When looking at the 2023 Baltimore Orioles, it’s easy to identify players who seem like obvious parts of this team’s long-term future like Adley Rutschman and Grayson Rodriguez. 

However, what about those players who seem less likely to be a part of the future? Here’s a look at some 2023 Orioles who could depart the roster even before becoming a free agent. 

Austin Hays (free agent after 2025) 

On June 22, 2022, Austin Hays boosted his OPS from .786 to .829 in the coolest way possible: he hit for the cycle in just six innings. He singled in the first inning, homered in the third, tripled in the fourth and wrapped up his cycle with a double in the sixth.  

A single game with ten total bases and a 1.000 OBP certainly helped his numbers, but there was just one problem: his production massively dipped from there. 

With the cycle in the rearview mirror, Hays produced a .624 OPS from June 23 until the end of the year, a quite notable drop from his .829 figure.  

Some of the dip can be explained by a wrist injury suffered in July, but either way, it was a rather concerning dropoff that lasted multiple months.     

More than three months of underwhelming production has now put Hays on the hot seat, especially relative to fellow outfielders Cedric Mullins and Anthony Santander.  

While Mullins proved he was human by failing to produce another 30-30 season, his defense and baserunning remained strong. Meanwhile, Santander led the team in homers and only trailed Adley Rutschman for OPS. Mullins offers clear value for fielding and stealing bases, while Santander established himself as the team’s best power hitter.  

Hays has a cannon for an arm and above-average speed, but it’s much harder to find what makes him a valuable member of this roster relative to Mullins and Santander. The fact that he’s a right-handed hitter unlike Mullins and Santander also doesn’t help as we enter year two of Walltimore.  

Time could be running short for Hays also because there are a trio of outfield prospects who all have a chance to be a part of the future: Kyle Stowers, Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad. Stowers already has almost 100 plate appearances in the majors, while Cowser will start the year in AAA and Kjerstad has seemingly returned to full health and will begin in AA. 

Will all three of them be starting for the 2025 Orioles? I’d guess no, but it still seems pretty likely at least one of them will. As such, that means someone in the current starting outfield is leaving Baltimore and at this point, it’ll probably be Hays. 

Jorge Mateo (free agent after 2025) and/or Ramon Urias (free agent after 2026) 

When the Orioles signed Adam Frazier in December, I assumed it was going to lead to an offseason trade of Jorge Mateo and/or Ramon Urias. However, we’ve made it to Spring Training and they’re both still on the roster with Frazier.  

Even if the Orioles didn’t get Frazier, it still seems like there isn’t much of a chance that Mateo and Urias will continue to be Orioles due to the other younger options that play the same positions. Gunnar Henderson is already going to be the everyday third baseman for as long as he’s an Oriole and Jackson Holliday will be expected to hold down the fort at shortstop starting in 2024 or 2025.   

The future of Mateo and Urias only gets more uncertain once you remember there’s also a trio of infield prospects who should start the year at AAA: Connor Norby, Joey Ortiz and Jordan Westburg. None of those three are regarded as prospects on the same tier as Henderson and Holliday, but you’d imagine the organization would like to see them in the majors this year.   

While Mateo and Urias both provide major defensive value, they’re not exactly studs with the bat. Mateo’s speed and base stealing ability helps mask his below-average OPS, while Urias ended 2022 with an OPS three percent better than the league average according to OPS+.  

MLB is introducing new rules designed to increase stolen bases, which certainly seems like great news for Mateo. However, an increase in stolen bases can only do so much for your value if your OBP isn’t even at .300. 

I assumed at least one of them would be traded at this point back in December, so I’m not going to predict how exactly this duo will leave the Orioles. That being said, it seems highly unlikely we’ll see both of them jogging down the orange carpet for 2025’s Opening Day. 

Austin Voth (free agent after 2025) 

In a 2022 season filled with breakout performances for the Orioles, Austin Voth was perhaps the most unexpected.  

Voth joined the Orioles in June as a waiver claim, leaving the Washington Nationals after five years with a 5.70 ERA across over 180 innings that included a 10.13 ERA in 2022. Voth’s numbers didn’t exactly indicate he’d be anything besides a new warm body for pitching depth. However, he became much more than that. 

After three bullpen appearances with a 5.40 ERA, the Orioles started using Voth as an opener on June 19 and it turned around his season. 

He appeared in 19 games, starting 17 of them and was eventually allowed to be a regular starter with a looser limit for pitches and innings. Voth ended the year with a 2.94 ERA across his final 79.2 innings, a remarkable improvement from his ERA with the Nats. In fact, Voth’s ERA from that point forward was the best among the five regular starters. 

While Voth did finish the year strong, his age could be a hindrance to a future in black and orange. Voth turns 31 in June and he’s the oldest pitcher on the 40-man roster besides offseason additions Kyle Gibson and Mychal Givens.  

The Orioles trading for Cole Irvin also seemed to signal a huge reduction in Voth’s chances to start this year and it currently looks like he’ll be used in some sort of multi-inning bullpen role. 

Voth’s production across multiple months last year showed he might have the ability to be a starting pitcher but the current rotation combines established veterans with exciting younger arms. Unfortunately for Voth, he’s neither of those.   

Rose Katz
Rose Katz

BSL Analyst

Rose Katz is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland’s journalism school, where she worked for The Diamondback as the online managing editor and a sports blogger. As a student, she spent almost all of her time on campus in The Diamondback’s newsroom or at Xfinity Center, Ludwig Field and Maryland Stadium. Rose gained intern experience with the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN).

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