Former MLB general manager Jim Bowden says the Orioles as constructed are the best team in the American League, but he would be “obsessed” with adding to the bullpen, which Bowden believes is the one weakness the club has.
Bowden recently shared his way-too-early trade ideas for The Athletic, suggesting that the Orioles trade outfielder Heston Kjerstad to the Cleveland Guardians for relievers Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith. Gaddis, 26, has a 2.18 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 20.2 innings this season. Smith, 25, has a 2.45 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 18.1 innings.
Meanwhile, the Orioles are having ninth-inning issues with Félix Bautista down for the year with Tommy John surgery. The club signed veteran closer Craig Kimbrel in December to fill the ninth-inning role, but it’s been a bumpy ride so far.
Bowden harkened back to when he traded for relievers Jeff Brantley, Jeff Shaw and Danny Graves as the GM of the Cincinnati Reds in the ’90s. None had been a closer immediately prior to being traded to the Reds, but they all got the opportunity and ran with it in Cincinnati.
“I think both [Gaddis and Smith] can close games if given the opportunity. I think the stuff is that good. I think they’re difference-makers — both of them,” Bowden said on Glenn Clark Radio May 8. “One of the things I did in my 16 years as a GM, I always was challenged financially. I couldn’t go out and get a free-agent closer. I had to get my own. I spent a lot of my years as a GM trading for setup guys.”
Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase has been in the rumor mill in the past but seems unlikely to move ahead of the July 30 trade deadline. Clase is under club control potentially through 2028 on team-friendly salaries, he’s having another solid season and the Guardians appear as though they’ll be in the mix for the American League Central title all season.
However, the Guardians could use some corner outfield pop. Kjerstad, 25, would certainly provide that (96 extra-base hits in 926 minor league plate appearances) if the Orioles are willing to part ways with a former first-round pick.
Bowden says his suggested deal allows the Orioles to remake their bullpen without giving up any pieces vital to the major league club or prospects he likes more than Kjerstad, such as Coby Mayo.
“Why not just go get the guy that hasn’t gotten that [closer] opportunity yet but has the stuff and the makeup and the competitiveness to do it? Just because they haven’t done it doesn’t mean they can’t do it,” Bowden said. “You’ve just got to pick out the right guys, and these are two guys that I’m huge fans of. I think they’re difference-makers. I think Gaddis can close, so I would trust him in that role.”
Why would Bowden be so aggressive in adding to the bullpen? He remembers the 1995 NLCS, when his Reds were swept by the Atlanta Braves. The Reds matched up well except for the sixth and seventh innings, when they didn’t have the horses to handle Braves sluggers David Justice and Fred McGriff.
Bowden now covers every World Series for SiriusXM’s MLB Network Radio, and he sees firsthand how a team’s weaknesses are exposed in late October.
“That’s why if you’re a GM with a 100-win team like the Orioles, you have to be obsessed with finding a way to get rid of whatever weaknesses you have,” Bowden said, “because you don’t want to be facing the Rangers in the ALCS or whoever you’re going to face, and you lose because you didn’t have somebody to get Corey Seager and Evan Carter out in that sixth inning. You just can’t let that happen.”
Bowden believes the Orioles will win the AL East regardless of how GM Mike Elias opts to augment the team, but that doesn’t mean the club should be satisfied with the roster.
“You don’t build a five-star restaurant and forget the bathroom. You just don’t,” Bowden said. “You put in the gold plumbing. You do it right. It’s important because otherwise you’re not going to be what you want to be.”
For more from Bowden, listen to the full interview here:
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