The offseason is just days old and Mike Elias has just done the first real notable move to the Orioles roster. The team announced on Tuesday afternoon that they have acquired reliever Andrew Kittredge from the Cubs. That would be the same Kittredge the Orioles traded to the Cubs in July. In July, Kittredge cost the Cubs young infield prospect Wilfri De La Cruz. Here in November, all it cost the Orioles to get Kittredge back was cash considerations.
The Orioles re-acquiring Kittredge seems to point
to them wanting to exercise his 2026 contract option, which is set for $9 million. Elias is familiar with that since he’s the one who gave Kittredge the contract with that team option available. As of this writing, the option has not been exercised. Possibly there could be some negotiation that produces a smaller 2026 salary with a 2027 contract option, similar to what the Orioles just did with reliever Dietrich Enns.
This is a weird move on the Cubs end. Kittredge pitched well for them! Better even than he did with the Orioles, striking out batters at a substantially higher rate, with a lower walk rate and better batting average against. He kept just about the same ERA, though. The Cubs already shed some payroll on Tuesday with the news that they’re not picking up a three-year team option for starter Shota Imanaga. This cash considerations deal where they shipped out Kittredge seems like more cost-cutting.
Trading Kittredge back in July looks even better now, since the Orioles will get him on the 2026 roster and they’ve got an interesting prospect in their mix as well. De La Cruz, who turned 18 in September, is a long way from the majors and has some tools that could develop into an interesting player.
Kittredge will be 36 next season. There’s risk in going with older players because when the bottom drops out, it’s bad. But Kittredge was fine this year and as long as he’s squarely in the middle of next year’s Orioles bullpen rather than being projected into high-leverage eighth- and ninth-inning spots, this should be a fine move.
