102 RBIs and an .814 OPS. He expressed at multiple points in 2024 an interest in re-signing with the Orioles but indicated that the two sides weren’t engaging in any discussions until after the season.

Heading into his age-30 campaign, Santander will be a candidate for a multiyear contract as a top-three outfielder on the market alongside Juan Soto and Teoscar Hernández. Questions about his walk rate (.307 career on-base percentage) and ability to stick in the outfield long term (minus-7 Defensive Runs Saved in 2024) might limit him to a three- or four-year deal, but the Orioles will need to be willing to commit a significant chunk of payroll to keep him in Baltimore. Santander is likely to receive a qualifying offer.

John Means

What was supposed to be Means’ chance to reestablish himself in the Orioles’ rotation turned out to be another lost season for the left-hander, who underwent his second Tommy John elbow reconstruction in June after posting a 2.61 ERA over four starts. The 31-year-old has started just 10 games over the past three seasons.

Not expected to be healthy enough to pitch again until the second half of next season, Means faces an unenviable situation entering free agency in the middle of rehabilitation. Perhaps the best outcome for Means would be to sign a two-year deal, with Baltimore or elsewhere, to complete his recovery and get a full second season to rebuild his value as an effective starter.

James McCann

The Orioles’ backup catcher of the past two seasons, McCann hits free agency for the second time in his career after the four-year, $40.6 million deal he signed with the New York Mets in 2021 expired. New York paid the majority of his salary following a trade to Baltimore and his offensive performance (.657 OPS with the Orioles) left much to be desired even if he made up for it with his defense and veteran leadership in the clubhouse.

McCann, 34, isn’t expected to command a large salary in free agency and could return to Baltimore if there’s mutual interest in having him back up Adley Rutschman again.

Austin Slater

The Orioles acquired Slater from the Cincinnati Reds at the trade deadline to replace the departed Austin Hays as a right-handed outfielder who could platoon against left-handed pitchers. He hit .246 with one home run and a .675 OPS (.707 vs. lefties) in 33 games to finish what was a down season with career lows across the board.

Team options (5)

Eloy Jiménez ($16.5 million)

A near-certainty to have his option declined, Jiménez has a $3 million buyout for his 2025 team option that the Chicago White Sox helped pay down when they traded him to Baltimore at the deadline. The Orioles optioned Jiménez to the minors in September after he finished the year slashing .238/.289/.336 in 98 games between Chicago and Baltimore.

Seranthony Domínguez ($8 million)

Domínguez’s numbers weren’t spectacular — he posted a 3.97 ERA and 1.28 WHIP — but the right-hander put up strong peripherals and racked up 10 saves down the stretch as the Orioles’ preferred ninth-inning option following Craig Kimbrel’s demotion. Should the Orioles pick up his option, Domínguez would be the Orioles’ highest-paid reliever before free agency.

Ryan O’Hearn ($8 million)*

O’Hearn was a key piece to the Orioles’ offense for the second straight year in 2024, hitting 15 home runs and posting a .761 OPS in a career-high 142 games. But after the Orioles got him on the cheap from the Kansas City Royals, they now must decide whether the left-handed first baseman is worth more than double the $3.5 million salary they paid him this year.

Danny Coulombe ($4 million)*

Despite missing three and a half months after undergoing surgery to have bone chips removed from his elbow, Coulombe showed when he was on the field that he could be relied on as a late-inning option out of the Orioles’ bullpen. The 34-year-old is a strong candidate to have his team-friendly option picked up for 2025.

Cionel Pérez ($3.05 million)*

One of manager Brandon Hyde’s most trusted left-handed relievers of the past three years, Pérez eclipsed 60 games for the third straight season but struggled with run prevention (4.53 ERA) even as he went the entire campaign without allowing a home run. While the price to retain Pérez isn’t very high, the Orioles could decline the option and negotiate a salary through arbitration instead.

*Performance bonus escalators are according to Spotrac.

Arbitration-eligible players (15)

For the second straight offseason, the Orioles are set to be among the league leaders in arbitration-eligible players. Barring any nontenders before the start of free agency, they will have 15 players on their roster with between three and six years of MLB service time. Those players have the right to negotiate their salary for 2025 and, if they can’t reach an agreement with Baltimore on a set amount, have an arbitrator review their case and decide.

The raises — by rule, players cannot receive a lower salary in arbitration than they had the year before — will naturally expand the Orioles’ payroll, especially with All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman and starter Dean Kremer going into arbitration for the first time. Here’s a full list of the Orioles’ arbitration-eligible players, sorted by the reliably projected figures compiled by MLB Trade Rumors .

• OF Cedric Mullins ($8.7 million)
• 1B Ryan Mountcastle ($6.6 million)
• C Adley Rutschman ($5.8 million)
• LHP Gregory Soto ($5.6 million)
• RHP Dean Kremer ($3.5 million)
• 2B/SS Jorge Mateo ($3.2 million)
• 3B/2B Ramón Urías ($3.1 million)
• LHP Trevor Rogers ($2.8 million)
• RHP Kyle Bradish ($2.1 million)
• RHP Tyler Wells ($2.1 million)
• RHP Jacob Webb ($1.7 million)
• LHP Keegan Akin ($1.4 million)
• 1B/3B Emmanuel Rivera ($1.4 million)
• RHP Matt Bowman ($1.3 million)
• RHP Burch Smith (no projection)

Positions of need

More roster holes will become clear if the Orioles decline some of their team options or nontender players expected to make significant raises in arbitration, but the Orioles’ biggest needs are in the starting rotation, outfield and the back end of their bullpen. They will also likely be in the market for a backup catcher if McCann doesn’t re-sign, even with catching prospect Samuel Basallo reaching Triple-A this year.

To start with the positions they won’t need to address, catcher (Rutschman), first base (Mountcastle), second base (Jackson Holliday), shortstop (Gunnar Henderson), third base (Jordan Westburg) and left field (Colton Cowser) can all be penciled in with young talent. Urías and Mullins also figure to be in the mix after they both finished the season strong.

Though Heston Kjerstad would be in line for an increased opportunity in right field if Santander departs in free agency, his presence would also give the Orioles a lefty-heavy outfield. Elias said Thursday that the idea of top prospect Coby Mayo moving to the outfield “has come up” but he has yet to appear anywhere other than third or first base as a professional. Candidates in free agency include Teoscar Hernández, Jurickson Profar, Tyler O’Neill and Randal Grichuk.

As for the rotation, the Orioles will have a Burnes-sized hole that Bradish won’t be able to help fill until the second half. Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez and Kremer are expected to return and Cade Povich, Albert Suárez and Trevor Rogers will be options. Unless they pull off a deal for Burnes, the Orioles are more likely to shop among the more moderately priced options such as Yusei Kikuchi, Luis Severino, Spencer Turnbull, Michael Lorenzen and Matthew Boyd, or perhaps be active in the trade market again.

The Orioles’ bullpen will be getting Félix Bautista back in time for spring training, a massive boost for a unit that struggled late in games without the 2023 Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award winner. Yennier Cano, Coulombe and Akin have shown they can handle setup roles, but another high-leverage arm would go a long way in helping settle the Orioles’ relievers into appropriate roles — especially if the Orioles decline their team options for Domínguez or Soto.

Important dates

Late October/early November: Free agency opens at 5 p.m. five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Teams will also have until then to decide whether to make qualifying offers to any pending free agents.

Nov. 4-7: MLB will host its annual general manager meetings in San Antonio, Texas.

Mid-November: Players must decide if they will accept or reject their qualifying offers about two weeks into free agency. MLB hasn’t yet announced the deadline.

Nov. 19-21: MLB will host its quarterly owners meetings in New York.

Nov. 22: The 4 p.m. deadline for teams to nontender arbitration-eligible players on their 40-man rosters who they do not wish to retain for 2025.

Dec. 8-11: MLB’s Winter Meetings will be held in Dallas this year, giving agents and general managers a chance to meet in person and hammer out potential deals at the unofficial halfway point of the offseason.

Dec. 11: The Rule 5 draft will be held on the final day of the winter meetings. Teams who select players from other team’s farm systems must keep them on their roster for the entire 2025 season or offer the player back to their original team.

Jan. 9: Arbitration-eligible players who have not yet signed for 2025 and their teams must submit salary figures by this date. The two sides can continue to negotiate, but if they go to a hearing the arbiter will choose between the two salaries submitted.

Jan. 15: The 2025-26 international signing period for amateur free agents begins at 9 a.m., allowing the Orioles’ revamped Latin American program to officially sign eligible teenagers to long-term contracts.

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Jan. 27 to Feb. 14: Arbitration hearings will be held.

Feb. 12: The league’s voluntary spring training reporting date, which can vary from team to team, for pitchers and catchers is five days ahead of that for the rest of the team.

Feb. 22: The Orioles open Grapefruit League play with a home game at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida.

March 13: MLB’s spring breakout exhibition games, which pit rosters of teams’ top prospects against each other, will be held during spring training for the second straight year.

March 27: Baltimore will travel north of the border to take on the AL East rival Toronto Blue Jays on opening day 2025. Active rosters must be trimmed down to 26 players by this date.

March 31: The Orioles’ home opener at Camden Yards is scheduled for this day against the Boston Red Sox.

Have a news tip? Contact Matt Weyrich at mweyrich@baltsun.com , 410-332-6200 and x.com/ByMattWeyrich .