Will Jimenez make the 2015 rotation? (plus winter ball assignments)

If you start to think about how the Orioles rotation will shape up next season, there certainly seem to be fewer questions than heading into most recent seasons.

You have the four that started in the playoffs in Chris Tillman, Wei-Yin Chen, Bud Norris and Miguel Gonzalez. Kevin Gausman made 20 starts this season and he certainly looks to be a key member of the 2014 rotation.

And there is Ubaldo Jimenez, who was signed to a four-year, $50 million deal before this season. He is due to make $12.25 million next season, $13 million in 2016 and $13.5 million in 2017.

Those are big numbers for a pitcher that went 6-9 with a 4.81 ERA. Some readers here clamor for Ubaldo to be traded, but how many teams want to take on a pitcher making those dollars while pitching to an ERA of nearly 5.00? Expecting the Orioles to eat millions to move him is unrealistic. This team can't just throw away money. This is not the Bronx south.

Jimenez was the winning pitcher on Sept. 16 in the O's American League East clincher and was a surprise roster addition for the American League Division Series, in part because of Detroit's heavily right-handed-hitting lineup.

At the end of the year, Jimenez had clearly made some adjustments as he wasn't bringing his hands over his head during his windup. It looked quieter, cleaner and produced better results, although in a very small sample size.

There seems to be some hope that pitching coach Dave Wallace may have finally found something to get Jimenez back to pitching well. Maybe we won't see the Ubaldo that was so great after the 2013 All-Star break for Cleveland, but at least a better version than what fans saw from Jimenez for most of this season.

It seems very likely to me that Jimenez will be an Oriole next season, and the club has little choice but to use him and try to get the most out of him.

On paper, the Orioles have six starters for five spots right now, but a lot can happen to resolve that between now and the start of next season.

Meanwhile here is a listing of Orioles organizational players playing winter ball. Play has already begun in the winter leagues in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Mexico.

Michael Almanzar - Escogido, Dominican Republic
Nick Additon - Escogido, Dominican Republic
Ronald Bermudez - Caracas, Venezuelan
Mathew Bischoff - Culiacan, Mexico
Julio Borbon - Licey, Dominican Republic
Buck Britton - Escogido, Dominican Republic
Michael Burgess - Navojoa, Mexico
Alexi Casilla - Cibao, Dominican Republic
Kelvin De La Cruz - Aguilas, Dominican Republic
Dariel Delgado - Barranquilla, Colombia
Julio Depaula - Escogido, Dominican Republic
Oliver Drake - Aguilas, Dominican Republic
Gene Escat - Navojoa, Mexico
Eddie Gamboa - Navojoa, Mexico
Ivan Hernandez - Aragua, Venezuela
Brock Huntzinger - Oriente, Dominican Republic
Gregory Lorenzo - Escogido, Dominican Republic
Williams Louico - Escogido, Dominican Republic
Chris Marrero - Navojoa, Mexico
Yeizer Marrugo - Cartagena, Colombia
Francisco Peguero - Cibao, Dominican Republic
Pedro Perez - Escogido, Dominican Republic
Marcel Prado - Margarita, Venezuela
Ramon Ramirez - Cibao, Dominican Republic
Niuman Romero - Anzoategui, Venezuela
Garabez Rosa - Cibao, Dominican Republic
Steel Russell - Perth, Australia
Alexander Santana - Escogido, Dominican Republic
Janser Severino - Escogido, Dominican Republic
Brian Ward - Oriente, Dominican Republic

More players may be added to this list later, but that is a pretty large numbers of players from the O's organization playing around the world this winter.

Baseball America reported today that Depaula and De La Cruz have become free agents, along with Cord Phelps.