Returning Veteran: Orioles GM Drops Hint: Star Utility Man Likely to Return

The Baltimore Orioles have some tough roster decisions to make.

With the Rule 5 Draft approaching and a loaded pipeline full of talent, there’s a chance teams around the league could pluck a few prospects out of their farm system based on the limited flexibility they have on their roster.

That wouldn’t be the end of the world for the Orioles.

After their teardown rebuild has culminated in them becoming AL contenders the past two years, plenty of their top prospects have turned into franchise cornerstones already, giving the organization a better idea of who they should build around.

Some of the current players in their pipeline might only become fringe roster contributors, while the rest likely are used as trade pieces, but still, Baltimore would like to maintain their stranglehold on the top farm system spot if they can.

When it comes to their Major League roster, though, there are questions about who might be back in 2025 because of free agency and financial constraints.

With Anthony Santander and Corbin Burnes expected to be playing for different teams next season, that will require the front office to backfill their openings in the outfield and starting rotation.

Hence where the money conversation begins.

Despite local billionaire David Rubenstein officially becoming the control person of this franchise after purchasing it from the Angelos family, the payroll isn’t expected to significantly increase this winter.

So, if the Orioles are going to replace Santander and Burnes with players who can limit the departing production, they will need to shed some of their current salary or non-tender contracts for arbitration eligible players.

Many expected Jorge Mateo would be a casualty of this.

The star utility man has been a defensive wizard across multiple positions in the infield, and just last season, the outfield. But with a batting history that has produced just an 80 OPS+ figure across his 445 games and 1,224 at-bats, he could have been viewed as expendable.

However, comments from general manager Mike Elias makes it sound like he’ll be back in 2025.

“I think he was an underrated absence for us in the second half. Whether he’s 100 percent full-go on the very, very first day of spring training is still TBD, but suffice to say, he’s going to have a very full, if not a 162, something close to that season. So, he’s really somebody that we’re able to plan around fully, more or less, in 2025 and that hasn’t changed,” he said per Roch Kubatko of MASN.

Well, that seems pretty cut and dry.

Mateo is someone Baltimore can rely on defensively when shifting him around the infield, and it seemed like he had taken a step forward at the plate last year when he produced a 93 OPS+ before getting hurt.

The Orioles are hoping he can continue the momentum he had prior to undergoing surgery to reconstruct the UCL in his throwing arm, and it seems like they are confident that will take place since it sounds like they will roster him despite having a few other utility man options.