Baltimore Orioles

There’s a chance, albeit not a great one, that this will be the first of many expenditures to give the Orioles a payroll more representative of a team with their aspirations.

There are No. 1 and No. 2 starters available, along with pitchers for the back end of the rotation.

"To come in and fill those shoes and keep this team on a good roll, I absolutely expect to do that," Kimbrel said. "That’s why I signed here. That’s what I’ve been doing my whole career.”

The Orioles' bullpen did little to pick up a struggling rotation and inconsistent offense when it mattered most, and it developed into a major offseason need.

They’ve secured a closer. Now they’re going for a starter.

One-year deals might not be the highest upside plays, but they often fill a need, have little long-term ramifications on roster construction, and allow flexibility in other areas.

Kimbrel, a nine-time All-Star, recorded 23 saves for the Philadelphia Phillies last season.

With a faint “Baltimore will pass,” the streak of picks ended.

Scott Boras, who represents Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday, said the Orioles reach out to him “only once or twice a day.”

As the attention follows the two-way Japanese star, the rest of the baseball world seems to wait for that one move to uncork the rest.

The Orioles will have three picks in the top 34 after the order was officially set in the MLB Draft Lottery on Tuesday.

Holliday, who turned 20 on Monday, ascended all the way to Triple-A in his first full professional season and has been named baseball’s No. 1 prospect.

The final scheduled meeting of the Maryland Stadium Authority this year came and went without action on the Orioles’ lease, which expires Dec. 31. But officials remained optimistic: “My message to the public is that everyone’s intention, including the Orioles, is for the Orioles to remain in Baltimore for a very long time,” MSA Executive Director Michael Frenz said.

Andy Kostka joins Paul Mancano at 1 p.m. to discuss the latest O's news.

“I’ve never been one to view these meetings as some type of compressed time frame where you have to do something,” general manager Mike Elias said.

One option is Chicago White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease; the Orioles held interest in Cease around the trade deadline and that interest has likely carried over into the offseason.

The Orioles have balked at the idea of separating development rights from the lease in order to get it signed by the end of the month.

They will be looking at a variety of factors, chief among them their own internal evaluations of the prospects and recent graduates.

Opinion: Davey Johnson’s devotion to baseball after 1980 at all levels is unmatched. Combine that with his playing career, this should be his year.

The Orioles' lease at Oriole Park at Camden Yards expires Dec. 31. Two dates to watch for a new lease are the Maryland Stadium Authority's meeting Dec. 5 and the Maryland Board of Public Works meeting Dec. 13.