When the Orioles begin the 2025 season, there is a pretty good chance right-hander Dean Kremer will be in their rotation. As he has been for the last few seasons.

Kremer posted an ERA of 3.23, a career best, in 21 starts in 2022. But he had a 4.12 ERA the next season, and last season it was 4.10.

That ERA was essentially league average: an ERA+ of 99 in 2023 and his ERA+ was 92 last year. His career mark is 4.28, so the O’s appreciate Kremer’s efforts, of course, but must wonder if he can find a higher gear.

Kremer, who turns 29 on Jan. 7, has just over three years of service time and is arbitration-eligible for the first time. He could get around $3.5 million via arbitration, per MLBTradeRumors.com. He cannot be a free agent until after the 2027 season.

In 2023, Kremer made 32 starts and the O’s had an outstanding 24-8 record in those games. They went 10-14 in his 24 starts this past season.

When the Orioles recently announced their coaching staff for the 2025 season, one of the new hires was Robinson Chirinos, who will be the team’s bench coach.

That is quite the entry into the coaching ranks for Chirinos, 40, whose last season playing in the majors was in 2022 for the Orioles.

He played in 67 games for that O’s team, and in 220 plate appearances he hit .179/.265/.287/.552. Those numbers don’t come close to telling the real story of his year. He was a major presence in the O’s clubhouse, cited often by manager Brandon Hyde as a clubhouse difference-maker for an O’s club that went from 52 wins in 2021 to 83 that season.

He helped teach the Orioles how to win.

That was the team’s first winning season since 2016, and the 31-win gain was the O’s largest in a single season since 1989, when they made a 33-game improvement from their 54–107 record in 1988.

For someone who covers the minor leagues as I do it is a question to ponder: When referring to the Baysox moving forward, do I go with Chesapeake, their new name, or in some cases is Bowie still acceptable?

A case like when I refer to a player who spent time in 2024 with the Baysox. They were still Bowie then, so do I say this player hit such and such at High-A Aberdeen and this number at Double-A Bowie? Or just use Chesapeake?

There is no handbook and there are no right or wrong answers.

But in noting some recent stories in this space, I did report on the name change to the Chesapeake Baysox.

“I think when we looked at where our fans are coming from, we wanted to be inclusive of the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed,” said Brian Shallcross, in his 20^th year as Baysox general manager. “We saw people coming from the Eastern Shore, west of the Potomac. We were surprised when we dug into the stats of just how far and ranging our fanbase was. We wanted to be inclusive of all those fans without forgetting our roots.”

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – So now the score is 2-2. There are two Orioles full-season affiliates that use a very specific home name, as in the Triple-A Norfolk Tides and the High-A Aberdeen IronBirds. Now two have a more regional look: the Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds and, as of yesterday, the Double-A Chesapeake Baysox, formerly the Bowie Baysox.

“I think when we looked at where our fans are coming from, we wanted to be inclusive of the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed,” said Brian Shallcross, in his 20^th year as Baysox general manager. “We saw people coming from the Eastern Shore, west of the Potomac. We were surprised when we dug into the stats of just how far and ranging our fanbase was. We wanted to be inclusive of all those fans without forgetting our roots.”

Shallcross noted that the club went through a two-year process to change the name and meet all Major League Baseball approvals. The Orioles were involved throughout. They don’t own this team, but it’s their farm system.

So, what changes now?

“Well, I think what changes, basically, is we want to make sure that everybody knows they are welcome in our ballpark," Shallcross said. "Anywhere within the Chesapeake - and, heck, you saw we’ve sold tickets to fans from 42 states and Maryland – but anywhere, really, in the watershed we want to be welcoming and a destination.”

The hurricane damage to the roof of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg will send the Tampa Bay Rays to a new home for the 2025 season.

When Hurricane Milton tore through Florida on Oct. 9, the storm's winds destroyed a large portion of Tropicana Field's fiberglass roof. 

The Rays will play their home games for next season at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, which is about 20 miles from Tropicana Field. The Yankees use Steinbrenner Field as their spring training home, and that will continue. They also have a Low-A Florida State League team that uses that facility, and that will also continue, although they are expected to use other fields and not the stadium field. There are more than 40 days when the Rays and Tampa Tarpons will both be scheduled to play at Steinbrenner Field. 

The Rays will continue to hold spring training at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte. Their first regular-season homestand will take place at Steinbrenner Field. They host Colorado on Opening Day March 27 and play the Rockies and Pittsburgh in those first six home games. Tampa Bay will play 16 of its first 22 games next season in their temporary home at Steinbrenner Field.

Next season the Orioles are scheduled to play the Rays on the road June 16-19 for four games, and they will play a three-game series versus the Rays in Tampa from July 18-20, the first series out of the All-Star break.

With one American League rookie award secured already, Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser tonight was named a finalist for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America's American League Rookie of the Year award for 2024.

The other finalists are both Yankees: pitcher Luis Gil and catcher Austin Wells. The award winner will be announced a week from tonight, on Nov. 18.

The O's had no other finalists for the four major awards. 

Should Cowser win the BBWAA award, the Orioles will get a bonus draft pick for next summer. The Orioles got a Prospect Promotion Incentive selection this past July after Gunnar Henderson won the 2023 AL Rookie of the Year. And with that pick, No. 32 overall, they selected University of Virginia infielder Griff O’Ferrall.

If Cowser wins next week, this will be the first time the Orioles have had back-to-back BBWAA Rookie of the Year winners.

If the Orioles lose right-hander Corbin Burnes via free agency, they could turn to free agency to find his replacement, or at least find someone that is in his class of pitchers.

They are not in abundance but there are a few available in this free agent class. A list that includes lefty Max Fried, who will be 31 next Opening Day.

A former first-round MLB Draft pick, Fried has never pitched for anyone save Atlanta. But if they didn’t sign him to an extension by now, there is an assumption that he will be pitching elsewhere in 2025.

MLBTradeRumors.com listed numerous clubs that could make a play for Fried, including the Orioles. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman said he will get looks from American League East clubs including the Orioles, Toronto and Boston, and that the Yankees have already “checked in” on him. So where are the Rays?

MLB Trade Rumors also listed the Mets, Giants, Red Sox, Padres (who originally drafted him), Cubs, Tigers, Angels and Dodgers as possible destinations for Fried. And the outlet noted that six-year deals for pitchers beginning at age 31 or later are rare, with only five in the past decade (Zach Greinke, Aaron Nola, Stephen Strasburg, Yu Darvish and Jon Lester).

An Orioles offense that ranked second in the American League and fourth in the majors in runs per game in 2024, has produced three Silver Slugger finalists in Anthony Santander, Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg.

The Orioles are also up for the American League offensive team of the year. Their batters did slump in the second half and scored just one run in two playoff games.

Henderson is a finalist at the shortstop position, Santander in the outfield and Westburg for a utility spot.

The finalists for the Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award are voted on by MLB managers and coaches. Winners will be announced on MLB Network on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

Henderson and Adley Rutschman won Silver Slugger awards last year. Santander is a finalist for the third straight year and Westburg is a finalist for the first time.

With just two Gold Glove winners since the 2015 season, the Orioles will not add to that total this year. The Orioles had two finalists with Ryan Mountcastle at first base and Colton Cowser in left field, but neither won the Rawlings Gold Glove when the winners were announced tonight during a live ESPN broadcast.

Minnesota’s Carlos Santana won at first base and Nathaniel Lowe of Texas was the third finalist at that spot for the American League. Cleveland’s Steven Kwan won in left field for the third year in a row in the AL and the Yankees' Alex Verdugo was the third left field finalist.

The last time the Orioles had more than one Gold Glove winner was in 2014 when J.J. Hardy, Nick Markakis and Adam Jones were winners. Manny Machado was a solo O's winner in 2015 and Ramón Urías won at third base in 2022. Urías was the last Oriole to win the Gold Glove.

Baltimore’s 72 Gold Gloves since the award’s inception in 1957 are second-most all-time behind St. Louis with 98.

Had Cowser won the award and then later this month added the Baseball Writers' Association of America AL Rookie of the Year award, he would have been the first to win both since Ichiro Suzuki in 2001.

It's about that time. A time when I ask the readers here a few Orioles questions and get your input. Answer one question or all of them. Provide short answers or long ones. Respond to what other readers have to say.

It's not a quiz and won't be graded.

There are no right or wrong answers.

If you cannot participate today there will be other chances before Opening Day for similar blogs here.

Now, today's questions.

Five days after the end of the World Series, which began last night, teams can sign free agents. It could be an active winter for the Orioles, who have two key free agents of their own hitting the market.

They are right-handed pitcher Corbin Burnes and right fielder Anthony Santander. Both are almost certain to get qualifying offers from the Orioles, which would net the team a draft pick if they leave and sign elsewhere.

The consensus opinions seem to be that Burnes is almost certain to leave while the O’s may have at least an outside shot at retaining Santander.

But if that were to come at the price from one prediction this week, I can’t see that happening.

Former big league general manager Jim Bowden predicted who top 45 free agents will be, where they end up and at what price in The Athletic this week (subscription may be required).

When three teams that each won division titles and more than 100 games last year all lost in their first playoff series and went a combined 1-9 last October, the theory was that the long layoff was an issue.

This year three of the four division winners, teams that once again had five-day layoffs before opening their Division Series, won to advance to the League Championship Series.

In 2023, the 104-win Atlanta Braves and the 101-win Orioles and Dodgers went out quick in the postseason.

But this year three division winners - the Yankees, Dodgers and Guardians - are moving on. The Los Angeles Dodgers shut out San Diego in Game 4 and Game 5 to advance to face the Mets for the National League Championship. The American League series, which starts at Yankee Stadium on Monday, has New York versus Cleveland. 

So much for the theory that the five-day layoff is too much to overcome. That narrative was fun while it lasted. 

When it comes to the Orioles offense, some of the judgements of it show recency bias, and that is understandable. As the team struggled late in the year the offensive performance and production dropped.

Fewer runs led to fewer wins, pretty easy to understand. In scoring just one run in two games in the playoffs, the offense that came up short often late in the year did so again, this time on the biggest stage.

For the full year, some of the O’s offensive numbers looked good. Those numbers include those from the first half, when the offense ranked second in team OPS and fourth in runs per game. But in the second half the offense ranked 11^th in the major leagues in team OPS and seventh in runs per game.

The first-half OPS was .764 as the Orioles scored 4.94 runs per game. In the second half those numbers were .731 and 4.73.

From Aug. 1 on, when the Orioles went 26-27, they scored 4.4 runs per game (13^th in runs) and the OPS was .702 (15^th).

It hasn’t been so long that Orioles fans won’t remember. The 2014 Kansas City Royals swept the Orioles four games to none in the AL Championship Series.

It sounds crazy to say, but it was a close series.

The Orioles lost by two, two, one and one run. Each game went down to the last pitch. The Royals didn’t lose a game, but barely won each of them.

This is no rematch now, but it is the Orioles and Royals in the American League Wild Card series beginning Tuesday.

This time it’s a best-of-three series, with all games in Baltimore and the winner advancing to face the AL top seed New York Yankees.

With a playoff berth now secure, the Orioles play at New York tonight looking to wrap up the top American League Wild Card seed. At five games behind the Yankees with five to play, they also are still mathematically alive for the AL East championship.

An O's win tonight would push them closer to that top Wild Card slot while keeping their faint division hopes alive for another day.

In Tuesday's 5-3 win at Yankee Stadium, they got solo homers from Anthony Santander (No. 44), Ramón Urías (No. 11) and Colton Cowser (No. 23). Santander's homer hit the right-field foul pole, going just 344 feet, while Urías hit one 405 and Cowser's blast went 432 feet.

Santander's homer also produced his 100th RBI, which is five more than his career high from 2023. Santander's 195 RBIs since the start of last year put him tied for 11th in the majors. He is tied with former Oriole Manny Machado.

He homered for the third time in five games and has hit 35 in his last 100 games, since June 1. Santander has four homers in 11 games versus the Yankees.

Still looking to clinch an American League playoff berth, with a magic number of two, and still not officially eliminated from AL East contention, the Orioles begin their final road trip of the regular season tonight at Yankee Stadium.

The Orioles can clinch a postseason slot tonight with a win and a loss by either Kansas City or Minnesota. 

Where once we thought this series might be the one to decide the AL East, the Orioles go into it six games behind with six to play, and one Yankees win will clinch them the division title.

The Orioles enter this series with an 86-70 record, clinching their second consecutive season finishing at least 10 games over .500 (101-61 in 2023). It’s the first time Baltimore has finished consecutive seasons 10 games over .500 since a streak of two between 1996 and 1997, per Stats Perform.

New York (92-64) is headed to the postseason for the seventh time in the last eight seasons (since 2017) and it's their 25th trip to the postseason in the last 30 years (since 1995).

It is not going to be the showdown for the American League East title we thought it could be or would be. As the Orioles play the Yankees tonight in the Bronx to start a three-game series, they still have yet to clinch a playoff berth.

Five straight series losses with a 5-10 record in that span while New York went 12-4 allowed the Yankees to open a six-game lead with six to play.

A year after winning 101 games, the O’s are fighting to get to 90 and are likely going to see the Yankees celebrate this week on their home field with a win over them.

Unless they sweep.

The Orioles' magic number to clinch a playoff berth is two. They will get there should they win tonight and either Kansas City or Minnesota loses. 

The Orioles played their first home game of the 2024 season on March 28 and they beat the Los Angeles Angels 11-3 on Opening Day. This afternoon they play their final home game of the regular season, still hoping home playoff games at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Along those lines, the O's report for duty with the same magic number as they had on Saturday, which is three, with the same scenario for clinching. They will wrap up a playoff berth today if they beat Detroit and Seattle loses at Texas. That game begins at 2:35 p.m. ET. 

The Orioles (86-69) have seven games remaining and hit the road after today for three games at Yankee Stadium and three at Minnesota to wrap up the regular season.

If the Orioles do clinch a playoff berth, they will be in the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time since 1996 and 1997.

They certainly must feel they let one get away yesterday, losing 6-4 to Detroit in 10 innings. Down 4-2 in the last of the ninth they tied the game 4-4 on Gunnar Henderson's two-run double. They had runners at second and third with no outs but could not push across another run to walk off the Tigers.

The Kansas City Royals lost again, so the Orioles' four-game lead for the first American League wild card berth is still intact. But they had a chance to build some real momentum and get their mojo back.

It sure looked like they were doing exactly that, until they were not.

Most Valuable Oriole Gunnar Henderson doubled in two runs in the last of the ninth and the Orioles and Tigers were tied at four. More than 39,000 fans were roaring. Another walk-off seemed moments away.

Second and third, no outs. But no more runs. A 6-4 loss to Detroit in 10 innings was a gut punch.

A few random thoughts:

Two teams hoping to play October baseball meet this weekend at Oriole Park. The Orioles (85-68) host the Detroit Tigers (80-73) in their final home series of the 2024 regular season.

The O’s beat San Francisco 5-3 Thursday on Anthony Santander’s two-run, walk-off homer in the ninth. When the Yankees lost later they had moved to four games back in the American League East with nine to play, including three next week at Yankee Stadium. The O’s begin play tonight leading Kansas City by three games for the top AL wild card spot.

Detroit, which took two of three at Comerica Park last weekend versus the Orioles, has now moved into a tie with Minnesota for the third and final AL wild card and No. 6 seed.

Minnesota, however, holds the tiebreaker over the Tigers, having won the season series, 7-6.

Last weekend, Detroit beat the Orioles 1-0 Friday on a one-hitter, the O’s won 4-2 Saturday and lost 4-2 Sunday. Baltimore was outscored 7-6 in that series.