Jon Meoli: How Monday’s Orioles’ moves set up the start of their offseason

One month.

Now that the Orioles and the rest of baseball have buttoned up their roster management from the 2026 season, a one-month sprint until a potential lockout begins is underway for teams to complete as much offseason business as possible before the game shuts down.

Monday’s moves for the Orioles ran the gamut, from the personally disappointing (declining Ryan Mountcastle’s option and removing one of my favorite players from the clubhouse) and the objective bummers (the release of star-crossed former top pick Heston Kjerstad) to the unsurprising (declining Dietrich Enns’ option) and possibly liberating (releasing Leody Taveras).

The team also claimed three pitchers (right-hander Josh White from the Marlins, left-hander Philip Abner from the Mets and right-hander Chase Hampton from the Cardinals) and a catcher (Zach Morgan from the Giants).

The moves set the stage for an offseason in which the Orioles have a lot to do and not a lot of time to accomplish it, and they give insight into what the next month could look like.

The most impactful bullpen addition the Orioles make is probably going to be like these waiver claims.

This is going to come across as not expecting the Orioles to spend money, which isn’t my stance at this point. But there’s a reason they were among the more aggressive teams in targeting pitchers coming off other clubs’ rosters this weekend: They’re good at it.

There’s a lot of unknown in the Orioles’ bullpen. Ryan Helsley and Félix Bautista are going to be expensive question marks, given they’re both coming off injuries. Yennier Cano and Rico Garcia feel established, but it’s asking a lot to count on Alex Hoppe, Josh Walker and Anthony Nunez to replicate their best for a full season.

Given what they’re spending on Helsley and Bautista, I wonder how much more they’re going to put into a risky demographic when they can identify ready-to-help relievers on the cheap and also have a handful of homegrown pitchers such as Levi Wells and Nestor German who may be set to transition to the bullpen.

Of these waiver claims, White seems to be the best option the Orioles can maximize based on his stuff profile.

Hopefully, this spurs a Trevor Rogers decision soon.

The Orioles and Rogers haven’t been aligned on his future beyond this season. The left-hander who revived his career these last two seasons has consistently said he wants to be here long term, and the Orioles extended the contracts of Shane Baz and Kyle Bradish instead of his, suggesting their priorities were elsewhere.

Rogers has until Nov. 17 to decide whether to accept the $23.15 million qualifying offer. Given the looming lockout and the expected accelerated pace of free agency, he’ll have a better idea of what the landscape for his services looks like — and so will the Orioles.

If he’s looking at the five-year, $115 million deal that MLB Trade Rumors projects, Rogers’ next pitch will be in a different uniform. If it’s closer to the three-year, $64 million forecast by The Athletic, Rogers would be best suited taking the qualifying offer and reentering free agency next year.

The Orioles are likely hoping for a quick decision. I think they’ll probably be more in the market for rotation depth than someone of Rogers’ caliber, should he sign elsewhere, but officially losing him would probably change that calculus somewhat.

There’s more clarity to the outfield needs than there was a month ago.

After they let go of Taveras and Kjerstad, the Orioles’ outfield at least has fewer bodies to operate with than last season, and that’s not a bad thing. They’re left with Colton Cowser, Dylan Beavers and Tyler O’Neill, with Christian Franklin, Rece Hinds and Blaze Alexander as depth.

Releasing Taveras makes available a boatload of center field plate appearances against lefties, which they could give to Cowser or to another player they acquire. O’Neill’s constant injuries mean it’s hard to count on him for a full season, so there’s an additional need there. But, without wondering how Taveras or Kjerstad will fit in, the Orioles can focus on upgrading a little easier. My gut tells me this is where they will use a lot of their prospect capital on a trade this winter.

More roster cleanup is coming.

All of Monday’s moves leave three spots open for the Nov. 17 deadline to add eligible players to the 40-man roster or risk losing them in the Rule 5 draft (if it happens at all). That’s not going to be enough, unless the Orioles are more bearish on their prospects than anyone thinks or they roll the dice on the draft not happening.

Absent those unlikely scenarios, the following players are top of the list for me: right-handers Braxton Bragg, Michael Forret, German and Wells, outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. and infielder Aron Estrada.

Some of the recent waiver claims could be passed back through to create more spots, but absent that, the Orioles are going to need to find more room to keep some of these promising players. They can trade off the back of their roster or even deal some of these prospects they don’t plan on adding to get value for them. They can also knock a reliever off the end of the roster who hasn’t seized his chance.

But I think this aspect of roster management for the Orioles is going to be just as important this winter as the additions they make to help the major league team in 2027.