The Orioles were focused a year ago on finding a new closer and they reached agreement with veteran Craig Kimbrel on the final day of the Winter Meetings, an unusually aggressive act for a team that usually returned home with a minor league signing and Rule 5 pick.

Their No. 1 starter came later, with executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias trading for Corbin Burnes on Feb. 1. Also a bold move that signaled further changes to how the Orioles conducted business beyond the rebuild.

Otherwise, the Orioles addressed depth and created competition at multiple positions and found some insurance with second basemen Kolten Wong, who didn’t make the club, and Tony Kemp, who did for a brief period.

The current offseason doesn’t find the Orioles shopping in the same closing market. They expect Félix Bautista to be full-go in camp and back in his usual role on Opening Day, though he might be handled with more care at the beginning because he hasn’t pitched since August 2023.

“We are realistic about the fact he’s coming off surgery,” Elias said in last month’s video call. “We don’t want to overly pressurize him. We are going to want to treat him with a little extra care given the fact that he didn’t pitch (this) year and he’s coming off surgery. So, way too soon to announce roles and things like that. And I think it’s just going to be a matter of how sharp he is. But we want to give him the margin for an error that a guy coming off surgery deserves.

It has been a somewhat slow Hot Stove season thus far in terms of signings. But the stove may be really about to get hot.

The biggest free agent prize – outfielder Juan Soto – may be close to signing and it could happen during the Winter Meetings that begin on Monday. He has been the most talked about player this offseason and that will hold up until he signs.

Will the dam burst after that?

This is what many in the industry seem to believe. Once Soto is off the market, teams may pivot to outfielders Anthony Santander and Teoscar Hernández and really kick off the pursuit of position players. Big dollar teams that miss out on Soto, could move back to the high-end starting pitcher market chasing the likes of Corbin Burnes and Max Fried.

Where does this leave the Orioles?

It is the time of year where free agency in baseball takes center stage in the sport. Free agents can now sign with any club and it may not be long before some players do sign with new clubs.

It can be an exciting time of the year for fans – they track which players will the O's pursue, which players can they actually add and which players will they actually add?

Over the next few weeks and months, we’ll present information on this blog about some free agents. Not because we feel the team should sign them or will, but because they make sense as an O’s target. None of this means they will end up here as all 30 teams have a shot at these players.

Right now, money talks and other things, I hear, walk.

If the Orioles do lose free agent Anthony Santander to another club, they could replace him with another free agent corner outfielder in righty-hitter Teoscar Hernández.

Let’s dive into the first post-World Series mailbag while the offseason heats up.

You ask again, I answer again, and we have the latest sequel to the beloved 2008 original.

This is a politics-free mailbag. Let’s consider it practice for next week.

It’s also an editing-free mailbag. Let your clarity, length and style shine.

An important reminder here that my mailbag gets lots of candy on Halloween and your mailbag gets a toothbrush and dental floss.