Baltimore Orioles: Birdland should look for a veteran, like a shortstop

The Baltimore Orioles were a surprising team in 2022, finishing with a record of 83-79. They were so close to making it into the postseason as a Wild Card team, finishing four games away from taking the six seed away from the Tampa Bay Rays. The Baltimore Orioles haven’t made the postseason since 2016, losing to the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL Wild Card with veteran players like Adam Jones, Manny Machado, and Mark Trumbo on the roster.

With a tough AL East that has the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays, and Boston Red Sox, will it be difficult for the Baltimore Orioles to get into the playoffs any time soon?

In the 2022 season, Baltimore’s record facing off their divisional opponents was 34-42. Looking at the bright side about this franchise, they have a lot of young, great talent and they’re ranked at the top in the 2022 MLB.com farm system rankings.

Last year, the baseball world saw the debut of the 2019 number one overall pick, Adley Rutschman. His first season as a rookie was very promising for the Orioles organization, slashing .254/.362/.807 with 13 home runs and collecting 42 RBI. He finished runner-up to Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez in the American League Rookie of The Year voting. In late August, the Orioles brought up shortstop/third baseman Gunnar Henderson, the top prospect in the Orioles farm system. He wasted no time making noise, going 2-for-4 with a solo shot in his first game in the big leagues.

With a young core, Baltimore is a team on the horizon of making a push for the AL East, and potentially the postseason as well. They need someone who can help them get over that hump, a leader who would get them to the promised land in Birdland, players that have touched the postseason and got a taste of the World Series.

The Orioles are looking into starting pitching and a shortstop and, let’s see, there are tons of players in those categories currently in the free agent market. Let’s focus on the four key shortstops who are out there.

The top four shortstops on the free agent market are Xander Bogaerts, Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, and Dansby Swanson.

These guys all have something in common and it’s that they have made it into the postseason and won a World Series title with their respected teams. Xander Bogaerts is the only one with multiple World Series rings, and is also a four-time All-Star with multiple Silver Sluggers. Trea Turner doesn’t have any awards in his trophy case, but has hit over .300 in two of his last four years, while being a speed demon on the bags. Carlos Correa, the number one overall pick in 2012, was the 2015 AL Rookie of the Year and, in his last year with the Houston Astros, won his first Gold Glove and Platinum Glove Award with his remarkable defense. He is also the youngest free agent in the shortstop class. However, he has dealt with some injuries throughout his career. Lastly, Dansby Swanson has shown a huge increase in his offensive numbers in the last two years as a Brave. Last season, he was selected for his first All-Star Game and won a Gold Glove.

Any of these four shortstops can help this team get over the hump and make it to their first postseason since 2016. They can bring a great deal of their leadership and veteran presence to a young team like the Baltimore Orioles. I’m sure that Sig Mejdal and Mike Elias will make the right choice. Which one you may ask? Well, that will be another topic to discuss soon.