Orioles To Promote Brandon Young For MLB Debut
Orioles right-hander Brandon Young will start Saturday’s game, making his major league debut. Jake Rill of MLB.com was among those to relay the update. Young has been added to the taxi squad for now and will be officially recalled prior to his start. He is already on the 40-man roster, so the O’s will only need to make a corresponding active roster move.
Young, 26, is one of Baltimore’s top pitching prospects. He went undrafted in 2020, the year in which the draft was shortened by the pandemic to just five rounds. He signed with Baltimore and has since been climbing through the minors and raising his stock, though Tommy John surgery led to him missing most of the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Around that long rehab process, he has tossed 265 minor league innings, allowing 3.57 earned runs per nine. He has struck out 28.5% of opponents while only giving out walks at an 8% clip. Last year, he tossed 111 innings between Double-A and Triple-A with a 3.57 ERA. His strikeout and walks rates matched his overall track record, coming in at 28.5% and 8% respectively.
That was strong enough that the O’s didn’t want to risk losing him in the Rule 5 draft, so they added him to their 40-man roster in November. Baseball America ranked him the club’s #20 prospect coming into this year, suggesting he could become a back-end starter in the big leagues. His somewhat tepid fastball velocity, which averaged 92.5 miles per hour last year, seemed to make BA a bit bearish. FanGraphs is a bit more bullish, recently giving Young the #6 spot in the organization, believing that improvements to his curveball and changeup give him a bit of a higher ceiling.
He has started this year in the Triple-A rotation, posting a 2.76 ERA in his first three starts. Though Young has been putting up good numbers, his promotion perhaps says more about what’s going on elsewhere on the roster. The Orioles have Grayson Rodriguez, Zach Eflin, Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells, Trevor Rogers, Albert Suárez and Chayce McDermott all on the injured list. That leaves them with a current rotation core of Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano, Dean Kremer and Cade Povich.
The O’s have been able to get by with a four-man rotation recently. Eflin was the most recent injury, landing on the IL April 8th. Since then, the off-days on April 10th and 14th gave the club some natural breathing room. But they are now halfway through a six-game stretch and then an off-day on Monday will be followed by nine straight.
Young will come up and make at least one start to keep the rotation on track. He could perhaps stay a bit longer but the O’s will have Kyle Gibson entering the mix eventually. Gibson signed in the second half of March and agreed to be optioned in order to ramp up after missing spring training. He has made two Triple-A starts thus far, both between three and four innings long, so he shouldn’t be too far off.
Perhaps Young will just get one start for now or perhaps he’ll stick around for a lengthier stay. That will likely depend upon his own performance as well as the health of the other pitchers on the roster going forward.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Latest On Orioles’ Extension Candidates
Orioles fans have been pining for long-term extensions for some of their young core, but thus far there’s been little indication that they’re pursuing such commitments. Part of that stemmed from the fact that the franchise was up for sale. We’re now more than a year into David Rubenstein’s tenure as Orioles owner, and while they’ve spent more money on the whole, it’s primarily been on one-year deals for free agents. (Tyler O’Neill‘s three-year deal is a notable exception, though that contains an opt-out clause after the 2025 season and thus could end being a one-year deal as well.)
General manager Mike Elias commented on the matter yesterday, suggesting he’d be “more revelatory” on the subject of extensions than in the past, but still spoke in generalities (via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com).
“This is something we’re working on,” Elias said to the Orioles beat. “There’s guys on this team that we would like to have on this team longer than they’re currently slated for. It’s not a point-and-shoot thing. It’s case by case. There’s different players, different skill levels, different representatives, different philosophies around how to handle players at different age levels. … There’s only so much I can say about it other than it’s something we want to do if it makes sense, that we are working on it and if it happens, we’ll be out here talking about it.”
A large portion of the focus on potential extension candidates in Baltimore centers around young stars like Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg — and understandably so. But Cedric Mullins — the Orioles’ longest-tenured player and a cornerstone throughout their rise from rebuilder to contender in the AL East — is in the final year of club control and would stand as a logical extension candidate himself, at least on paper. Agent Robin Cope tells Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic that the team has not broached the possibility of an extension, even though Mullins himself “wishes they would.”
Mullins himself followed up on Cope’s comments. Asked today by the O’s beat about his agent’s statement (link via Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner), Mullins replied: “One hundred percent. Just being drafted by Baltimore and just knowing what Baltimore and the city offered me and my family over the course of my career has been nothing short of amazing. So to have those negotiations take place, it’s all in timing. But right now, focused on the day-to-day of bringing wins to the clubhouse.”
The 30-year-old Mullins has spent his entire career with the Orioles organization, dating back to his selection in the 13th round of the 2015 draft. Though he never garnered fanfare from national prospect rankings, he established himself as an All-Star caliber center fielder. Since cementing his place in the Orioles’ lineup back in 2020, Mullins is a .259/.327/.442 hitter. He peaked with a 30-30 season and .291/.360/.518 batting line in 2021, taking home a Silver Slugger Award and landing ninth in MVP voting during what’s still the lone All-Star campaign of his career.
Mullins may never get back to those heights again, but he’s doing his best to get there with a massive start to his 2025 campaign: .300/.435/.620 with four homers, three steals and nearly as many walks (10) as strikeouts (11) through his first 62 turns at the plate. That builds off a big finish to his 2024 campaign. After a brutally slow start in April and May, Mullins regained his footing and finished as one of the most productive hitters in the American League. Over his past 370 plate appearances, he’s batting .280/.371/.497 with 16 homers and 23 plate appearances.
Looking back at recent extensions using MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, there haven’t been too many examples of outfielders — or position players in general — signing extensions this close to free agency and at this age. Tommy Edman‘s deal with the Dodgers (four years, $64.5MM in new money) stands as the most recent parallel. Stretching back a bit further, Charlie Blackmon‘s first extension with the Rockies guaranteed him $94MM in new money over a five-year period.
Free agency offers a few more points of comparison, but it’s increasingly rare for center fielders to make it to market before signing an extension. Dexter Fowler (five years, $82.5MM), Lorenzo Cain (five years, $80MM) and AJ Pollock (four years, $60MM) all signed for $15-16MM annual range, beginning with their age-31 seasons. Each of those contracts is more than five years old at this point, however. Starling Marte secured a weightier $19.5MM AAV on a four-year deal beginning with his age-33 season. George Springer‘s six-year, $150MM contract covers his age-31 through age-36 seasons, but was a more accomplished hitter than Mullins.
Given the lack of discussions to this point, it seems likely that Mullins will reach free agency. He’d be a clear candidate for a qualifying offer and would likely reject that one-year figure in search of a multi-year deal. The O’s have Colton Cowser, Heston Kjerstad and perhaps O’Neill all in the outfield mix beyond the current season, plus prospects Enrique Bradfield Jr., Jud Fabian and Dylan Beavers in the upper minors. That gives the team a good bit of outfield talent to build around if Mullins departs. In order to keep him, they’d surely need to spend well beyond their recent comfort levels. Baltimore hasn’t given out a contract worth more than $50MM since signing Alex Cobb back in 2018, under not only a different owner but also a different front office regime.
Orioles Release Luis Gonzalez
The Orioles have released left-hander Luis Gonzalez. Jake Rill of MLB.com was among those to relay the news. He was designated for assignment yesterday when the club claimed righty Scott Blewett off waivers. Gonzalez is currently injured, meaning he can’t be placed on outright waivers.
It’s a bit of a heartbreaking development for the southpaw. Gonzalez was just added to Baltimore’s 40-man in November, just ahead of his 33rd birthday, which was in January. He had been grinding away for years, having made his professional debut as a prospect with the Phillies back in 2010. He has been in affiliated ball for most of the past decade and a half, but also had stints in Japan, Italy and Mexico.
Going into 2024, he was with the Orioles on a minor league deal. He tossed 60 innings over 44 Triple-A appearances. He allowed 4.50 earned runs per nine, which isn’t terribly impressive, but other numbers were more eye-catching. He struck out 28.9% of batters faced while limiting walks to a 4.9% clip.
The Orioles were impressed enough that they added him to their 40-man at the end of the year, putting him in line to finally make his major league debut at some point in 2025. However, he landed on the minor league injured list on April 11 with an undisclosed injury. As mentioned, injured players aren’t allowed to be placed on outright waivers. Once Gonzalez was DFA’d, it made it inevitable that he would be released.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if the O’s and Gonzalez quickly reunited on a minor league deal, as that often happens in cases like these. However, he will technically be able to speak to the 29 other clubs once he officially clears release waivers.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Orioles Sign Chadwick Tromp To Minor League Deal
The Orioles have signed catcher Chadwick Tromp to a minor league contract, according to his transaction log on MLB.com. Tromp elected free agency last week after he was designated for assignment by the Braves. He will report to Triple-A Norfolk. The Norfolk Tides confirmed the signing in their game notes today (h/t to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com).
Tromp, 30, began his professional career in the Reds organization in 2013 and made his big league debut with the Giants in 2020. The Braves claimed him off of waivers from the Giants in September 2021, and he made appearances for Atlanta each year from 2022-25. All told, Tromp has appeared in 61 MLB games, slashing .224/.235/.385 over 162 plate appearances. While his overall offense is substandard, he provides a bit of pop (15 career extra-base hits, .160 ISO) and plays solid defense behind the dish. He is more than qualified for Baltimore’s third-string catching role.
Barring an injury, Tromp isn’t likely to get the call-up to Camden Yards. The Orioles are well-equipped at the catcher position, with two-time All-Star Adley Rutschman as their starter and veteran slugger Gary Sánchez as their backup. However, Tromp offers a more experienced third option in the organization than David Bañuelos. Having Tromp around will also reduce any pressure the Orioles might feel to promote top catching prospect Samuel Basallo in the event of an early-season injury to Rutschman or Sánchez. Basallo, who is currently on the minor league IL himself with a hamstring injury, is an incredibly promising player. He is also just 20 years old and has only played 28 games at Triple-A. He could be ready to debut toward the end of the season, but the Orioles are unlikely to rush his development.
Orioles Claim Scott Blewett
The Orioles announced Monday that they’ve claimed right-handed reliever Scott Blewett off waivers from the Twins, who’d designated him for assignment over the weekend. In a corresponding move, Baltimore designated left-hander Luis Gonzalez for assignment. Blewett is out of minor league options, so he’ll have to be plugged right into manager Brandon Hyde’s bullpen.
Blewett, 29, pitched 4 2/3 innings with the Twins before being designated for assignment. He held opponents to a run on four hits and no walks (but one hit batter) with five strikeouts. He also pitched 20 1/3 innings with Minnesota last year, logging a 1.77 ERA but with shakier strikeout and walk rates of 21.4% and 9.2%, respectively, both of which are worse than league average.
Those two brief stints in Minnesota were the most recent big league work for Blewett since a similarly short look with the Royals in 2020-21. In all, he’s pitched 33 innings in the majors and has a tidy 2.18 ERA to show for it, albeit with a 22% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate. Even while keeping runs off the board, Blewett has been hit fairly hard; the right-hander has surrendered an average exit velocity of 92.6 mph in the majors and seen nearly half (47.9%) of his opponents’ batted balls travel at 95 mph or more.
Blewett pitched well for the Twins’ Triple-A club in 2024, logging a 3.79 ERA in 54 2/3 innings. That’s the most success he’s had in the upper minors, however. The big 6’6″ righty has pitched in parts of five Triple-A seasons between the Royals, White Sox and Twins systems but been roughed up for a 6.93 ERA in 219 1/3 innings there. In addition to those stints, Blewett had a half-season run with the Braves’ Double-A club in 2023 and also pitched for the Uni-President Lions of Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League that year, recording a 3.95 ERA in 41 innings overseas.
Gonzalez, 33, hasn’t pitched in a Triple-A game since April 8. The Orioles placed him on the minor league injured list on April 11 but did not publicly disclose the exact nature of his ailment. It’s not currently clear how long he’ll be sidelined. However, injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers, meaning Gonzalez is all but certain to end up being placed on release waivers. The O’s can renegotiate a minor league deal with him at that point if they wish, but he’ll have the chance to talk to the league’s other 29 clubs in that scenario.
Baltimore selected Gonzalez to the 40-man roster last November rather than risk losing him in the Rule 5 Draft. He’s a true journeyman — a former Phillies signee who has also spent time in the Giants’ system in addition to pitching in Japan, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and even Italy’s top league. Gonzalez spent the 2024 season with the O’s after signing a minor league deal in the 2023-24 offseason. He pitched 60 innings out of the bullpen in Triple-A Norfolk, working to a pedestrian 4.50 earned run average but showing a far more interesting 28.9% strikeout rate against a similarly intriguing 4.9% walk rate.
Gonzalez can be placed on release waivers or traded at any point in the next five days.
Orioles Place Zach Eflin On Injured List With Low-Grade Lat Strain
April 9: Eflin has formally been placed on the injured list, retroactive to yesterday, the team announced this morning. Righty Colin Selby is up from Triple-A Norfolk for the time being, giving Hyde an extra arm in the bullpen.
April 8: The Orioles are shutting Zach Eflin down for a week after he was diagnosed with a low-grade lat strain, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters following tonight’s loss in Arizona (relayed by Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner). The righty will land on the 15-day injured list.
Eflin felt the discomfort during Monday evening’s start. He tossed six innings of one-run ball before departing at 73 pitches. Baltimore announced that he was battling shoulder fatigue and sent him for imaging. A one-week shutdown is far from the worst case scenario, but the O’s will go at least a couple weeks without their Opening Day starter.
Baltimore is now operating without arguably their three best pitchers. They knew they wouldn’t get much, if anything, from Kyle Bradish this year after he underwent Tommy John surgery last June. Grayson Rodriguez went down in Spring Training with elbow inflammation. He’s throwing but hasn’t progressed to a minor league rehab assignment.
The O’s have Charlie Morton, Dean Kremer, Tomoyuki Sugano and Cade Povich in the rotation. They brought back Kyle Gibson on a one-year contract late in Spring Training. He isn’t yet ready for major league action. Gibson agreed to begin the season with Triple-A Norfolk to continue his build-up. He’ll make his first start there on Thursday.
Aside from Gibson, the O’s have prospect Brandon Young as their only depth starter on the 40-man roster. Young has only allowed two unearned runs while striking out 11 over his first two Triple-A starts this year. Thaddeus Ward, who made 26 relief appearances as a Rule 5 pick for the Nationals two seasons ago, is also working out of the Norfolk rotation. Cody Poteet and Roansy Contreras are working out of the bullpen in Triple-A but have some starting experience in the majors. The O’s have off days on Thursday and Monday, so they could get by with four starters into the second half of next week.
None of those pitchers can be expected to match Eflin’s production, of course. The 31-year-old righty managed an earned run average around 3.50 in both 2023 and ’24. He’d posted an even 3.00 ERA while working six innings per start over his first three appearances of this season.
Orioles Reportedly Offered Four-Year, $180MM Deal To Corbin Burnes
The Orioles made a four-year proposal to retain Corbin Burnes during free agency, the former Cy Young winner told reporters (relayed by Jake Rill of MLB.com). Burnes himself did not specify the dollar figure. However, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports that Baltimore’s final offer was for $180MM over four seasons.
Burnes ended up with the Diamondbacks on a six-year, $210MM contract that allows him to opt out after the ’26 season. Geography was a major factor. Burnes is a California native who now lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. He told reporters in January that he preferred to pitch close to home, especially because he and his wife welcomed twins last June. Burnes and agent Scott Boras initiated conversations with D-Backs owner Ken Kendrick in late December and quickly hammered out the deal.
Could the Orioles have dissuaded him from going to Arizona if they’d made a longer offer? Burnes didn’t directly answer that, though he implied that it may not have mattered. “The dollars (in Arizona) were more than what they were (in Baltimore),” the righty said (video provided by Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun). “I just don’t think we matched up on the years it was going to take to get to a dollar amount for me to stay there. Now, I can’t guarantee I would have gone there had those offers come around just because … with us living here, if (the Diamondbacks) were going to be serious and have a fair offer, then this is where we were going to be. It’s tough to play the ‘what-if’ game.”
Nevertheless, Burnes said that Boras remained in negotiations with the Orioles until a few days before his agreement with the Snakes. He noted that the Arizona deal came together “within a matter of 72 hours,” so conversations with other clubs had stretched close to the end.
If the Orioles’ offer to Burnes did not include any deferred money, it would have featured a massive $45MM average annual value. That would have been the largest AAV for a pitcher (not counting Shohei Ohtani) and third overall behind the $51MM which Juan Soto received from the Mets and the approximate $46MM annual net present value on the Ohtani deal. Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Zack Wheeler hold the top annual salaries for non-Ohtani pitchers. They all landed in the $42-44MM range on three-year contracts.
Burnes took a good amount less on an annual basis. His $35MM per-year salary is tied for 14th overall, but the contract included $64MM in deferred money that dropped the NPV below $194MM (equivalent to just over $32MM per year). It contained a $10MM signing bonus and $30MM salaries ($10MM deferred) for the two seasons before the opt-out decision. Burnes has given up eight runs, six of them earned, over 9 1/3 innings through his first two starts in an Arizona uniform.
Orioles Acquire Grant Wolfram From Brewers
The Orioles announced the acquisition of left-hander Grant Wolfram from the Brewers for minor league outfielder Daz Cameron and cash. Milwaukee had designated Wolfram for assignment this morning as the corresponding move for the Quinn Priester trade. He’ll take a spot on Baltimore’s 40-man roster and was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. The O’s transferred righty Albert Suárez to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move.
Wolfram, 28, continues to await his major league debut. The 6’7″ southpaw pitched in the Texas farm system between 2018-24. He topped out at Triple-A and qualified for minor league free agency last offseason. Milwaukee saw enough in his minor league numbers to sign him to a major league contract. Wolfram opened the season on optional assignment to Triple-A. They called him up for the first time yesterday but did not get him into a game before designating him for assignment.
The lefty worked three Triple-A frames in the Milwaukee system. He gave up two runs while issuing four walks and recording three strikeouts. Wolfram pitched well in the Pacific Coast League a year ago. He turned in a 3.34 earned run average with a strong 25.6% strikeout rate across 56 2/3 frames with the Rangers’ top affiliate. While Wolfram has had spotty command throughout his minor league tenure, his fastball-slider combination has gotten a decent number of whiffs. He sits in the 94-95 MPH range with both his four-seam and sinker. Wolfram is in his first of three option years, so the O’s can keep him in Norfolk for a while if he holds his spot on their 40-man roster.
Cameron was not on Baltimore’s 40-man roster, so he won’t occupy an immediate spot with Milwaukee. He finished last season with the A’s. Baltimore grabbed him off waivers at the beginning of the offseason. They ran him through waivers early in Spring Training and kept him in the system when he accepted a minor league assignment.
The son of former Brewer Mike Cameron, Daz was a supplemental first-round pick and highly-regarded prospect. He hit .200/.258/.329 across a personal-high 186 plate appearances with the A’s last season. That essentially matches his career .201/.263/.330 slash over parts of four seasons. The 28-year-old Cameron has played parts of seven Triple-A campaigns. He’s a .250/.339/.425 hitter in more than 1800 plate appearances at the top minor league level.
Suárez landed on the 15-day IL last week with what the team initially called shoulder inflammation. They announced the injury today as a subscapularis strain. He’ll be down through at least the end of May. Suárez opened the season in long relief after Cade Povich won the fifth starter job during Spring Training. He had only made one appearance before the injury. Suárez was a valuable swingman last season, tossing 133 2/3 frames of 3.70 ERA ball while starting 24 of 32 appearances.
Royals Acquire Nick Gordon
1:27PM: The Orioles will receive cash considerations in return, MLB.com’s Anne Rogers reports.
12:28PM: The Royals have acquired Nick Gordon from the Orioles, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports. Baltimore’s end of the trade return isn’t yet known. Gordon signed a minor league deal with the O’s last winter, and he’ll now join the team that his father Tom pitched with from 1988-95.
Drafted fifth overall by the Twins in 2014, Gordon is a known commodity to the Royals from his 243 games with Minnesota across the 2021-23 seasons. It seemed like Gordon was breaking through when he hit .272/.316/.427 over 443 plate appearances for the Twins while playing all over the diamond in a super-sub role, but a fractured shin limited him to 34 MLB games in 2023. Minnesota then dealt Gordon to the Marlins in February 2024, and Gordon hit only .227/.258/.369 over 95 games and 275 PA with Miami, playing mostly as a left fielder.
This tenure in South Beach ended when the Marlins outrighted Gordon off their 40-man roster last August, and he spent the rest of the season in Triple-A. He elected minor league free agency in October and landed with Baltimore, though his chances of making the Opening Day roster always seemed rather slim, given the number of infield options the Orioles already had available.
Gordon will now get a fresh start in Kansas City, and perhaps be in a slightly better position for a big league call-up. The Royals have other MLB-experienced players as Harold Castro and Jordan Groshans at Triple-A, though the likes of Nick Loftin, Joey Wiemer, or Drew Waters (who have also seen time in the majors) are already on the 40-man roster. The fact that the Royals went out and got Gordon, however, indicates that the team wasn’t entirely satisfied with its roster depth, plus Gordon adds some more left-handed hitting to the mix.
Poll: Who Will Win The AL East?
Opening Day has finally arrived, and teams all around the league are gearing up for another pennant chase in hopes of being crowned this year’s World Series champion. Of course, there’s still another seven months to go before someone raises the Commissioner’s Trophy. Until the playoffs begin, teams will be focused on a smaller goal: winning their division. We have been conducting a series of polls to gauge who MLBTR readers believe is the favorite in each division. That series has already covered the National League, with the Dodgers, Cubs, and Phillies each coming out on top in their respective divisions. In the American League, meanwhile, the Rangers and Tigers have been voted as the favorites to win their respective divisions. The final division left to cover in this series is the AL East. Teams are listed in order of their 2024 record.
New York Yankees (94-68)
The reigning league champion can never be counted out as a contender for their division, and that’s certainly true when it comes to a franchise with as strong of a history as the Yankees. With that being said, it’s difficult to argue the club is better on paper today than it was a year ago. 2024’s club was largely built around the presence of three superstars: Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and Gerrit Cole. While Judge is still crushing baseballs in the Bronx as reliably as ever, Soto departed for Queens on a massive $765MM pact over the winter while Cole underwent Tommy John surgery last month and will miss the entire 2025 season. The losses of Soto and Cole are a major blow to the club’s lineup and rotation, and the latter has been further dented by injuries suffered by Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil while the former is exacerbated by the absence of Giancarlo Stanton.
That’s not to say the club has no reasons for optimism, however. All of Stanton, Gil, and Schmidt could return at some point during the first half, with Schmidt in particular likely to be back in the rotation later this month. The addition of star southpaw Max Fried offers the club a suitable stand-in ace for Cole this season even after a somewhat middling debut in pinstripes, while an offensive nucleus of Judge, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. should score plenty of runs even without Soto, especially if Goldschmidt can turn back the clock during his age-37 season. That’s before even mentioning their elite bullpen, which was top three in the AL last year even before this winter’s upgrade from Clay Holmes to Devin Williams in the ninth inning. Even with the loss of Soto and their many early season injuries, the Yankees cannot be ruled out to repeat at the top of the division.
Baltimore Orioles (91-71)
After a second consecutive playoff appearance with zero wins to show for it, some fans in Baltimore are starting to get antsy. New owner David Rubenstein’s first offseason at the helm of the club came with big expectations that the club would step away from the frugality of recent years and commit more strongly to contention, and in some ways that did happen. The club replaced Anthony Santander‘s power in the lineup by bringing in Tyler O’Neill on the first multi-year guarantee the club has made since Mike Elias took over baseball operations, and went about upgrading an already-strong offense in other ways by bringing in Gary Sanchez and Ramon Laureano. Considering the Orioles already have a phenomenal offensive nucleus built around players like Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg, and Colton Cowser, those upgrades should give them among the most fearsome lineups in the sport.
That aggressiveness in bolstering the offense was not matched on the pitching side of things, however. Staff ace Corbin Burnes was allowed to depart for Arizona, and his replacements in the rotation are a pair of aging veterans in Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano. While both are decorated pitchers who could offer strong mid-rotation production, the loss of Burnes puts a great deal of pressure on Zach Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez (the latter of whom is currently on the injured list) to perform in front-of-the-rotation roles. The possible return of Kyle Bradish later this season from UCL surgery should help things, but even that would come with question marks due to a year-long layoff. The bullpen is in better shape, fortunately, with closer Felix Bautista back from his own UCL surgery and Yennier Cano, Gregory Soto, and Seranthony Dominguez among the other late inning options. If the club’s rotation can hold up and avoid further injuries, the Orioles should have as good of a shot as anyone at the AL East crown this year.
Boston Red Sox (81-81)
The AL East club with by far the biggest offseason, the Red Sox made significant splashes this winter when they traded for (and, more recently, extended) ace southpaw Garrett Crochet before bringing in third baseman Alex Bregman on a three-year, opt-out laden deal. Both of those moves are likely to transform last year’s middling club into true contenders, giving Boston an ace-caliber arm ahead of homegrown mid-rotation pieces like Tanner Houck and Brayan Bello (not to mention offseason signing Walker Buehler) while allowing them to kick Rafael Devers‘s lackluster glove off of third base and into a DH role. Those additions build on a solid group of talent already in place, with players like Devers, Triston Casas, and Jarren Duran standing as likely offensive contributors.
Perhaps even more important than this winter’s additions, however, is the impending arrival of the club’s top prospects. Kristian Campbell is already in the majors and emerging as a potential early favorite for the AL Rookie of the Year award, with fellow top prospects Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer also expected to make their big league debuts at some point this year. All three are consensus top-15 prospects in the sport, with Anthony in particular being rated as the sport’s #1 prospect by a number of services. That sort of high-end prospect talent all arriving in the majors simultaneously is quite rare, and affords the club an exceptionally deep positional mix with plenty of potential impact. With that being said, the club does have one potential Achilles’ heel in the bullpen. After relying on an elite tandem of Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin to close out games last year, the Red Sox are now banking on a strong return from nearly two years away from the mound for Liam Hendriks and a resurgence from Aroldis Chapman in the late innings. If the club’s strong offense and solid rotation can overcome that questionable bullpen, however, they should be in strong position to return to the top of the AL East.
Tampa Bay Rays (80-82)
After suffering their first losing season in recent memory and selling at the trade deadline last year, the Rays avoided their annual winter of sell-side trades (the Jeffrey Springs deal notwithstanding) and actually made a handful of modest but potentially impactful additions this winter. Arguably the club’s two biggest weaknesses last season were catcher and shortstop, so the additions of Danny Jansen and Ha-Seong Kim figure to go a long way to bring up the floor for the club as they try to get back on track. Jansen and Kim (when the latter returns from the IL) figure to be joined this year by the Rays’ usual suspects on offense with Yandy Diaz, Brandon Lowe, and trendy breakout pick Junior Caminero set to serve as anchors of the lineup. Outside of those names, however, the Rays are likely to need big performances from less established pieces like Christopher Morel and Jonathan Aranda in order to make noise in a crowded AL East.
Fortunately, whatever questions the Rays face on offense are largely avoided on the pitching side of things. The temporary loss of ace Shane McClanahan to open the season hurts the rotation, but the club still features a bevy of solid arms that includes Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Pepiot, Taj Bradley, Zack Littell, and Shane Baz. Each of those arms have the upside of at least a #4 starter, and Rasmussen in particular has flashed the sort of production that could front a rotation over the years. In the bullpen, meanwhile, the club will once again rely on Pete Fairbanks in the ninth inning with a group of interesting arms including Edwin Uceta and Hunter Bigge also in their bullpen mix. If the club’s offense can get going, it’s not hard to imagine that pitching talent carrying the Rays back into the playoffs this year.
Toronto Blue Jays (74-88)
The Blue Jays failed in their offseason bid for Juan Soto, and similarly have seemingly come up short in their efforts to extend Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ahead of his final season of club control. That puts plenty of pressure on the Jays to return from the basement of the AL East and compete in what could be their superstar’s last season in town, and Toronto brass answered that pressure by bringing in some notable reinforcements this winter. Anthony Santander offers the sort of big bat to protect Guerrero in the lineup that the Jays lacked last year, Andres Gimenez should greatly improve the club’s defense, Jeff Hoffman looks like a strong replacement for Jordan Romano in the ninth inning, and Max Scherzer (when he returns from the IL) should offer quality innings to a rotation that lost Yusei Kikuchi last summer.
Even with solid additions like those, however, a lot needs to go right for the Jays if they’re going to get to the top of the AL East this year. Perhaps the most important would be a return to form for Bo Bichette, who endured the worst season of his career last year. A lineup featuring Bichette at his best alongside Guerrero and Santander would go a long way to making this club look like a playoff team, as would a resurgence from veteran righty Kevin Gausman, who took a step back from his previous ace-level seasons with the Blue Jays last year. A strong year on offense from franchise catcher Alejandro Kirk and a repeat of Bowden Francis‘s excellent rookie campaign could also serve as X-factors that help the club stay competitive this year.
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With all five clubs making a legitimate effort to compete this year, who will come out on top? Will the Yankees reign supreme once again despite their losses, or will they be successfully challenged by the young, up-and-coming Orioles despite a middling rotation? Can the Red Sox ride their splashy signings and top prospects to the postseason, or will a team like the Rays or even the Blue Jays surprise? Have your say in the poll below:
Who Will Win The AL East?
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New York Yankees 35% (4,289)
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Boston Red Sox 28% (3,458)
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Baltimore Orioles 20% (2,424)
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Toronto Blue Jays 13% (1,573)
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Tampa Bay Rays 5% (618)
Total votes: 12,362