This, that and the other

Scanning social media baseball posts on the former Twitter, as it’s now called, can be informative and enlightening. Also, comical and annoying. The emotions have more range than Paul Blair in center field.

Sometimes, you’ll stumble upon things that make you go “hmmmm.” And then you're at risk of overthinking it.

The Orioles are reported to have interest in reliever Ryan Brasier, 36, with his market also including the Cardinals, Rangers, Dodgers, Angels and Cubs. He isn’t the starting pitcher that executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias has tried to procure. He doesn’t appear to be a necessity with the club holding so many relief options.

Elias indicated on the final day of the Winter Meetings that he’d monitor other opportunities with relievers, whether through a trade or signing, but the urgency seemed to be fading after the Orioles signed closer Craig Kimbrel.

"There's room for more, but I would feel like this group now stacks up really well around the league with what we have now," Elias said in Nashville. "We also have the possibility depending on how our rotation pursuits and our rotation competition goes in Sarasota, that some of the talented guys we have in that mix could spill over into the 'pen.

“So, one thing we've just got to keep in mind is, you're only allowed to have 13 pitchers now, the seasons are grueling. You want some flexibility in your bullpen, and we have less than that than in the past because a lot of our guys are either out of options or graduating in arbitration or what have you. And we're not going to be able to, if we have a rough night, option people frivolously if we get too many players, so something that every team has to keep in mind, especially with these new rules now."

Brasier is out of minor league options. He can’t be sent down frivolously or any other way.

The Dodgers signed Brasier to a minor league deal on June 5 and maybe that’s the goal for Elias, but the veteran right-hander posted a 0.70 ERA and 0.724 WHIP in 39 appearances with Los Angeles after his 7.29 ERA and 1.571 WHIP caused the Red Sox to designate him for assignment a month earlier.

Brasier earned a World Series ring with the Red Sox in 2018 and owns a career 3.88 ERA and 1.174 WHIP in 268 games. He’d be a nice depth piece for the ‘pen.

Here’s the overthinking.

Would putting Brasier or another reliever on the major league roster allow the Orioles to skip signing or trading for a starter, with Tyler Wells, DL Hall, Cole Irvin or another candidate going into the rotation?

The Orioles already have Kimbrel, Yennier Cano, Cionel Pérez, Danny Coulombe, Dillon Tate, Jacob Webb, Mike Baumann, Bryan Baker, Keegan Akin, Bruce Zimmermann and Jonathan Heasley. Wells, Hall and Irvin could break camp as relievers. That’s a lot of choices for a team carrying a 13-man pitching staff.

My expectation remains that the Orioles add a starter, but they’re also checking on relievers.

* The team’s last transaction remains the signing of Calvert Hall product Dominic Freeberger to a minor league contract.

The most interesting part of the signing beyond the local connection with a Baltimore native is how the Orioles view him as a pitcher. He was named Big East Conference Player of the Year in 2023 as a third baseman at the University of Connecticut.

The Orioles evaluated Freeberger as a pitching prospect, and they certainly have the tools to develop him, and wanted to explore it in the minors.

Freeberger has a fastball that can venture into the high 90s. Jordie Henry, an Orioles pitching coach in the Florida Complex League who was director of pitching at Prime Sports Performance in Baltimore, posted on the former Twitter that Freeberger has “electric stuff.”

“Dom was up to 97 in his last bullpen,” Henry wrote, while also sharing video of Freeberger's workout.

Freeberger’s father, George, was a catcher drafted by the Orioles in the 40^th round in 1992 out of Poly. He appeared in 45 games over two seasons at Bluefield and in the Gulf Coast League.

George Freeberger passed away suddenly in 2002 at age 28.

* One of the more interesting signings this winter is left-hander Luis González, who rejoined the organization in October. The team announced the minor league deal on Dec. 30.

González turns 32 later this month. The Orioles signed him as a free agent on July 18, 2013 after he spent three years in the Phillies system, and he reached Triple-A Norfolk in July 2018.

González went on the injured list twice in May 2019, was assigned to Double-A Bowie in July and became a free agent in November.

The Giants signed González in January 2021 and released him in August. He spent 2022 in Italy and last year in Mexico, and continues to play in the Dominican Winter League, where he’s allowed two runs and 13 hits and struck out 26 batters in 21 innings with Estrellas.

A minor league career spanning 239 games has produced a 4.91 ERA and 1.49 WHIP in 575 2/3 innings. He’s assigned again to Norfolk.