Some business that awaits Orioles

The Orioles are down to their last 24 regular season games. The final West Coast trip wraps up tonight, followed by an off-day and weekend series in Boston.

An actual finish line is out of sight. The Orioles can’t break through the tape and veer toward the airport. That’s for non-playoff teams.

Where they stop, nobody knows.

At least one more roster move is pending, with John Means scheduled to make his last rehab start tonight at Triple-A Norfolk. Tyler Wells is expected to be recalled but first had to resume pitching. He was shut down with arm fatigue until last night.

Means is on the 60-day injured list, but there’s an opening on the 40-man roster. He can slide into it.

Outfielder Colton Cowser was recalled on Friday and optioned two days later when Aaron Hicks left the injured list. The Orioles have discussed other potential moves, including infielder Joey Ortiz, who was scratched from Norfolk's lineup last night with oblique tightness, and outfielder Heston Kjerstad, but making room isn’t easy.

There are seven infielders on the active roster: Adam Frazier, Gunnar Henderson, Jorge Mateo, Ryan Mountcastle, Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Urías and Jordan Westburg. Frazier and Mateo have been with the club the entire season. Would the Orioles make such a bold move with less than a month remaining in it?

Frazier can become a free agent over the winter, along with teammates Kyle Gibson, Jack Flaherty, Shintaro Fujinami and Aaron Hicks. The Orioles signed Frazier for $8 million and he’s hit a career-high 13 home runs, which wasn’t expected to be part of the return. But he’s set to enter the market again and the Orioles are overrun with infield prospects.

Hicks gained free agent status after the Yankees released him and he signed a one-year deal with the Orioles. Fujinami can enter free agency because older international players aren’t subjected to the same rules, which keeps him away from the arbitration process. That’s the simplest explanation.

Mateo is arbitration eligible again after agreeing to a $2 million deal in January, and he’s also getting squeezed by the prospects. Gunnar Henderson has earned most of the starts at shortstop and he’s excelling. Top prospect Jackson Holliday made his Triple-A debut last night and will play for the Orioles in 2024, with shortstop his primary position.

The club can figure out later how to handle the situation. Whether it’s like a shortstop timeshare, with Henderson switching to third base or Holliday moving to second in certain lineups. And whether Ortiz and his plus defensive skills can land a bench role.

The 40-man roster could undergo major changes in the off-season, beginning with the free agents leaving it. That’s five spots.

Keegan Akin and Dillon Tate are on the 60-day injured list and would need to go back on the 40-man if it doesn’t happen sooner. Tate avoided arbitration last winter by signing for $1.5 million and didn’t pitch. Akin is first-time arbitration eligible and could be a non-tender after posting a 6.85 ERA and 1.775 WHIP in 24 games before experiencing pain in his lower back.

The Orioles could non-tender Mateo, attempt to trade him or get him signed to a new deal and let him fight for a job in camp. But he’s out of options. How much would they pay for a potential DFA?

They gave reliever Austin Voth $1.85 million and a club option for 2024 valued at $2.45 million, with another $500,000 possible through performance incentives, as their last order of arbitration business, and he was designated for assignment over the weekend and outrighted yesterday to Norfolk.

Kjerstad must be put on the 40-man to be protected in the Rule 5 draft – if he isn’t already on it, of course. Outfielder Hudson Haskin, the organization’s No. 17 prospect who underwent hip impingement surgery in July, also would be exposed in the Rule 5 draft.

The Orioles will make at least one selection. Mike Elias was in the front office when two players were chosen in 2019 and 2020. The draft was canceled in 2021 due to the lockout.

Elias took reliever Andrew Politi from the Red Sox last winter, but the right-hander didn’t make the club and posted a 4.44 ERA and 1.462 WHIP with 12 saves in 49 games with Triple-A Worcester.

This is some of the business that awaits the club. After those 24 regular season games. After the playoffs that are certain to include them.

After they find out whether they possess the stamina for a deep run. And to break through the tape.