By the end of this week, the Orioles will have set their 40-man roster with players protected from next month's Rule 5 draft, and decided whether or not to tender 2024 contracts to each of their arbitration-eligible players. Mark looks at the pool of Rule 5 eligibles and the bubble players on the potential non-tender list. In the mailbag, listeners asked for a "from 1998 to present" ranking of Orioles managers, so we dive in to 25 years of mostly mediocrity that was occasionally better and often worse.

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The Orioles bullpen did not end up looking a lot like the one we might have all imagined before the 2023 season, with few innings pitched by expected contributors Dillon Tate and Mychal Givens, and an early rough patch for Cionel Pérez necessitating some shuffling through the year. The All-Star duo of Félix Bautista and Yennier Cano were a big part of the success, but so was spring arrival Danny Coulombe, and in the second half, Pérez. Mark runs through the '23 performance and '24 salary/roster status of all of the incumbents before trying to figure out who should actually come back.

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A lot went wrong with the Orioles rotation over the course of the 2023 season, with three of the six pitchers who made the most starts getting demoted to the minors during the season and two others spending significant time with poor ERAs. Mark looks back at how things went for each of the starters relative to expectations and what the rotation should look like next year if everything stays the same. He'll be driving the hype train for Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez as a 1-2 punch.

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The Orioles had a bunch of infield prospects who seemed like they might be knocking on the door in 2023, but by season's end only Jordan Westburg had earned regular playing time. Mark looks back with surprise at how little the O's infield changed through the year, assessing who did what at each position and who might not be brought back for next year. There's a lot to be excited about for 2024, though there will have to be some unsentimental choices made first.

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The 101-61 Orioles record this season makes this the best regular season O's team in the Camden Yards era and every part of the team contributed. Mark reviews the performance of the outfielders this season, focusing on the five guys who played the most and how they filled their roles, plus the outlook for each of these guys - Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander, Aaron Hicks, and Ryan McKenna - continuing on with the Orioles.

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The 2023 season is over and Mark recorded this episode minutes after the end and is feeling really sad about it. This Orioles team played its way to a great place and wasn't able to make the most of that, or much of anything with it, in the postseason. That's a bummer. Mark looks back on what went wrong over the three days along with why we'll all be happy about this team eventually. It's just harder to see that right in the aftermath of losing in the playoffs.

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The two ALDS games the Orioles have played at home have been absolutely crushing to everyone who's gotten their hopes up for the team. Even Mark, who was already feeling pessimistic as usual, is not immune to drafting on the hype vibe and is now feeling glum that was obliterated. In this episode, some thoughts on what went wrong in Game 2, and why it's not worth getting mad at the team's best players even if they don't play well in this short playoff series. Now, Bryan Baker on the other hand...

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If you were to be told ahead of time that the Orioles would only give up three runs to the Rangers, you'd probably feel good about their chances of winning Game 1. They lost anyway. Mark, feeling extra hopeless after getting stuck in Billy Joel gridlock leaving the loss, is thinking about what has the potential to go better but not full of hope that it will go better. Still, the O's didn't play their best game and only lost by a run, and that's something.

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After a week of working to stay sharp, the Orioles begin their postseason with the ALDS against the Rangers tomorrow. Mark previews the series with the AL West runner-up with a focus on how the two teams fit into a recent postseason trend: It's better to score first and it's better to hit more homers than the other team. Based on the regular season, Texas is more likely to do both of these things. Maybe the Orioles can join the trend or maybe they can win in their own way, like they've been doing all year.

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At least until Saturday, there's nothing that Orioles fans need to worry about, and that feels pretty good. Mark offers some thoughts on the wild card games that were played on Tuesday, with the Rays falling on their faces and the Twins finally getting a monkey off their back. Also in this episode, a look at the kind of elite hitters the O's offense lack but could find for the rest of the month if one or two guys get on one of their signature hot streaks.

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