4 more Baltimore Orioles who won't be back after Wild Card defeat: Is Jackson safe?

The expectation revolving around the 2024 Baltimore Orioles was abundantly clear - they were supposed to make a deep postseason run. The 2023 campaign was a nice surprise, but this Orioles team was supposed to be in it to win it in 2024. That is a major reason why they traded for the expiring contract of Corbin Burnes, after all.

Unfortunately, they were bounced in extremely frustrating fashion in the Wild Card Series. They scored a total of one run in the two games, losing both contests on their home field.

This kind of failure should bring major changes to Baltimore. No, these changes almost certainly won't involve Jackson Holliday, their underperforming former top prospect, but there are several players who should not be back.

FanSided's Zach Pressnell revealed three Orioles who almost certainly won't be back, including Adrian Houser, JD Davis and Austin Slater, but even more changes will have to be made based on how poorly the season concluded.

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4) Seranthony Dominguez is not worth his lucrative club option

The Orioles made several moves to try and upgrade their roster at the trade deadline, one of which saw them acquire Seranthony Dominguez in a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. Their bullpen performed so poorly to the point where he was even closing games for Baltimore, but to put it simply, he isn't good enough for that role or his $8 million club option.

Dominguez had some good moments with the Orioles and even converted 10 of his 11 save opportunities, but he also allowed six home runs in just 22.2 frames as an Oriole, and walks were an issue as well.

Felix Bautista returning will provide a major boost to this Orioles bullpen, but if they're going to be spending $8 million on a reliever, they can and should do a whole lot better than Dominguez, who, throughout his six-year career has had durability concerns and has been inconsistent when on the field.

3) The Orioles can do a lot better than Gregory Soto

The Gregory Soto trade didn't age as poorly as the numbers suggest. He did have a 5.09 ERA in 23 appearances and 17.2 innings of work with Baltimore, but he wasn't nearly as bad as fans might've thought when looking at those numbers.

Eight of the 10 earned runs Soto allowed with Baltimore came in two of his first three outings with the team. In his 19 appearances that followed, Soto allowed just three earned runs in 16.1 innings of work, posting a 1.10 ERA. Obviously, the two brutal outings he had to begin his Orioles career cannot be excused, but he pitched mostly well down the stretch.

With that being said, though, Soto is another reliever worth entirely too much money for Baltimore to consider keeping around. He made $5 million this season and is entering his third year of arbitration this offseason, so chances are, he'll see a bump from there. Soto was far from stellar in parts of two seasons with the Phillies and his command issues with the Detroit Tigers were pretty jarring.

This comes down to the Orioles getting better bang for their buck at Soto's price tag in the bullpen market or at least having an extra $6 million or so to spend on another position. Soto was better than the numbers suggest, but he was also primarily pitching in low-leverage spots, and his track record doesn't suggest he's deserving of a larger role.

2) The Eloy Jimenez experiment never made any sense

The Orioles took several gambles at the trade deadline, one of which saw them bring in Eloy Jimenez. The talent Jimenez possesses has never been questioned, but his ability to stay on the field and produce has, and for good reason. He has played in 100 or more games just twice in six seasons, and despite his enormous talent, has only one season of 20 or more home runs. That came in 2019.

The Orioles brought Jimenez in to platoon with Ryan O'Hearn at the DH position, but it did not work out. He slashed .232/.270/.316 with one home run and seven RBI in 100 plate appearances, and was sent down to the minors in September. He finished his MLB season by recording one hit in his final 24 at-bats.

With this trade, the Orioles didn't only take on the remainder of his $13.6 million salary, but they took him on knowing that he could be retained for 2025 as well. His $16.5 million option is a club option so it's Baltimore's choice as to whether he'll get that or not, but even if (when) they reject it, they'll owe him a $3 million buyout. It made little sense for the Orioles to make the financial investment that they did to an underperforming, injury-prone DH in the short side of a platoon role.

The Orioles sending him down signaled that they had virtually given up on him, so the chances of him finding his way back to Baltimore are slim to none.

1) Will the Orioles really outbid the field for Corbin Burnes?

The Orioles should want to move on from Dominguez, Soto, and Jimenez, but Corbin Burnes is an entirely different story. He's a player that the Orioles absolutely should want to bring back. It's just really hard to see that happening.

The reason Baltimore was able to acquire Burnes, a bonafide ace, without giving up what appeared to be too much is because Burnes was entering his final season of club control. With Scott Boras representing him, he was almost certainly going to hit free agency without even entertaining an extension of any sort.

Burnes has said that he enjoyed his season with the Orioles, and has reason to want to stay if winning is a priority, but Burnes is going to want to get paid - that's why he hired Boras to begin with. The Orioles have a better chance now than they would've last season with new ownership in place, but will they give the 29-year-old the monster deal he's going to be seeking?

The Orioles should have more money to spend, but that doesn't mean that they'll be competing with the big market teams who need starting pitching, especially when extending the young talented players that they have right now should be a priority.

It'd be awesome to see Burnes re-sign, and the Orioles should do their best to make it happen, it's just hard to see it right now.