The Orioles’ 40-man roster got deeper Tuesday evening when Baltimore added a handful of its top prospects to protect them from being selected in next month’s Rule 5 draft.
But even with the likes of starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez and shortstop Joey Ortiz in the fold, the Orioles could clearly still upgrade at both of those positions as the offseason continues. The free agency market features both premier aces and top-tier shortstops, and with Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias saying he expects the club to increase payroll and seek improvements throughout the winter, those remain target areas.
With left-hander John Means expected to miss the start of the season continuing his recovery from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery, only one of the nine season-opening rotation candidates on Baltimore’s 40-man roster has pitched more than 150 innings in a professional season, with Austin Voth last eclipsing that mark in 2016 while in Triple-A. Excluding Rodriguez, baseball’s top pitching prospect who in June suffered a lat muscle strain that prevented a possible debut, each of the other eight set a career high for major league innings in 2022, led by Dean Kremer’s 125 1/3.
