How The Orioles Became America’s Team With Just Three Veteran Players

The Baltimore Orioles, who Vegas valued as a 62.5 over/under wins line in the preseason, still find themselves in the thick of a Wild Card race heading into the regular season’s final month.

After beginning the year at the bottom of the A.L. East, they entered the start of July 8 games below .500 and 23 games back in the division. After a 10-game winning streak beginning on July 3rd, the Orioles went 33-17 to catapult their record to 7 games above .500 (as of August 31).

But, what changed? How did Baltimore seem to go from a team stalling in the midst of a rebuild, to potentially the birth of a young core ready to start their run earlier than expected?

It’s an answer that most owners want to hear.

Since last reaching the postseason in 2016, the Orioles have been one of the worst teams in baseball, posting a 255-456 (.358) heading into this season.

In return however, it allowed the Orioles to become to stack their farm system, which is beginning to show in The Show.

While the emergence of Top Prospect Adley Rutschman has taken most of the headlines nationally, the seasons put together by Antony Santander or Austin Hays and the 5th-lowest bullpen ERA in baseball are just some of the under-reported storylines shown so far this year.

And, with an active 26-man roster consisting of 22 players in pre-arbitration, it’s a win for the Owner’s pockets as well.

The Orioles 2022 Total Payroll (according to Spotrac.com) is the lowest in baseball at $43.8 million. For context, the teams they’re competing with in the Wild Card (Rays, Mariners, and Blue Jays), have an average salary of $126.4 million.

Depending on free agent acquisitions and arbitration hearings, there is even less money tied up in the future for the O’s. Currently for 2023, Baltimore is committed to just $19.6 million. Come 2024, that number falls to just $5.7 million, which is all going to former slugging first baseman Chris Davis.

For reference, Davis hasn’t taken an at bat for the Orioles since 2020.

Their reliance on farm system development and trading MLB ready talent for prospects with similar timelines has allowed them to be ahead of schedule by half a season, which could allow the front office to attack this year’s free agency and compete for the division instead.

Even if the Orioles are an early exit come October, giving this roster any postseason experience at all would be beneficial. Especially for Baltimore, who has just 2 players on their active roster who have appeared in a playoff game.

But, for the future of potentially keeping this young core together, ownership may want to take a page out of the Atlanta Braves’ playbook and buy into these prospects early.

Although a majority of the lineup have too small of a sample size to rely on for the future, the hopes of signing a future everyday starter for a lesser AAV than they’d earn in the open market can potentially outweigh the risk of the alternative.

Whether they take a handful of lottery ticket signings early, or wait and see who is deserving of the extension years down the road, it is safe to say that quality baseball has returned to Camden Yards at long last.

Now, it is up to those same prospects to make the future returns outweigh the lack of revenue over their recent history, which is already exceeding expectations.