Orioles sign Andrew Kittredge

Orioles and free agents Andrew Kittredge agree to a one-year, $10 million guarantee, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The Paragon Sports International client receives a $9MM salary for the upcoming season and is guaranteed a $1MM buyout on a $9MM club option in 2026. Baltimore has a full 40-man roster and will have to make a move when the contract is completed.

Kittredge will step into a setup role in front of the star closer Felix Bautistawho is returning from Tommy John surgery. The veteran is there Seranthony Dominguez, Yennier Cano and Keegan Akin as potential high-leverage pieces in Brandon Hyde’s bullpen. Kittredge has plenty of experience in the seventh and eighth innings. He led the National League and finished second in MLB (behind Houston’s Bryan Abreu) with 37 teams for the Cardinals last season.

The right-hander got St. Louis manager Oli Marmol’s confidence as the top arm in front of the star closer Ryan Helsley. He worked 70 2/3 innings with a 2.80 earned run average. Kittredge struck out a league average 23.3% of batters faced while limiting walks to a modest 7% clip. He missed bats at an above-average 13.7% rate of his pitches while doing a reasonable job of keeping the ball on the ground.

Kittredge, who turns 35 shortly before opening day, is not a flamethrower. He worked in the 94-95 MPH range with both his sinker and four-seam fastball. That’s solid velocity, but by no means exceptional for a modern late-inning reliever. Kittredge’s specialty is hitting hitters with a plus slider. He turned to the breaking ball about half the time.

Opponents hit .177 against the pitch while swinging through it more than 40% of the time they offered it. He especially excelled at getting hitters out of the zone. Opponents swung at nearly 42% of the pitches Kittredge threw outside the strike zone. Among pitchers with 50+ innings, only Arizona left-hander Joe Mantiply got chases at a higher pace.

The one blow against Kittredge last season was a problematic split. Pitchers who lean on a slider-sinker mix often struggle with opposing hitters. That was certainly the case for Kittredge. He smothered right-handed batters to a .188/.247/.291 line in 183 plate appearances. The lefty hit at a .296/.337/.571 clip with six homers in 104 trips. His career splits aren’t that drastic, but the lefty has managed a solid .244/.320/.455 slash line in more than 400 plate appearances against him. Baltimore has a trio of southpaws who are locks for bullpen spots if healthy: Akin, Gregory Soto and Cionel Perez. That gives Hyde some options if he wants to shield Kittredge from opposing lineups’ best lefty bat.

Despite the vulnerability to southpaws, Kittredge has a strong multi-year track record. He debuted with the Rays in 2017 and spent parts of seven seasons in Kevin Cash’s bullpen. Kittredge worked in middle relief the first few years, but had a breakout in ’21. He fired a career-best 71 2/3 innings of 1.88 ERA ball to earn an All-Star selection. Kittredge injured his elbow early the following year and required Tommy John surgery. The timing of this procedure limited him to 31 appearances between 2022–23.

Tampa Bay flipped him to St. Louis last winter for outfielder Richie Palacios. Kittredge picked up where he left off before the surgery during his only season with the Cardinals. He owns a 2.48 ERA across 162 appearances dating back to the start of the ’21 season. That made him one of the better relievers in this year’s free agent class, though his age limited the contractual upside.

MLBTR ranked Kittredge as the offseason’s #40 free agent. We predicted a two-year, $14MM deal covering his age 35-36 seasons. He lacks the multi-year deal and the total guarantee, but secures a solid salary for the upcoming campaign. Kittredge is the third pitcher and fourth free agent the O’s have signed to a one-year deal this winter. Baltimore has added Charlie Morton ($15 million), Tomoyuki Sugano ($13 MM), and Gary Sanchez ($8.5MM) along with their biggest acquisition – outfielder Tyler O’Neill on a three-year, $49.5MM contract that allows him to opt out after the first season.

The five free agent expenditures have added $63MM (including Kittredge’s option buyout) to next year’s payroll. Baltimore has certainly been a bigger player under first-year owner David Rubenstein than they were in recent years under John Angelos. The O’s have shed significant long-term commitments, instead adding short-term veteran pieces around their prized core of position players. RosterResource calculate their ’25 player payroll at around $156MM, which would be their highest number since 2017. O’Neill is their only player on a guaranteed contract that extends beyond this year.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.