By Wyatt Sherman, coming into the 2022 season, the Orioles were ranked last in practically everybody’s preseason rankings. According to Fangraphs, they came into the season with the second lowest payroll as they paid 63 million dollars to their players with only 31.3 percent of that counting towards guaranteed money. Adding insult to injury, they play in what many claim to be the hardest division in the league with many perennial playoff contenders such as the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, and Boston Red Sox. Thus, the Orioles were yet again poised to remain in last place, but they defied projections with assistance from the promotion of young talent and some breakout seasons from returning players as they finished with a surprising 83-79 record which was just four games out of reach of the final wildcard spot. Amazingly, they did this despite losing two months of catching phenom Adley Rutschman, undisputed ace John Means to season ending Tommy John surgery, and top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez to season ending surgery. On top of that, they traded away their all-star closer Jorge Lopez and face of the franchise Trey Mancini in the middle of the season. Nevertheless, the team outperformed all projections and put the team in prime position to spend big during the upcoming offseason. With only 21 million in committed payroll for 2023, how will this star-studded off-season fair for the free to spend Orioles?
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