Orioles make first non-tender, part ways with surprisingly good reliever

MLB's non-tender deadline is at 8pm tonight and the Orioles are getting busy making final adjustments to their roster before entering the thick of the offseason. The O's had a large group of players eligible for salary arbitration, and therefore a number of tough decisions to make in regard to which guys they want to bring back in 2025.

The first player in that group to get non-tendered is RHP Jacob Webb, who has been surprisingly effective during his time in Baltimore. The 31 year old pitched to a 3.02 ERA in 56.2 innings in 2024, working primarily in mid and low leverage situations.

Webb out-pitched his metrics a bit, as he posted a 3.52 FIP and a fairly high 11.4% walk rate. Despite that, he was mostly successful both last year and after the trade deadline in 2023. His changeup was his best pitch this year - batters hit just .125 off the pitch and he surrendered just 4 extra base hits off it.

Orioles decline to offer RHP Jacob Webb a contract in arbitration

While Webb had been a solid piece of the O's bullpen puzzle over the last season and a half, he had been rumored as a potential non-tender candidate last week. He was predicted to earn $1.5 million in arbitration in 2025 and the O's determined that was more than they wanted to invest.

Part of the decision may also stem from an elbow injury that Webb suffered this past summer. The righty missed time with elbow inflammation and while that's normally terrible news, Webb was able to return in short order and pick up where he left off.

That lingering injury situation is similar to the one LHP Danny Coulombe was dealing with, though. And earlier this month, the Orioles made the surprising decision to part ways with Coulombe. It's possible that the O's don't entirely trust Webb's medicals and rather than bring him back on the assumption that he'll be healthy, they'll look elsewhere for those innings.

At the end of the day, it's a bit of a risky move to dump Webb. He could still be a valuable contributor in 2025 and he'll be extremely cheap. However, most relievers are, to a point, fungible so the Orioles will hopefully find a way to replace his production without any issues.