Baltimore Orioles CEO and chairman John Angelos is tempering expectations after a surprisingly competitive 2022 campaign.
"We have a very young team that's overachieved and overperformed because of the great work of our baseball folks," Angelos said Sunday, according to Nathan Ruiz of The Baltimore Sun.
"It's not my job to predict payroll," he continued, stating that the team is not yet ready to exceed the $100-million payroll threshold. "My job is to make sure that the community partnerships are sustained, and I think all of that comes after that."
After finishing fourth in the AL East at 83-79, and above .500 for the first time since 2016, the Orioles were relatively quiet in the offseason. They acquired backup catcher James McCann and left-handed starter Cole Irvin in separate trades while signing infielder Adam Frazier and righty Kyle Gibson to one-year deals.
Despite a promising season in what's been a relatively interminable rebuild involving three seasons of 108-plus losses over the past five years, the Orioles enter the 2023 campaign with an $86.8-million payroll, which ranks 29th in MLB ahead of only the lowly Oakland Athletics. The Orioles and A's are two of four teams that won't exceed a $100-million payroll in the upcoming campaign, along with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds.
