In some of my Orioles posts over the years, I'd talked about the fact that the possibility of a return to form was on the way, and that several pieces, I worried, wouldn't make it to that point, and they'd be pawned off before they got to see the Orioles compete. One of those players was John Means, and while he hasn't been pawned off, he's still too injured to take part in these festivities. Another was Cedric Mullins, and he's still a big part of this team. Another still was Hanser Alberto and...yeah, he didn't make it.
But honestly, I genuinely thought that Anthony Santander was gonna be one of those training wheels pieces that guides a team towards competition yet is elsewhere when they actually compete. He had some good seasons for them in, like, 2020 and 2021, and struggled to hit for average last year, and I worried about him for a bit this year. And now...he currently leads the Orioles in home runs, RBIs and doubles. So maybe he will be there for some good days in Baltimore.
I still say this hesitantly, though, as Santander is getting to the end of the guaranteed team controlled years on his initial contract. He may stay in Baltimore for another year before he officially becomes a free agent in 2025, or there may be another decision made. Admittedly, Santander's 2023 is a very good piece of evidence in favor of him staying in town indefinitely. Those 63 RBIs and 20 homers look insanely good right now, and he also has 105 hits, tied with Austin Hays for the 2nd-most on the team. He's also the third-most-valuable hitter according to WAR, after Rutschman and Henderson. Santander has a leg up on people like Ryan Mountcastle and Jorge Mateo in that he is more than one pure dimension of excellence, as he's actually been good at multiple facets of the game this year, being an above-average defender as well as an excellent power-hitter. Mateo can't hit this year, Mountcastle can't field this year, they're probably around for a bit longer than Santander.
The issue is that the Orioles may not have enough money to keep multiple large pieces around. Their longest-contracted player going forward is Aaron Hicks, whose Yankees deal ends after the 2025 season. Everyone else either is good for another year or another two years. The O's famously don't have a big budget to fool around with, and while a few easy free agents will be leaving at the end of the year [Gibson, Frazier, Mychal Givens [who, fun fact, has been here the whole time]], there's also the prospect of some of the larger pieces, like Santander, Mullins, Hays, Means and, now, Jack Flaherty, who might want larger deals elsewhere. And while it's wonderful to see this team hit 70 wins and become the alpha in the AL, there's this dawning horror of are they gonna be able to keep this going and sign some of these guys to long term deals or not.
I think that if they clear enough space after this year that they were using for free agent pickups, they'll be able to procure some of these guys and build slightly without overexerting themselves. The big question will be keeping Rutschman, and if they'll be able to give him a good enough contract, but that's an issue for, like, 2025.
Still, the Orioles are fantastic right now. The trade deadline solved a ton of problems, they're looking stronger than ever, and they're headed into battle with the Houston Astros. I'm gonna keep hoping for the best, because it'd be so amazing if they made it far this year.
Coming Tomorrow- A man who has not played for a losing team since Jeanmar Gomez was closing games in Philly.
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