Random thoughts, observations and other stuff

The World Series is over and fans are deprived of an epic Game 7. The Dodgers ruined those hopes by winning in five.

The offseason is underway, with players on the 60-day injured list returning to the 40-man roster and teams having exclusive negotiating rights with their free agents for five days before everyone else jumps into the bidding.

Pitchers Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells and Félix Bautista and infielder Jorge Mateo are back on the 40-man. Pitchers Corbin Burnes, John Means and Brooks Kriske, catcher James McCann and outfielders Anthony Santander and Austin Slater are removed from it.  Bradish and Wells will go back onto the 60-day IL in spring training while recovering from elbow surgery.

Outfielder Daniel Johnson and pitcher Burch Smith declined outright assignments to Triple-A Norfolk and elected free agency.

The Orioles will make decisions on players with options for 2025 and which ones are tendered contracts and protected in the Rule 5 draft. The General Managers meetings begin next week. The Winter Meetings are scheduled for next month.

Random thoughts, observations and other stuff can run at any time. For instance:

* The Rawlings Gold Glove Awards will be announced Sunday night beginning at 8:30 p.m. and the Orioles could go 1-for-2.

Ryan Mountcastle is a finalist at first base for the second year in a row. He lost in 2023 to the Rangers’ Nathaniel Lowe, and he appears at a disadvantage this season against Lowe and the Twins’ Carlos Santana. Mountcastle and Santana have eight defensive runs saved (DRS), but the latter’s 14 outs above average put him way ahead of Lowe (seven) and Mountcastle (two).

He seems to be the favorite.

Cowser is pitted against the Guardians’ Steven Kwan, who won last year, and the Yankees’ Alex Verdugo. Cowser’s 11 outs above average (OAA) per Statcast include eight in left field that are double Kwan's total and eight more than Verdugo's.

He seems to be the favorite.

* If I’m the Orioles or granted permission to spend their money, I’m talking to Means about another two-year deal that could enable him to perhaps help down the stretch next season and definitely keep him under team control in 2026.

He’s really good when he’s healthy. And who’s ever heard of a three-time recipient of Tommy John surgery?

OK, there’s Jonny Venters and Jason Isringhausen, but it’s an exclusive club. Like people who enjoy sea urchin or Kevin Federline.

Means could wait until the summer to consider a new contract, but he also could decide to take the security of a two-year deal and stay with the organization that drafted him. He definitely wants to pitch again. He isn’t done trying.

* I agree with The Baltimore Sun’s recent rankings of most to least likely Orioles free agents to re-sign with the team.

McCann also is No. 1 on my list. I’m not making a prediction. He’s going to generate interest from other clubs seeking a veteran leader who calls a good game and has the respect of the pitching staff. However, he fits exactly what the Orioles want on a short-term deal and he’s loved his time in Baltimore.

Also, the rest of the team’s free agents obviously belong behind him.

Means is second, followed by Slater, Santander and Burnes. The last two naturally are the longest shots based on projected salaries. Burnes is going to break the bank, carry the pieces into the driveway and back his car over them.

* Contracts for some minor league staff expired yesterday, which puts the Orioles in the position of working out new deals or finding replacements. Other organizations can swoop in and make hires.

One way to keep a manager or coach in the organization, for instance, would be a promotion to the major league staff.

* The Orioles need to find new co-hitting coaches, a bench coach and a major league coach. I’ve talked to a few people in baseball who think Triple-A manager Buck Britton makes a lot of sense as José Hernández’s replacement. Britton's contract expired yesterday.

A major league coach is like a super-utility player. Hernández would bounce around and assist the other coaches. Britton has that kind of skill set but without the big league experience.

* Ryan Fuller hasn’t latched on with new team, but Matt Borgschulte returned to the Twins as their hitting coach after spending four years in the same role in their minor league system.

Borgschulte gets a nice raise and a fresh start with an old acquaintance. He was added to Major League Baseball’s pension plan for the first time. Only five members of each staff are eligible.

It was just too good of an opportunity for him to pass up. And it confirms again that he wasn’t shoved out the door.

* Twenty-two grand slams have been hit in the World Series, and the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman owns the only walk-off in Game 1.

The Orioles have a representative on the list.

You go back a long way as a fan if you know that it’s pitcher Dave McNally.

McNally stepped to the plate in the sixth inning to face the Reds’ Wayne Granger in Game 3 of the 1970 Series at Memorial Stadium. Paul Blair had singled and raced to third base on Brooks Robinson’s double, and Davey Johnson drew an intentional walk. Andy Etchebarren struck out, but McNally lined a 2-2 fastball into the left field bleachers.

“I knew it was a strike and I swung. I knew I hit it pretty well, but I hadn't hit enough home runs to know for sure that it was out of the park,” McNally said.

“I was so excited by the time I got to the dugout that I didn’t hear anything that was said. I don’t even remember what I said. All I know is I was screaming.”

McNally, who hit nine regular season home runs in a 14-year major league career, went the distance that day. No bullpen games. No nonsense. The way that the baseball gods intended it.