The Orioles’ All-Star Outfielder is Heading to Arbitration with five key Players
The Baltimore Orioles will have work to do between now and salary arbitration hearings as the club failed to reach agreements with five arbitration-eligible players on Thursday per multiple reports.
Those players included three pitchers — Danny Coulombe, Cionel Perez and Jacob Webb. Also included were infielder Ryan O’Hearn and outfielder Austin Hays.
The Orioles can still avoid a hearing as they can continue to negotiate with all five players. But they were required to exchange salary numbers on Thursday.
Hays will be the player likely to reach the biggest deal.
Hays batted .275 last season with 16 home runs and 67 RBI. He’s been consistent the past three seasons, hitting at least 16 home runs and driving in at least 60 runs. He made his first All-Star Game appearance last season.
Per MLB, Hays filed for $6.3 million and the Orioles offered $5.85 million.
O’Hearn is also in his second year of arbitration and has the potential to get more than $3 million. He’s coming off the best batting average of his career after hitting .289 last season with 14 home runs and 60 RBI, the latter of which a career-high.
O’Hearn filed for $3.8 million while the O’s filed for $3.2 million.
Coulombe is in the final year of arbitration and Fangraphs estimates he could receive $2.2 million. He filed for $2.4 million and the Orioles filed for $2.2 million.
He was a vital part of the Orioles’ bullpen last season, as he made 61 appearances and went 5-3 with a 2.81 ERA. He struck out 58 hitters in 51 innings. He also had two saves.
Perez is in his first year of arbitration and Fangraphs projects he could get $1.3 million in arbitration. Perez filed for $1.4 million and the Orioles filed for $1.1 million.
He’s coming off a 2023 in which he went 4-2 with a 3.54 ERA in 65 games with 11 holds and three saves. The year before he was even better. He went 71 with a 1.40 ERA in 66 game with 25 holds and one save.
Webb is in his first year of arbitration. He appeared in 25 games and finished with a 2.57 ERA in 22 innings. He recorded more than a strikeout per inning. He won a World Series ring with Atlanta in 2021.
Webb filed for $1 million and the Orioles filed for $925,000.
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