Do the Baltimore Orioles have playoff hopes in 2023?

In 2016, the Baltimore Orioles finished the season with 89 wins and 73 losses, the club tied with the New York Yankees for second place in the American League East and clinched a wild card spot. In just their third playoff appearance in 18 years, the Orioles were eliminated by the Toronto Blue Jays. Following the season, the Orioles wanted change.

Baltimore Orioles: Changes after 2016 season

The offseason began. It was time for a big decision. Would the Baltimore Orioles look to win the division in 2017 and make the playoffs once again or rebuild and delay those hopes? They chose the rebuild. However, the Orioles did not just tank. Instead, they took it slow and inched into rebuild mode.

November was upon Baltimore. In exchange for cash, the team acquired 26-year-old pitcher Logan Verrett from the New York Mets. The Mets also traded RHP Gabriel Ynoa to the Orioles later in the offseason. The Orioles acquired 33-year-old outfielder Seth Smith via trade in exchange for 29-year-old righty Yovani Gallardo. They also acquired 28-year-old lefty Vidal Nuno from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for 22-year-old Ryan Mosely and 28-year-old lefty Richard Bleir from the New York Yankees for cash.

In the free agent market, the team was able to sign 28-year-old catcher Wellington Castillo, along with 31-year-old righty Logan Ondrusek and 30-year-old Mark Trumbo. In addition, the Orioles also claimed several players off waivers and agreed to minor league deals with various others.

Baltimore Orioles gear up for 2017 season

Fast forward to April, the Orioles are set to kick off the 2017 campaign. Unlike prior years, the expectations were not particularly high as the team’s front office knew their goal and it was going to take some patience to get there. However, if they could make the playoffs, they would take it. The team ultimately finished in last place in the division with a record of 75-87.

Rebuild takes a step forward

Now that 2017 was over, it was time to move forward in the rebuild. This time, Orioles general manager Dan Duquette would be more aggressive, signing more younger players to minor league deals and a few major league deals including RHP Chris Tillman, RHP Andrew Cashner and RHP Michael Kelly.

The 2018 season began and it was atrocious from the start. Going for one last playoff run before sending the rebuild full circle did not play out well for the Orioles. The pitching collapsed as well as the hitting and there seemed to be no positives come out of 2018.

July was a huge month for the Orioles. In July, the Orioles traded superstar shortstop Manny Machado to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for a bundle of prospects. Jonathan Schoop was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers Zach Britton was traded to the New York Yankees and Kevin Gausman was sent to the Atlanta Braves.

The team finished with just 47 wins, losing a total of 115 games. The insane decline shocked baseball fans. This team did not change too much in the last offseason, and fans were left to wonder what caused this massive decline? Following the end of the season, Orioles manager Buck Showalter was fired.

Putting the rebuild into full circle 

After a failed attempt at one last playoff run, it was time to take a huge leap. The team had already traded their best players and others were sure to depart in free agency. There was no looking back from here.

To sum up the offseason, the Orioles were completely changed. Just two players from the 2018 Opening Day lineup were in the 2019 lineup. The pitching was flipped inside out. Fortunately, the Orioles had a strong farm system which played a huge role in 2019 for the Major League team along with many minor league signings and players acquired via trade.

In the 2019 MLB Draft, the Orioles selected catcher Adley Rutschman, shortstop Gunnar Henderson, outfielder Kyle Stowers, outfielder Zach Watson and shortstop Joseph Ortiz.

After the 2019 season, the Orioles accumulated 54 wins and 108 losses under first-year manager Brandon Hyde. While the record was bad, it is all part of the process.

Baltimore Orioles: Making progress in 2020 and 2021

During the 2019-20 offseason, the Baltimore Orioles continued their strategy of out with the old and in with the new. On December 2, the Orioles announced that they had traded OF Jonathan Villar to the Miami Marlins for a prospect. Two days later, they traded RHP Dylan Bundy to the Los Angeles Angels.

Due to the pandemic, the Orioles only played 60 games going 25-35. That translated to about 68 wins in a regular season. For the Orioles, we saw shades of what is yet to come. Right fielder Anthony Santander saw major improvement despite only playing in 37 games. He was the Orioles best player by WAR at 1.6. Designated hitter Jose Iglesias performed very well. Over 39 games, Iglesias finished with an OPS of .956. Young left fielder Ryan Mountcastle also showed great potential, finishing the year slashing .333/.386/.878 in 35 games.

It is also worth noting that the Orioles had just one player over the age of 27 in their everyday lineup.

In the offseason, the Orioles started their offseason by acquiring middle infield prospects AJ Graffanino and Greg Cullen from the Atlanta Braves as players to be named later in exchange for LHP Tommy Milone, who was traded in August. During Milone’s time with Baltimore, the lefty was one of the team’s best pitchers.

Shortly after, Jose Iglesias was traded to the Los Angeles Angels in exhange for two prospects. Two months later, Alex Cobb was headed to Anaheim as well in exchange for second baseman Jahmai Jones.

Record- and stat-wise, 2021 was another awful year for the Orioles, but there were bright spots. Center fielder Cedric Mullins had an amazing year at the plate and on the bases. Having a 30-30 season is no small feat and that is what Mullins did. He finished the year with an .878 OPS and 136 wRC+. Southpaw John Means was easily the teams best starting pitcher, finishing his season with a WAR of 3.8 and a 3.62 ERA.

Major progress in 2022

The Orioles desperately needed young players to step up in 2022. Top prospects Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson were thought to be ready to go at some point in 2022.

After a long offseason, it was go time once again. Rutschman was dealing with an injury by Opening Day, so he did not debut until May 21. Rutschman went on to end the season with a team-leading .806 OPS and .362 OBP as almost everyone in the Orioles lineup finished the year with an OPS over .700. The biggest weakness left was the pitching. Perhaps the best (and most shocking) news of 2022 is that the Orioles were above .500 once again with 89 wins and 73 losses. It was their first winning season since 2016.

Baltimore Orioles outlook for 2023

2023 should be another exceptional season for the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles addressed pitching needs in the offseason which will help a great amount. The rebuild is officially over. Some of the best prospects in baseball should debut for the Orioles this season. While Brandon Hyde saw major improvement in his guys with the bats, there is still work to do. Everyone needs to chip in if the Orioles want to make the playoffs in 2023.

Jake Rill of MLB.com predicts the Orioles will finish the season with 88 wins and 74 losses along with a Wild Card spot.