Footnote from Orioles' Ranger Suarez miss will frustrate fans all over again

A recurring part of the Baltimore Orioles' last few offseasons is the annual report on the top of the rotation starters that the Orioles almost signed. Last year, around this time, it came out that the Orioles made a big offer to Corbin Burnes. This week, it was reported that they made a big offer to Ranger Suarez.

These reports are interesting to read because they give some insight into the types of contracts the Orioles are willing to offer, but when, year after year, the story is about how the Orioles tried and failed to sign the starter they so desperately need, it's more frustrating than anything else. It also calls into question this front office's ability to use free agency to acquire high-end talent at real positions of need.

This Orioles front office does not have what it takes to acquire top pitching talent in free agency

With both Suarez and Burnes, the main excuse for the Orioles' failure to sign them is that they preferred Boston and Arizona over Baltimore. That would be a legitimate excuse if, in either case, the Orioles had offered those pitchers more money than the teams they eventually signed with, but in both instances, the players went to the teams that offered them the most money.

Are Orioles fans supposed to be impressed by the front office's commitment to coming in second on these important free agents?

The hesitancy to win these bidding wars seems to come from a concern about what the end of these contracts will look like. The Orioles clearly don't want to put themselves in a situation where bad contracts force them to field a non-competitive team. However, by being so risk-averse and avoiding signing the expensive top-of-the-market pitchers that they need, they are making the current team non-competitive.

What's worse? Potentially being a bad team in 2031 because a bad contract is eating up the books and making it so the team can't bring in enough talent to compete? Or the fact that the Orioles definitely finished dead last in the division in 2025 because they didn't bring in enough talent.

Being definitely bad now is worse than being potentially bad later.

The issue is that the Orioles front office doesn't see it that way. They are happy to throw away season after season as long as they can preserve their payroll flexibility. Is that something they've come out and said? No. But just look at their actions.

During Chris Bassitt's first start of spring training, Roch Kubatko was on the call. Kubatko works for MASN, which the Orioles own, and in general is pretty plugged into the front office's side of the story. On that call, he laid out that the Orioles were pursuing Ranger Suarez, but once he went to the Red Sox, their pivot plan was to go with Bassitt.

The message is clear: they're only willing to address the biggest hole on the roster if they can do so at a price that is comfortable. Once that option is taken away, they instantly pivot to the same one-year deal for an aging veteran that got them into the 2025 mess. To them, a repeat of the 2025 season is preferable to overpaying Ranger Suarez.

Andrew Friedman gave a quote ten years ago that every offseason goes triple platinum. "If you're rational about every free agent, you will finish third on every free agent." Mike Elias embodies the rational mindset that Andrew Friedman warned against. As long as he is the President of Baseball Operations for the Baltimore Orioles, he's going to approach free agency rationally and come in second or third every time.

Orioles fans keep waiting for the team to finally make the big pitching signing that they've needed for years, and it's just not coming.