January 13 : The Os officially announced their signing of Kittredge today. January 9 : The Orioles and free agent reliever are in agreement on a one-year, $10MM guarantee, 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 for 2026. Baltimore has a full 40-man roster and will need to make a move when the contract is finalized. Kittredge will step into a setup role in front of star closer , who is making his return from Tommy John surgery. The veteran joins , and as potential high-leverage pieces in Brandon Hydes bullpen. Kittredge has plenty of seventh and eighth inning experience. He led the National League and finished second in MLB (behind Houstons ) with 37 holds for the Cardinals last season. The righty earned the trust of St. Louis manager Oli Marmol as the top setup arm in front of star closer . He worked 70 2/3 innings with a 2.80 earned run average. Kittredge punched out a league average 23.3% of batters faced while limiting walks to a modest 7% clip. He mi sed bats on an above-average 13.7% of his pitches while doing a reasonable job keeping the ball on the ground. Kittredge, who turns 35 shortly before Opening Day, isnt a flamethrower. He worked in the 94-95 MPH range with both his sinker and four-seam fastball. Thats solid velocity but by no means exceptional for a modern late-inning reliever. Kittredges specialty is beating hitters with a plus slider. He turned to the breaking ball around half the time. Jay Miller Jersey Opponents hit .177 against the pitch while swinging through it more than 40% of the time that they offered at it. He particularly excelled at getting hitters to go out of the zone. Opponents swung at nearly 42% of the pitches that Kittredge threw outside the strike zone. Among pitchers with 50+ innings, only Arizona left-hander got chases at a higher rate. The one knock against Kittredge last season was a problematic platoon split. Pitchers who lean on a slider-sinker mix often struggle with opposite-handed hitters. That was certainly the case for Kittredge. He stifled right-handed batters to a .188/.247/.291 line in 183 plate appearances. Lefties teed off at a .296/.337/.571 clip with six homers in 104 trips. His career platoon splits arent as drastic, but lefties have managed a solid .244/.320/.455 slash in more than 400 plate appearances against him. Baltimore has a trio of southpaws who are locks for bullpen spots if healthy: Akin, and . That gives Hyde some options if he wants to shield Kittredge from opposing lineups best lefty bats. 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 Cashs bullpen. Kittredge worked in middle relief for the first few years but had a breakout showing 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 that procedure limited him to 31 appearances between 2022-23. Tampa Bay flipped him to St. Louis last winter for outfielder . Kittredge picked up where hed left off pre-surgery during his only season with the Cardinals. He owns a 2.48 ERA acro s 162 appearances going back to the start of the 21 season. That made him one of the better relievers in this years free agent cla s, though his age limited the contractual upside. MLBTR ranked Kittredge the offseasons #40 free agent. We predicted a two-year, $14MM pact covering his age 35-36 seasons. He falls short of the multi-year deal and that overall guarantee but secures a solid salary for the upcoming campaign. Kittredge is the third pitcher and the fourth free agent whom the Os have signed to a one-year deal this winter. Baltimore has added ($15MM), ($13MM), and ($8.5MM) alongside their biggest acquisition outfielder 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 Kittredges option buyout) to next years payroll. Baltimore has certainly been a bigger player under first-year owner David Rubenstein than they were in recent years under John Angelos. The Os have shied away from any significant long-term commitments, instead adding shorter-term veteran pieces around their prized position player core. calculates their 25 player payroll around $156MM, which would be their highest figure since 2017. ONeill is their only player on a guaranteed contract that stretches beyond this year. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports. Cole Koepke Jersey