Orioles avoid arbitration with 10 of 11 eligible players
BALTIMORE -- The Orioles agreed to terms with 10 of their 11 remaining arbitration-eligible players ahead of Thursday¡¯s deadline to do so.
The only player who did not settle with the club was infielder/outfielder Jorge Mateo. The two sides exchanged figures -- Mateo filed at $4 million and the Orioles at $3.1 million, according to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand -- and they will now schedule an arbitration hearing for a date between Jan. 27 and Feb. 14.
In past years during the period between the deadline and hearings, the O¡¯s have only negotiated deals that were for multiple years or had a type of option. That makes it still possible that Mateo will agree to terms rather than having his 2025 salary decided by a hearing.
Here¡¯s how much each of the 10 players who agreed to terms on Thursday will earn during the 2025 season, as sources told MLB.com. The club has not confirmed any figures:
? CF Cedric Mullins: $8.725 million
? 1B Ryan Mountcastle: $6.787 million
? C Adley Rutschman: $5.5 million
? LHP Gregory Soto: $5.35 million
? INF Ram¨®n Ur¨ªas: $3.15 million
? RHP Dean Kremer: $2.95 million
? LHP Trevor Rogers: $2.6 million
? RHP Kyle Bradish: $2.35 million
? RHP Tyler Wells: $2.075 million
? LHP Keegan Akin: $1.475 million
Mullins came away with the highest payday, as the 30-year-old center fielder is in his third and final year of arbitration eligibility. The former All-Star and Silver Slugger is set to become a free agent at the end of the 2025 season.
Soto is also in his final year of arbitration and is set to hit free agency next offseason.
Akin, Mountcastle, Rogers, Ur¨ªas and Wells are all in their second year of arbitration, while Bradish, Kremer, Rutschman are each arb-eligible for the first time.
Bradish (Tommy John surgery) and Wells (UCL reconstruction) will open the 2025 season on the injured list before potentially returning later in the year.
Baltimore entered the offseason with 15 arbitration-eligible players, as right-handers Matt Bowman and Jacob Webb, left-hander Cionel P¨¦rez and infielder Emmanuel Rivera were originally on the list as well.
Webb is the only one of those four no longer in the organization, as he was non-tendered by the O¡¯s on Nov. 22. The 31-year-old later signed a one-year, $1.25 million deal with the Rangers on Dec. 11.
P¨¦rez¡¯s $2.2 million option for the 2025 season was exercised on Nov. 4. The 28-year-old southpaw would have been arbitration-eligible if that option had been declined. He will be in his third and final year of arbitration eligibility next offseason.
Rivera, 28, agreed to a one-year, $1 million deal to avoid arbitration on Nov. 22.
On Nov. 4, Bowman elected free agency in lieu of accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. However, the 33-year-old returned to the Orioles¡¯ organization on Dec. 23, signing a Minor League deal that includes an invite to big league Spring Training and will be worth $1.1 million if he¡¯s in the Majors (plus $400,000 in incentives).