The Orioles’ relief corps took a downward turn amid a disappointing season in 2025, but mere days after the conclusion of the World Series, the bullpen has a clearer outlook than it did when Baltimore’s season ended two months ago.
President of baseball operations Mike Elias is already busy getting pieces in place for new manager Craig Albernaz. Since Oct. 30, Elias agreed to terms with Rico Garcia, Dietrich Enns and Josh Walker on major league contracts for 2026. He claimed George Soriano off waivers from the Marlins. He also traded for Andrew Kittredge, just months after the 35-year-old was dealt by the Orioles at the trade deadline.
Garcia and Enns both finished their 2025 seasons with the Orioles after starting the campaign on a different team. Soriano and Walker are new additions.
Kittredge and Keegan Akin are locks for the bullpen for next year. Kittredge pitched to a 3.40 ERA in 2025 and has held a mark below 3.50 in each of the past six seasons. Akin was the only Oriole with more than two saves last year besides Félix Bautista, who is expected to miss most — if not all — of next season recovering from a shoulder injury. Akin has pitched to a sub-3.50 ERA in 60-plus innings in each of the past two campaigns.
While not as trustworthy in high-leverage scenarios as Akin, Enns looks like a near-lock at this point given that he’s the strongest left-hander Baltimore had to close out 2025 other than Akin. He pitched to a 3.14 ERA in 28.2 innings after coming over from Detroit.
After those three, there is still some uncertainty regarding the trustworthiness of the rest of the Orioles’ options.
Yennier Cano has been a mainstay for the bullpen since 2023, but he struggled to a 5.12 ERA in 2025. Still, he has the most major league experience of any reliever other than Akin and Kittredge. Garcia and Kade Strowd each shined in limited time with Baltimore last year.
The other relievers who made at least two outings for the Orioles last season (and are still in the organization) are Shawn Dubin, Yaramil Hiraldo, Carson Ragsdale, Colin Selby and Grant Wolfram. Ragsdale is the youngest of the bunch at 27.
Wolfram is a left-hander, giving him an edge over the rest. Hiraldo, Dubin, Ragsdale and Selby have career ERAs above 4.50.
The biggest question mark remains the closer role.
The biggest free-agent names are Edwin Díaz and Robert Suárez, both of whom opted out of their deals to enter the market. Baseball America projects that Díaz will get six years and $125 million and Suárez will get three years and $54 million. Suárez is the brother of current Oriole and potential long reliever Albert Suárez.
The other free-agent relievers with double-digit saves last season are Raisel Iglesias, Ryan Helsley and Devin Williams. Baseball America expects all to command at least $50 million.
When asked at Albernaz’s introductory news conference about the next step financially, owner David Rubenstein said Baltimore has the resources to acquire players needed to “make the team work” and that there aren’t financial constraints.
Rubenstein added that money spent on players would do so for ones that complement the team. A closer would certainly fit that description.
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