Suárez just wants the ball in any role with Orioles

I emptied the mailbag over the weekend, but a question arrived yesterday that I wanted to address and expand on rather than save it for later.

It pertains to one of the most important members of the 2024 team, an unexpected development that can’t be disputed. It’s just fact, and further proof that minor league signings can’t always be downplayed or ignored.

They can bail out a team.

Does A. Suárez have a preference for being a starter or a reliever? One way to add a significant bullpen arm would be to get starter(s) in the rotation and nudge Big Al to the 'pen, but what would he think of that? Would he see it as a demotion?

To be clear, we’re talking about Albert and not Andrew. I can’t imagine that it caused any confusion, but you never know.

Here’s the thing with most pitchers who have done both: They’d rather start.

They want to be the guy holding the ball at the beginning of the game. They want it to be their game. And starters make the bigger bucks. Of course, it matters.

Athletics rookie Mason Miller was converted to closer and he excelled, but there’s no doubt that he’d rather go back into a rotation. Meanwhile, Zack Britton’s career was saved in Baltimore after switching to late relief. Brian Matusz became a lefty specialist who tied David Ortiz in knots.

Suárez has bounced between roles, making 12 starts among 22 appearances with the Giants in 2016 and pitching only in relief in his 18 games the following year. The Orioles started him in 24 games and used him in relief for eight. He appeared in 153 games in the minors and made 118 starts, and 141 outside the U.S. and made 83.

This is where Suárez really brings value to the club. The Orioles aren’t pressured into announcing a defined role for him. How he’s used is based on necessity, including injuries, and he can handle it. Every team benefits from a pitcher who fits this profile.

The Orioles might need him in the rotation depending on their offseason activity. They have room in their bullpen for a long man. Let it play out.

Getting back to the mailbag, Suárez has a preference to start but is just happy to be in the majors after a seven-year absence. He won’t complain about anything. Just keep him on the roster.

Suárez was under consideration for Most Valuable Oriole with his 3.70 ERA and come-to-the-rescue tendencies. He started the last regular season game and went six innings on 71 pitches in a 6-2 win in Minnesota after posting a 1.97 ERA in six August outings to ease the loss of Grayson Rodriguez.

It says plenty that he probably would have started Game 1 in the Division Series if the Royals hadn’t swept the Wild Card.

Manager Brandon Hyde wasn’t ready in his season-ending press conference to discuss Suárez’s role in 2025. Too many variables at work. Too soon after the crushing disappointment of another hasty playoff exit.

We’re left to assume, with all of its risks, that he’s introduced on Opening Day. Executive vice president/general manager

Mike Elias is searching for at least one starter and could try for a bullpen upgrade, with room cleared by decisions to let Danny Coulombe and Jacob Webb enter free agency. However it shakes out, Suárez should be counted among the 26 players.

The season could begin with Suárez, Félix Bautista, Yennier Cano, Seranthony Domínguez, Cionel Pérez, Gregory Soto and Keegan Akin as seven of the eight relievers. The Orioles could break camp with a rotation that includes Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez, Dean Kremer and Cade Povich, with Trevor Rogers trying to reenter it. But Elias almost certainly will sign or trade for another starter, and it could be for the top of the rotation.

Suárez will happily blend into the mix.