Orioles make baffling decision to opt out of Danny Coulombe's contract

As the 2025 offseason gets underway, Orioles fans are preparing their winter wish lists and attempting to forecast what moves the team will make to improve for 2025. One move fans did not have on their list was the Orioles' surprising decision to decline the team's 2025 option on one of the anchors of their bullpen, Danny Coulombe. Yet here we are.

On Monday, the Orioles announced that they had exercised the 2025 club options on relievers Cionel Perez and Seranthony Dominguez, as well as designated hitter Ryan O'Hearn. But for reasons unknown, the Orioles' declined Coulombe's $4M option for next year.

On the surface, the move simply does not add up. Since the start of the 2023 season, Coulombe has arguably been the Orioles' best and most consistent reliever, especially considering bullpen ace Felix Bautista missed the entire 2024 season following Tommy John surgery. The crafty, shutdown lefty was outstanding in 2023, going 5-3 with a 2.81 ERA while striking out 58 batters in 51.1 innings. He was arguably even better in 2024, going 1-0 with a 2.12 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 29.2 innings. Although Coulombe was sidelined from June through mid-September with an elbow injury, he did not allow an earned run in five appearances upon his return, including a scoreless appearance in Game 2 of the Wild Card series.

The decision is especially puzzling given the Orioles' bullpen struggles in 2024. The team cycled through a bevy of relievers this past season trying to find the right fit: Craig Kimbrel was mercifully DFA'd in September, while Burch Smith and others were forced to pitch frequently due to inadequate options. Indeed the Orioles finished with the 22nd worst bullpen ERA out of 30 teams in 2024.

The Orioles unexpectedly declined Danny Coulombe's reasonably-priced option, allowing him to hit free agency

So why would the Orioles decline his option? Money doesn't appear to be the reason, as the Orioles exercised a $2M option on the inferior Cionel Perez and an $8M option on Dominguez who, while solid, did not pitch as well as Coulombe in 2024. Nor does Coulombe's performance or the team's needs explain it, for the reasons explained above. After a disappointing end to a promising season, the Orioles should be keeping and collecting pieces to put them over the top, not letting them test free agency.

There are a few potential explanations. First, it is possible that Coulombe is not healthy and will not be able to pitch this year. While he was effective in five outings after his return, he missed time due to an elbow injury to his pitching arm, and elbow injuries are known to knock pitchers out for long periods of time. Just ask Kyle Bradish, Felix Bautista, and Shane Bieber, among others.

It is also possible that the Orioles declined Coulombe's team option so they could sign him to a multi-year extension. For example, instead of paying Coulombe only $4M in 2025, the Orioles could extend him for, say, three years at $20 million (a solid deal for the Orioles, and perhaps a slight discount for Coulombe), to keep him around. However, thus far, there has been no indication of that being the case.

Instead, the Orioles' decision to let arguably their best reliever enter free agency, where a number of teams will line up to add the lefty to their bullpen, is as frustrating as it is baffling. At this point, the best thing we can do is give Mike Elias the benefit of the doubt and hope Coulombe's time in Baltimore is not truly over.