On November 9, 2022, the Orioles declined their club option for 2023 on veteran right-hander Jordan Lyles. Apparently, GM Mike Elias felt it would not be hard to fill a Jordan Lyles-sized hole on the roster.
As a sentimental matter, he’s almost certainly wrong. As a baseball matter, probably not.
Over 32 starts for the Orioles in 2022, the 32-year-old Lyles had pitched to a 4.42 ERA with 144 strikeouts. Where Lyles shone was his workload, a team-high 179 innings. He wasn’t “wow,” but he was reliable. The Orioles felt this wasn’t worth an additional $11 million in 2023.