Orioles' righty Dean Kremer could have surprise landing spot in free agency

Dean Kremer is still a few years away from his scheduled free agency but reports from Bob Nightengale tell us that there have been some surprise scouts in attendance with Kremer on the mound.

2025 was the first year Kremer was eligible for arbitration, and he's currently being paid $2.95 million in year one. He'll be eligible for arbitration raises in 2026 and 2027 before hitting the free agent market before the 2028 season. That is, if he can stick on the Orioles' roster that long.

For one, Kremer has been awful this year. Many were expecting him to take a step forward in 2025 based on some positive growth we've seen from him over the last couple years. He's increased his strikeout rate in each of the last two years and he's been fairly reliable, throwing a combined 427.2 innings over the last three seasons.

But assuming his annual raise gets him into the $5-6 million range for 2026, it's not clear that the Orioles will want to pay that much to keep him around. That'll be especially true if his 2025 performance continues throughout the summer. So far this year, Kremer has an 8.16 ERA in three starts. He's allowed 14 runs, 13 of them earned, in 14.1 innings. He's notched 11 strikeouts to just 3 walks.

International scouts have reportedly been present for Orioles' righty Dean Kremer's starts

The O's rotation is nowhere near healthy enough to justify dumping Kremer this early but if the trio of Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez, and Kyle Bradish return later this year, that could be cause to send Kremer back to Triple-A.

If the Orioles do choose to non-tender him over the winter, we could be in for a surprise when it comes to potential landing spots. According to reports from Bob Nightengale, scouts from Japan's NBP and Korea's KBO have been in attendance for Kremer's starts. That suggests that he could get several offers from international clubs in the event that he hits free agency early.

If Kremer gets non-tendered, it'll be because of poor performance. And if that's the case, it's tough to predict what kind of contract offers he'll get over the winter. He could be offered in the $1-3 million range or even get minor league offers if things get bad enough. However, he could command a good bit more than that if the right international team comes calling.

Would Kremer ever consider heading abroad to make more money? That much isn't known. But in the event where he's being offered a real job in Japan, compared to potentially a minor league contract in the majors, it's certainly possible that he heads overseas to try to find his way back into form. We'd love to see Kremer pull it together and pitch well enough to keep his job all year. But don't be surprised if the rumors about him heading to Asia start ramping up if and when he gets bumped out of Baltimore's starting rotation.