Part of the Orioles’ offseason business is making decisions on players with options for 2027.

Only one of them is a comfortable projection to return and it’s in Ryan Helsley’s hands.

Helsley signed a two-year, $28 million contract that paid $14 million this season and contained a $14 million player option. As I’ve said a few times, the best outcome for the Orioles seemed to be a one-year rental because an exceptional season probably would have sent him back into free agency, and the club wasn’t rooting for his failure.

Two elbow injuries weren’t factored into his signing.

Helsley appeared in only 17 games and didn’t pitch after June 27. His save total plummeted to eight, and a 4.11 ERA and 1.435 WHIP also illustrated that the Orioles didn’t get the best version of him.  

If able blessed with good health news, the Orioles could have a formidable one-two back end punch with Helsley and Félix Bautista. That’s a potentially dominant duo. That’s almost like having Randy Myers and Armando Benitez in 1997, except that Myers was the undisputed closer with 45 saves in 46 chances. Benitez was the closer-in-waiting but contributed nine saves, a 2.45 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 73 1/3 innings.

The other options probably will be declined by the club, but assumptions can be dangerous.

Zach Eflin’s contract includes a $25 million mutual option with a $2 million buyout. He made one start before undergoing Tommy John surgery, which probably sends him back into free agency. The Orioles could attempt to re-sign him at a much lower cost.

First baseman Ryan Mountcastle has a $7.5 million option after appearing in only eight games, none after April 11, due to a fractured left foot and severe oblique strain. The emergence of right-handed hitters Coby Mayo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand makes it even harder to carry him next season.

Would the Orioles pay Luis Robert Jr. $20 million next season, which they inherited,  rather than a $2 million buyout? It seems doubtful, even though they need a right-handed hitting outfielder who’s a threat at the plate and plays center field.

A surprising deal last offseason involved left-handed reliever Dietrich Enns, who was given a guaranteed $2.625 million in November with a $3.5 million option and $125,000 buyout. The Orioles outrighted him on May 31 after he missed about a month with a left foot infection and posted a 3.94 ERA and 1.500 WHIP in 13 appearances.

Enns walked 11 batters in 16 innings but he strung together seven consecutive scoreless outings until allowing four runs in one inning on May 18 at Tropicana Field. He earned the win in his next two appearances, retiring all four batters in Game 1 of a May 24 doubleheader against the Tigers and allowing one earned run and two total in the 13th inning the following day against the Rays.

The Orioles optioned Enns and his anticipated return never materialized. He registered a 5.80 ERA and 1.509 WHIP in 31 games with Triple-A Norfolk, and paying him $3.5 million next season isn’t a reasonable expectation.

*Three former Orioles are heading to the World Series with the Brewers, who ended a drought dating back to 1982.

(The Orioles moved up to second at 43 years behind the Pirates’47, but it could be worse. The Mariners came into existence in 1977 and still haven’t made it.)

Reliever DL Hall was drafted as a starter with the 21st-overall pick in 2017 out of Valdosta High School in Georgia. Injuries kept stalling his career and he made only one start among his 29 appearances with the Orioles over the 2022-23 seasons, compiling a 4.36 ERA with 42 strikeouts and two home runs allowed in 33 innings. The start came in his major league debut at Tropicana Field.

The Orioles optioned him in order to begin his transition to relief and recalled him in September.

Hall turned down a scholarship to Florida State University to sign with the Orioles for $3 million. They traded him to the Brewers along with infielder Joey Ortiz and future considerations on Feb. 1, 2024 for ace Corbin Burnes.

Hall made seven starts among 13 appearances in 2024, three among 20 in 2025 and one among 47 this season, and his ERA dropped from 5.02 to 3.49 to 1.91. He dealt with a sprained left knee in 2024, a left lat strain and right oblique injury in ’25, and a left pectoral/subscapularis strain this summer that cost him two months of the season.

Ortiz was blocked at shortstop with the Orioles but brought plus defense and a developing bat. He certainly could have filled a utility role, but the Orioles, who drafted him in the fourth round in 2019 out of New Mexico State, had plenty of infield prospects. They dealt from a position of perceived strength. He went 7-for-33 in 15 games in 2023 and has batted .244/.310/.369 57 doubles, 11 triples, 27 home runs, 152 RBIs, 34 stolen bases and a 5.6 bWAR in 425 games with Milwaukee.

Ortiz has mostly split his time between shortstop and third base.

Burnes was pretty much what the Orioles expected and needed, going 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA and 1.096 WHIP in 32 games and starting for the American League in the All-Star Game in Texas. They offered him a four-year, $180 million contract but he signed with the Diamondbacks for six years and $210 million. He made 11 starts in 2025 before undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Sánchez appeared in only 29 games with the Orioles in 2025 after signing an $8.5 million contract, batting .231/.297/.418 with two doubles, five home runs and 24 RBIs. The Brewers signed him in February to a $1.75 million deal with a mutual option and he batted .209/.349/.422 with 10 doubles, a triple, 12 homers and 38 RBIs in 86 games.

He also spent the 2024 season with the Brewers before passing through Baltimore.

The Orioles could be in the market for another catcher but aren’t likely to pursue Sánchez again. They certainly could use Hall, if able to trust that he’d stay healthy, but he’s entering his first year of arbitration eligibility.

*Patrick Reilly started yesterday for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League and tossed four scoreless innings with one hit and seven strikeouts. He threw 34 of 53 pitches for strikes and his four-seam fastballs topped at 96.2 mph. Reilly allowed one run and struck out six batters over three innings in his first appearance.

The Orioles must decide whether to put Reilly on the 40-man roster next month and protect him in a Rule 5 draft that might be canceled.

Reilly, who turned 25 a few weeks ago, recovered from Tommy John surgery and climbed back to Double-A Chesapeake, where he posted a 3.63 ERA in eight starts and struck out 55 in 39 2/3 innings.

Braxton Bragg also returned from ligament-reconstructive elbow surgery and he also is eligible for the Rule 5. He missed the 2026 season but threw three scoreless innings yesterday with one hit allowed after tossed three scoreless innings in his AFL debut.

Ike Irish, the first-round draft pick in 2025, started in right field again and went 0-for-4 with a walk and is batting .364 with a 1.008 OPS in eight games. Vance Honeycutt, the 2024 first-rounder, started in left field and had a double and two RBIs. He’s 4-for-16 but also has two home runs, six RBIs and 10 walks in six games.

Second baseman Brandon Butterworth went 2-for-5 with three RBIs. He has an .893 OPS in eight games.