Complete list of Orioles free agents with final predictions as to who stays and who goes

The Baltimore Orioles find themselves at a fork-in-the-road style offseason. After an underwhelming campaign that saw the Orioles miss the playoffs for the second season in a row, they need to make key improvements to try to get themselves back to October. After trading away Adley Rutschman at the trade deadline, Birdland is wondering whether that was the first step into the next rebuild, or if it was merely a bump in the road as they try to climb their way back up.

The first step in Baltimore's offseason is going to be making decisions on their current free agents. The O's have five players whose contracts are ending or who are finishing their sixth season of team control. A few of these players have been key members of the team over the last season or more.

Complete list of Orioles free agents with final predictions as to who stays ahead of crucial 2027 season

Trevor Rogers

The lefty has had an up-and-down two-and-a-half seasons as a member of the Orioles organization. When they first traded for him, he only made a handful of starts before being optioned to the minors. Once Rogers got his second chance in June 2025, he ran with it, being one of the best starters in baseball. 2026 started really rough, though he found his form after a few months and had a quality second half.

Rogers has the potential to be one of the best starters in baseball. While the Orioles' rotation is getting slightly crowded with players under long-term team control (Young, Baz, and Bradish), the lefty can be the best of the bunch, and Baltimore should look to re-sign him, though they likely won't.

The 26-27 free agent class is exceptionally weak (unless there are a lot of opt-outs). Headlined by Tarik Skubal, there isn't another superstar player. Rogers is going to be one of the top free-agent pitchers available, and it's likely another team will pay him more than the Orioles are willing to pay to get him off the open market.

Chris Bassitt

Baltimore signed the veteran last winter to fill out their starting rotation, and while he was solid, he didn't live up to the $18.5 million contract he got. He made 20 appearances, 18 of which were starts, and pitched 102 innings to a 4.59 ERA. Baltimore has a litany of young arms nearing the majors. With Bassitt headed into his age-38 season, unless he takes a massive pay cut and a potential move to the bullpen, it's very unlikely the Orioles will re-sign him.

Andrew Kittredge

The righty reliever signed with Baltimore two offseasons ago, got traded to the Cubs at the 2025 trade deadline, and then was traded back to Baltimore last offseason. After a solid 2025, his '26 season wasn't as effective. While his ERA wasn't far off, he gave up more hits and struck out less in fewer innings. Kittredge made $9.1 million this season, much higher than his performance allowed for. Luckily a season like that should lower his price this winter, and it shouldn't come as a surprise if he comes back.

Ryan Mountcastle

Unfortunately for the first baseman, he is likely about to head into free agency after his position was given away last offseason. Mountcastle played just eight games this season before he lost the year to injury. He hasn't played a full season since 2022, and with a lot of young players on the roster at positions that he plays, the O's have no reason to bring him back.

Keegan Akin

The lefty reliever had been very solid for Baltimore in 2024 and 2025 with a 3.36 ERA in 130 games across the two seasons. 2026 wasn't nearly as good, as he had a 5.68 ERA before being shut down with elbow discomfort that turned into Tommy John Surgery. It's likely that, with surgery happening in July, Akin will miss most of 2027. Usually, players who get Tommy John before heading into free agency will sign a deal to go back to the team they were with to rehab, and that's likely to be the case with Akin.

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