On an Orioles team that produced 101 wins, their first 100-win year since 1980, along with making the postseason for the first time since 2016 and winning the division for the first time since 2014, several veteran players made key contributions.

But the Orioles have five free agents and all five could be playing somewhere else in the 2024 season. Infielder Adam Frazier played in 141 games and had an OPS of just .696, but that number was .932 with runners in scoring position. Outfielder Aaron Hicks is a free agent also but his OPS was .806 in 65 O’s games.

On the pitching side, right-hander Kyle Gibson is a free agent after leading the team with 15 wins, 33 starts and 192 innings. He tied for third in the AL in wins and was sixth in innings. He was a leader in the clubhouse and outside of it as seen by his Roberto Clemente Award nomination. The guy sure gives back – within the clubhouse and outside of it.

I see value in having Gibson back on the team to provide pitching depth. I just have concerns of a price tag of $10 million or more for such depth. Hard to put a dollar figure on what his mentorship for young pitchers and leadership for all players meant. But the club might have to look somewhere else for the same thing next year if they decide to try and get what he brings at a lower price.

Pitchers Jack Flaherty and Shintaro Fujinami are also free agents. It’s hard to see a scenario where the club pursues Flaherty, but maybe there is one out there. Fuji was given every chance to hold down a spot in high-leverage relief and spent a few nights looking like a steal. And a few looking like much less than that. I say the O’s let him walk and look for more consistency elsewhere, even if it comes in a package that doesn’t feature a 100 mph fastball.

Grayson Rodriguez handed the ball to manager Brandon Hyde, walked to the dugout without raising his head and bolted down the steps. Too brisk a pace for teammates to reach out to him. Nothing they could have done anyway to soothe him.

The rookie was put in a tough spot. He didn’t make it through the second inning.

Can the Orioles make it past the Division Series?

They are teetering on the edge after today’s 11-8 loss to the Rangers in Game 2, played before an announced sellout crowd of 46,475 at Camden Yards. Aaron Hicks greeted José Leclerc with a three-run homer in the ninth, but the deficit was too large to overcome.

Mitch Garver hit a grand slam off Jacob Webb in the third after Bryan Baker walked the bases loaded. Nine runs on the board. A team in distress.

The miscommunication yesterday that led to Gunnar Henderson’s failed stolen base attempt in the ninth inning of Game 1 was a missed sign by Aaron Hicks on a hit-and-run.

Manager Brandon Hyde explained the situation this afternoon during his daily media session.

Henderson broke for second base on a 2-1 count. José Leclerc’s changeup was called a ball, though he appeared to catch the outside corner, Henderson slowed on his way to second base and was thrown out.

Hicks fouled off the next pitch and then struck out.

“We just missed the hit-and-run sign there,” Hyde said. “That's just something that we've done a lot this year. Hicksy has been wonderful for us this entire season in so many ways. We do put runners in motion, we have to do things. We don’t hit a ton of homers. Trying to generate offense a little bit at times. And we bunt, we do the little things. And yesterday we just missed a sign in the ninth inning there. But that didn’t cost us the game. We had opportunities to score before that.

As the Orioles get ready to play in the MLB postseason for the first time since 2016 and in the American League Division Series for the first time since 2014, experience in the playoffs is one of the few attributes this team is missing.

The only position players who have played past Game 162 are Aaron Hicks, Adam Frazier and James McCann, and Kyle Gibson and Jack Flaherty are the only pitchers with a combined 26 1/3 playoff innings.

The Orioles have played in many close games and many late-season high-pressure games this year. That should help prep them. But the postseason could prove to be something different and even more challenging.

“Just think that there will be a lot more adrenaline than they’ve ever felt before,” Hicks, who has played in five different postseasons, said. “They’re going to be a lot more nervous pregame and what it pretty much comes down to is who can calm down the fastest and just play baseball. That is what it comes down to. Little things win games in the postseason.”

Hicks has played in playoff games with the Yankees in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and last season, when he went 0-for-3 versus Cleveland in the ALDS.

With the understanding that not all fan reaction one gets on a radio talk show, on a blog, via social media and/or Twitter represents all of Birdland, it appears a good percentage of the fanbase has emotions surging after the O's lost in the last of the ninth at Cleveland Friday night.

Some are worried, some are nearly panicked and we see just about everything in between.

First let's do this fact check: The Orioles let a game get away last night but with Tampa Bay's loss to Toronto, they saw their magic number to win the division reduced to six.

Since Sept. 12 the Orioles are 4-7. But in the same time frame, the Rays are 5-5 and have cut the O's lead from three games to 1.5 in that span.

Just a week ago on that Friday night, the O's were getting questioned and criticized after losing two games to the Rays. They answered that by winning the next four by scoring 30 runs against Tampa Bay and Houston.

HOUSTON – Jack Flaherty is moving to the bullpen.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde is starting Kyle Bradish in Wednesday afternoon’s series finale in Houston, and rookie Grayson Rodriguez gets the ball Thursday night in Cleveland.

In a six-man rotation, Flaherty would have taken his next turn Thursday in his eighth game with the Orioles since the deadline trade. He’s carrying a 7.11 ERA and 1.674 WHIP in 31 2/3 innings since leaving the Cardinals.

Flaherty hasn’t worked more than 4 2/3 innings in three starts this month, and he hasn’t reached the same level of effectiveness as in his debut in Toronto, when he allowed one run in six frames.

The switch to relief isn’t necessarily a permanent assignment.

HOUSTON - Aaron Hicks is out of tonight’s Orioles lineup after leaving last night’s game in the ninth inning with cramping in his hamstring. However, Hicks is walking without a limp today and said he should be available.

“I feel good today,” Hicks said.  “I can play today. I’m good to go. Just got to hydrate and get things going a little quicker than normal.”

Hicks slid into second base last night and felt the hamstring grab, but it became much worse after he was ready to run onto the field for the bottom of the ninth.

“Obviously, it was enough to where I couldn’t finish the inning,” he said.

“I feel amazing because the last thing you want to happen is for it to keep happening. Today, I feel really good. I’ve been hydrating a lot. So, I’ll be good to go if I have to come in later in the game.”

The Orioles and Rays are tied atop the American League East. The one win that the Orioles need to clinch the tiebreaker remains on hold, but their magic number to secure a playoff spot is three after the Rangers lost last night.

It’s complicated.

What’s apparent is a four-game losing streak that’s tied for the longest this season.

The Orioles also lost four in a row June 27-July 1 and won nine of their next 11, including a season-best eight-game winning streak.

Orioles batters are 6-for-59 in this series. They’ve scored six runs in the last four games.

After going 7-2 on their road trip, the Orioles begin their penultimate homestand of the season with a three-game series against the Cardinals.

This is the first Cardinals visit to Baltimore since 2017, when the Orioles lost the first game 11-2 and won the next two 15-7 and 8-5.

Jordan Westburg came out of Saturday’s game in the seventh inning and wasn’t in yesterday’s lineup. He’s on the bench again tonight.

"Everybody's got little things going on right now," manager Brandon Hyde said on Saturday, adding yesterday that he didn’t have any other updates.

Austin Hays also is a reserve. Aaron Hicks is in left field.

BOSTON – Aaron Hicks is in center field this afternoon against the Red Sox and James McCann is catching. Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter.

Austin Hays is the cleanup hitter. Jordan Westburg is at second base and Gunnar Henderson is at third.

Jack Flaherty has posted a 6.66 ERA and 1.521 WHIP in five starts with the Orioles. He struck out seven batters in 4 2/3 innings in Arizona but gave up four runs and six hits.

Flaherty has never faced the Red Sox.

The Orioles have won six games in a row and 12 of 15 and are 89-51 overall, 47-25 on the road. They’ve scored 34 runs this season in four games at Fenway Park.

The Orioles are trying today to claim their 28^th series as they conclude their visit to Arizona.

Ryan Mountcastle has returned to the lineup after missing the past few games due to an illness. He’s batting cleanup and playing first base.

Anthony Santander was hit on the right hand last night in the ninth inning, left the game and underwent testing, and is serving today as designated hitter.

Two positive developments before the first pitch is thrown.

Aaron Hicks, reinstated from the injured list today, is in left field. Ryan O’Hearn is the right fielder. Austin Hays is on the bench.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Activated RHP Jorge López. He will wear #73.
• Reinstated OF Aaron Hicks (low back strain) from the 10-day Injured List.
• Optioned OF Colton Cowser to Triple-A Norfolk after yesterday’s game.
• Designated RHP Austin Voth for assignment.

The Orioles’ 40-man roster currently has 39 players.

The Orioles’ roster has changed again.

Get used to it.

Jorge López was activated this morning after the Orioles claimed him on waivers yesterday from the Marlins. Aaron Hicks was reinstated from the injured list.

To make room, outfielder Colton Cowser was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk and reliever Austin Voth was designated for assignment.

López enters a bullpen that includes Yennier Cano. They were involved in the 2022 deadline trade with the Twins.

PHOENIX - Two players who spent time on the Orioles roster earlier this year officially returned to the team today as the September roster expanded from 26 to 28 players. Outfielder Colton Cowser and right-handed reliever Joey Krehbiel are back.

Cowser was the O’s top draft pick, taken No. 5 overall, in the 2021 MLB Draft. Krehbiel, 30, was a big part of the 2022 Orioles bullpen, going 5-5 with a 3.90 ERA and 1.231 WHIP.

"Honestly, really encouraged with how Joey was throwing the ball in Triple-A," manager Brandon Hyde said this afternoon in the visitor's dugout at Chase Field. "Some really good appearances as of late and threw the ball well for us in a few brief moments this year. And Colton, just kind of where we are from an outfield standpoint, a health standpoint, have a lot of guys that have played a lot of innings out there. He adds outfield depth with a guy that can play all three spots. We thought that was important."

Hyde was asked if Cowser will be up for the rest of the season?

"I think we're day-to-day right now with everybody," he said. 

Teams can expand their rosters by two players on Friday and the Orioles are meeting to review the options. Time is running out.

“We better be pretty close,” manager Brandon Hyde said this morning.

“We’re going to see how the roster looks after today. Things can change quickly. But we’re talking about it right now.”

The Orioles can find reinforcements on the injured list and in the minors. The task is more complicated than just choosing a couple names.

“There’s a lot of moving pieces right now,” Hyde said. “We’re kind of seeing how everything fits. The off-day tomorrow is a little bit helpful in figuring that out. We’re having those discussions now, every type of scenario that we feel like is going to help our club in September.”  

Anthony Santander broke into the majors as a Rule 5 pick in 2017, playing in only 13 games. He appeared in 33 the following season, again making him a brief teammate of Adam Jones. Crossing paths more than settling into a deeper relationship.

Jones was gone by 2019, when Santander hit 20 doubles and 20 home runs to begin his ascension to impact player, but an impression already was made.

It didn't take long. Jones never needed a lot of time to leave an imprint.

The memories come back to Santander with today’s news that the five-time All-Star is returning on Sept. 15, presumably on a one-day contract, to retire as an Oriole.

“As a teammate, great, and his personality, awesome,” Santander said. “Thank God I got an opportunity to get to the big leagues and have him here, learn from him. How he prepared for the game to be able to compete every night. I think he brought a lot here to the Orioles and I was so happy having him as a teammate. I call him ‘The Jefe.’ He was really good with us.”

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Recalled OF Ryan McKenna from Triple-A Norfolk.
• Placed OF Aaron Hicks on the 10-day Injured List with a low back strain, retroactive to August 16.
• Placed RHP Mychal Givens on unconditional release waivers.

OAKLAND – Orioles manager Brandon Hyde didn’t know which pitcher would start for the Athletics tonight until receiving a text message yesterday afternoon from manager Mark Kotsay.

“Pro move by him,” Hyde said.

Hyde’s club would face an opener, left-hander Francisco Pérez, who’s never started in the majors. Pérez made four relief appearances with the Guardians in 2021, 10 with the Nationals last season and two with Oakland this year.

Pérez hasn’t started in the minors since 2019.

“Usually, if you change your starter, it’s kind of an unwritten professionalism type of thing to let the other team know, as much advance as you can give them. And then you want to reciprocate it, too,” Hyde said.

OAKLAND – Aaron Hicks remains out of the Orioles lineup as they resume their West Coast trip with three games against the Athletics.

Jordan Westburg is batting ninth and playing third base. Adam Frazier is the second baseman.

Adley Rutschman stays in the leadoff spot, followed by shortstop Gunnar Henderson.

Ryan Mountcastle is the designated hitter and attempting to extend his on-base streak to 24 games. Cedric Mullins is batting sixth, followed by Austin Hays.

In Kyle Gibson’s last start in Seattle, he allowed a career-high nine runs and tied his career high with 12 hits. He faced the Athletics on April 10 and held them to one run in 6 1/3 innings.

SAN DIEGO – The Orioles are keeping their rotation in line for the series in Oakland that begins Friday night.

Kyle Gibson starts the opening game, followed by Cole Irvin and Kyle Bradish. The six-man arrangement isn't changing.

The club didn’t make a roster move today to bring in a fresh bullpen arm. The off-day on Thursday influenced its decision after Jack Flaherty worked only three innings last night and Nick Vespi threw 34 pitches in two innings.

"It's always helpful," said manager Brandon Hyde. "We're not in great shape, but if worse comes to worse, probably could throw a couple guys that I normally wouldn't throw."

Outfielder Aaron Hicks is out of the lineup again due to back soreness. He might be available off the bench.