Wednesday Bird Droppings: A new home is found for an Orioles free agent

The Orioles should be able to do better than Kyle Gibson for 2024, which doesn’t mean they will

There are now 127 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2024.

Yesterday brought some former Orioles-connected news. The manager job of the Padres, for which both Buck Showalter and Ryan Flaherty were reportedly candidates, has gone instead to former Cardinals manager Mike Shildt. San Diego announced the hire on Tuesday. According to one report, Showalter was offered the job before deciding to take a year off after his departure from the Mets.

We also had some former Orioles player who’s still playing news. Kyle Gibson, who was a free agent after his one year with the O’s, has signed a contract with the Cardinals. Gibson’s deal is for one year with a team option for 2025. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reported that Gibson will make $12 million for 2024. That’s $2 million more than he’d gotten with the Orioles this year and he’s got the option on top of that.

I was disappointed when the O’s didn’t do a better signing than Gibson for the 2023 season, but he certainly delivered on the promise of eating innings while getting okay enough results. Now I hope that the Orioles get a better pitcher than Gibson this offseason, because I think they’re going to need one for both regular season and postseason success going forward.

It’s going to cost something, and that’s a bit nerve-wracking. It might be money and it might be prospects. It might cost money AND prospects if they acquire a pitcher who’s in his last year before he becomes a free agent. Tampa Bay’s Tyler Glasnow, for instance, is rumored to be on the block; he’ll be making $25 million next year. Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes has long been thought to be a potential trade candidate as well. His estimated arbitration salary for next year is $15 million. Neither of these will come cheaply for prospect stock either.

For now, the Orioles roster is what it is. I don’t expect that to change over the Thanksgiving weekend, although it’s always possible that it might. Some team will probably do something between now and Monday. Same with the time between Christmas and New Year’s next month.

Around the blogO’sphere

O’s could potentially be a good trade partner for this pitcher (Steve Melewski)
This one is about another oft-mentioned trade candidate, White Sox starter Dylan Cease. The 27-year-old righty got really good results in 2022 and really average at best results in 2023. He’d cost the prospects to get him for two years, $9 million projected for 2024, and another raise for 2025.