The Baltimore Orioles underwent a lengthy rebuild, but came out on the other end as a dominant force; in the regular season at least.
With young superstars in Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson, the offense is spearheaded by a core that is rivaled by few and feared by many for the damage they are capable of inflicting on opposing pitching staffs.
The offense has helped lead the Orioles to the playoffs in each of the last two years, though they have failed to make it farther than the first round in both, even with a 101-61 record in 2023.
Despit the regular season success of late, Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report questionably ranked the organization 15th in his recent MLB power rankings covering the last five years.
“The Orioles don’t rank higher on this list in part because they lost 110 games as recently as 2021,” writes Rymer, “though it was fortunately the last gasp of a five-year rebuild. The Orioles are the winning-est team in the AL since Adley Rutschman debuted in 2022, and he’s but one part of arguably the best core of young hitters in MLB today. And not even the best, as that distinction belongs to wunderkind shortstop Gunnar Henderson. But then there’s the other reason the O’s are not higher. They still haven’t won a playoff game since 2014 and, as good as they are, they seem to have a pathological block against getting better.”
Despite their seeming refusal to spend money on any impactful signings (the club signed Tyler O’Neill and Gary Sanchez earlier this offseason, among others, but none were meaningful), the success they have shown in the regular season as the winningest team in the American League since Rutschman’s 2022 debut should be enough for a higher ranking.
The new owner, David Rubenstein, has indicated he is willing to spend money to help better the team, though Mike Elias seems more intent on building the team through drafting and developing talent in the farm system.
Baltimore may still be on the outside looking in when it comes to World Series contention, but they have certainly been better than 15th over the last five seasons.
