3 Baltimore Orioles who definitely won’t be back after another playoff dud

The Baltimore Orioles spent 75 percent of the 2024 season looking like one of the best teams in the sport. They had a chance to finish the season with the best record in all of baseball.

But they ended up in the Wild Card round, matched up against the Kansas City Royals. This matchup with the Royals didn't go well for Baltimore, as the Orioles were quickly swept out of the playoffs in two games, pushing their postseason losing streak to ten consecutive games. Baltimore scored just one run in what was ultimately a two-game series with the Royals.

Something has to change in Baltimore. They have the young talent, but they need to make some changes to their roster if they want to have a chance in the postseason.

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3. RHP Adrian Houser won't be back with the Orioles in 2025

There are a few players on this list that are quite easy options. They're the players who spent time on the major league roster this season but played so poorly that they were sent down to the minors and didn't even crack the postseason roster. You will notice this as a trend for this list of Orioles because Baltimore is paying quite a bit of money to players in the minor leagues this year.

Starting us off is the right-handed pitcher, Adrian Houser. Houser made seven starts and 23 appearances for the Orioles this season and he was simply bad for the entire season. This comes after a successful career with the Milwaukee Brewers, where he posted a 4.00 career ERA with Milwaukee. But, in his time with Baltimore, he posted an ERA close to 6.00 with a WHIP of 1.53.

He just wasn't a competitive pitcher and the Orioles lost too many games because of their pitching to try to bring Houser back next year. There's a chance that he could revive his career with another organization, as Houser is set to enter free agency, but the Orioles certainly don't want him back, especially after paying him over $5 million this season.

2. UTL J.D. Davis won't be back with the Orioles in 2025

33-year-old veteran, J.D. Davis, sits in the exact same boat as Houser. He spent some of the season on a few different MLB active rosters, but he played horribly and was sent down to the minors, where he landed with the Orioles. Davis never made his way back up and he wasn't on the Orioles postseason roster, for good reason. Still, they paid him close to $2 million to be a net-negative player on the season. Davis is set to enter free agency now that the season is officially over for Baltimore.

With Davis entering free agency, the Orioles front office will likely never speak to him again. They took an outside chance on him this season after he struggled with both the Athletics and the Yankees and Davis never turned into anything for Baltimore. On the year, Davis slashed .218/.293/.338 with a handful of extra-base hits. He was released by the Yankees in August and signed with the Orioles.

Davis isn't a big loss for the Orioles, as he never saw MLB action with the team, but he is still a player that they want off their payroll for the 2025 season. The Orioles need nothing but net-positive players and Davis isn't one anymore.

1. OF Austin Slater won't be back with the Orioles in 2025

Austin Slater was bounced around the league this year, starting the season with the San Francisco Giants before being traded to the Cincinnati Reds and eventually to the Baltimore Orioles, where he ended the season.

On the year, Slater only played 33 games with the Orioles, where he slashed .246/.342/.333 with a handful of extra-base hits. Unlike the other two players on this list, Slater was a major league player, and he did crack the postseason roster, even seeing some postseason at-bats.

Still, the Orioles should have zero interest in bringing a veteran bat that only posts an OPS of .675 back to the roster. They have too much talent in their minor league system to mess around with the idea of a bat that's this below-average.

Slater served his purpose with the team, but he's simply not a difference-maker. The Orioles only managed one run in the postseason and they had Slater taking at-bats to help them do so. If they want to contend in the postseason, they can't have a bat like Slater's taking any at-bats when it matters.