Why did Orioles not re-sign Coulombe? | MAILBAG

Question: I was surprised to see the Orioles are letting Danny Coulombe go.  Were there any lingering issues with his elbow, or do you think this was purely financial? From: Jack Saverino

Answer: Jack, I was surprised as well but since the Orioles picked up an $8 million option on Seranthony Domínguez, I am pretty confident that the move was not financial.

The Orioles can’t and won’t say if it was about Coulombe’s elbow because they don’t want to hurt his chances of catching on elsewhere as a free agent. He’s a great guy, but is 35, and after missing more than three months after surgery to remove bone chips from his left elbow, I think it’s pretty obvious they have concerns about his long-term health. 

Question: How do you see things going for our arbitration-eligible guys? Will Ramón Urías be tendered?  Cedric Mullins?  Will Jorge Mateo be non-tendered, or are they not allowed to do that for an injured player? How about other guys, as I know there are more.  From: Mark Eisner 

Answer: Mark, Urías, Mullins and Mateo are three of 13 Orioles eligible for arbitration. Keegan Akin, Kyle Bradish, Dean Kremer, Ryan Mountcastle, Trevor Rogers, Emmanuel Rivera, Adley Rutschman, Gregory Soto, Jacob Webb and Tyler Wells are the others.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if all 13 were tendered. The biggest question marks are Mateo, who was reinstated from the injured list on Monday, Rivera and Rogers.

I think they’ll bring back Rivera as infield insurance while Mateo’s spot could be tenuous because he could make $3.2 million in arbitration. According to MLBTradeRumors.com, they expect Rogers to get $2.8 million and that may be a lot for a pitcher who had a 7.11 ERA in four starts, but since the Orioles invested so much in him, I don’t see them giving up on him so soon.

Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.