MLB Rumors: Grading the top-3 items on the Baltimore Orioles offseason wish list

Adding bullpen help

Another area that I felt the Orioles should have upgraded more aggressively at the trade deadline was the bullpen, where they only acquired reliever Shintaro Fujinami from the Oakland A’s.

Of course, no one could have foreseen Mychal Givens being released and closer Felix Bautista undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing the rest of the 2023 season and all of the 2024 season.

It put a significant burden on the Orioles’ bullpen, and with Bautista out for 2024, the team will need to be aggressive in properly supplementing that unit this winter. That means adding multiple arms, not just one, and high-end arms at that. Replacing Bautista, who had a 1.48 ERA in 61 innings pitched and made the All-Star team, will be incredibly difficult. And it’s a task that Elias and the Orioles’ front office should not overlook this winter.