3 pitchers the Orioles should stay away from this offseason

There is a lot of excitement surrounding the Baltimore Orioles this offseason. It's the first full offseason under the team's new ownership group and the expectation is for them to be aggressive. There are many rumors floating around about free agents and players who could be traded, but just because a player is available doesn't mean that player should be acquired.

There are several reasons why a team like the Orioles may not want to go after certain players. Some players want more money than they are worth, others have declining skills and some are just the wrong fit for a team. The Orioles are one of the most exciting teams in baseball with a core of young players loaded with talent and they have been involved in several rumors including big name players. Here are three players that the O's should stay away from.

Clay Holmes

The starting rotation isn't the only place the O's are looking to add arms. The bullpen is always a work in progress and the Birds have been linked to free agent reliever Clay Holmes. Over the last four seasons, Holmes has established himself as one of baseball's premier closers with the New York Yankees. He was an All Star in 2022 and again this past season, but a fall from grace has Holmes looking for a new home.

Even though Holmes posted a career high 30 saves last season, he also had a career high 13 blown saves. He had only blown 12 saves in six previous seasons combined. The season started off great for Holmes but took a sudden turn in July. He blew four saves that month alone, two more in August and another three in September. It seemed like the only thing that stopped Holmes from blowing saves was being removed from the closers role.

Holmes seemed to regain some of his form in the postseason but it was too little too late for the Yankees. As enticing as it may be to bring in a veteran reliever with a track record like Holmes', it seems like the Orioles have already made this mistake once. Prior to the 2024 season the O's signed a veteran closer with a long history of success coming off of an All Star season that fell apart in the second half, and we all saw how that turned out. The Orioles leaving Holmes on the market would show they learned their lesson the first time.