Baltimore Sun Orioles reporter Jacob Calvin Meyer will answer fans’ questions throughout Orioles spring training and the season.

Here are JCM’s thoughts on several questions from readers:

Editor’s note: Questions have been edited for length and clarity. Email jameyer @baltsun.com with questions for next Friday’s mailbag.

Should the Orioles give Jorge Mateo more playing time at second base than Jackson Holliday? — @Joe4View on X

No. Once Mateo is healthy, it’s possible the club could have Holliday and Mateo platoon, with the former playing more often as the left-handed hitter against righties. But Holliday should be given a long leash this season, and if the team decides to reduce his playing time, Ramón Urías makes more sense to fill in.

But that’s not why we’re answering this question.

Mateo doesn’t exactly fit on this roster the same way he has in years past.

Urías is a better option behind Holliday, while the Ramón Laureano signing reduces Mateo’s value as a super utilityman who can play the outfield or platoon with Cedric Mullins.The big news from spring training Wednesday, though, was a reminder of Mateo’s main value on the Orioles’ roster: as Gunnar Henderson’s replacement.

Henderson has a ribs muscle injury and his status for opening day is up in the air. While Mateo can’t fill in early in the season because of his own injury, he’s the most logical replacement for later in the year if Henderson goes down.

What is the biggest weakness of the team: offense, rotation or bullpen? — @pedrothesavior on X

Is it a cop out to say there isn’t really a weakness? (My editor says yes and that the job here is to actually answer questions.)

OK, here goes.

The answer obviously isn’t the offense. Despite the way the 2024 season ended, the Orioles have been one of the best offensive teams in baseball the past two years and the lineup looks strong once again.

The conventional answer is the rotation. Without Burnes, there isn’t an ace atop the starting staff, and the group is largely filled with pitchers who would profile as Nos. 2-4 starters. If the Orioles don’t make the playoffs in 2025, the rotation will likely be the reason.

However, the rotation is more willing to withstand injuries because of its depth. It’s not likely to be an elite group because of its makeup, but having Albert Suárez, Cade Povich, Trevor Rogers and Brandon Young as your Nos. 6 through 9 starting pitchers is a good place to be.

The bullpen, though, might be the most vulnerable part of the roster. If everything goes to plan, the bullpen is poised to bounce back after an overall mediocre 2024 campaign. But when does everything ever go to plan?

The Orioles are again one injury to Félix Bautista away from being vulnerable late in games. Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Kittredge are both much worse against left-handed hitters than righties. Yennier Cano has routinely struggled in the ninth inning despite his dominance in the eighth. Gregory Soto has experience closing, but his command remains a concern. Additionally, the group doesn’t appear to be very malleable with Keegan Akin as the only pitcher realistically able to be optioned to the minors.

Still, the Orioles have one of MLB’s deepest rosters, and the club is in good shape going into opening day. Whether that will be the case heading into the deadline or at the end of September, well, you’ll have to keep tuning in to find out.

Why has Mike Elias been unable/unwilling to bring in high-priced free agents? — @RobbyVallone on X

Unable and unwilling are two very different words. They both might have some truth to them, but they lack the context of the circumstances Elias has worked under since becoming the Orioles’ general manager in November 2018.

Ultimately, Elias is the leader of the front office and perhaps the face of the franchise, even as Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson have risen to stardom. Win or lose — on the field or in free agency — Elias will get the credit or the blame.

For the purposes of assessing Elias’ ability to convince big-ticket free agents to come to Baltimore or willingness to commit to those players, it might only be fair to judge this past offseason rather than his first six, the first of four which came during the rebuild and all of which were with former CEO and Chairman John Angelos at the helm.

So let’s take a look at this past offseason. Yes, the Orioles did not land a high-priced free agent. The biggest deal they handed out was the $49.5 million over three years they gave to slugger Tyler O’Neill — the first (and only) free agent to whom Elias has ever given a multiyear contract. But that’s different than saying the Orioles didn’t spend money. Few teams added more money to their payroll this offseason than the Orioles, who signed seven major leaguers to contracts that will pay them a combined $68 million in 2025. At $160 million, the Orioles’ payroll after David Rubenstein’s first offseason as owner is about $100 million more than to begin the 2023 campaign, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

Let’s dig into one specific high-priced free agent that’s been the talk among Baltimore fans throughout the offseason: Corbin Burnes.

It was clear from the beginning of the offseason that Burnes’ preference was to be out west close to his family in Arizona. He got his ideal offer from the Diamondbacks and signed with them for $210 million.

He recently told The Baltimore Sun that the Orioles were “pretty aggressive early on” in free agency and the deal they offered was “in the ballpark” of what he was looking for. What’s difficult about those comments is they’re almost contrary to what he told Sports Illustrated in January about the state of his free agency just before Arizona’s offer: “We had two offers, but nothing that was quite, ‘That’s it!’ It was Toronto and San Francisco. There was some verbal stuff with Baltimore and Boston, but nothing I had seen in writing.”

Two things can be true at the same time:

In a vacuum, the Orioles were seemingly willing to dish out big bucks to keep Burnes. They didn’t offer enough to convince him to sign in Baltimore. In the end, why does anything else matter?

What will be the Orioles’ opening day rotation and lineup? — @NickyZMD on X

Assuming health, the five pitchers who will compose the Orioles’ rotation are set. The order is yet to be determined, but here’s a guess:

Zach Eflin

Grayson Rodriguez

Charlie Morton

Tomoyuki Sugano

Dean Kremer

OK, now to the lineup. Let’s assume Mateo begins the season on the injured list and Henderson is healthy. Here’s a mock lineup versus a right-handed pitcher and one against a lefty:

vs. RHP:

Gunnar Henderson, SS

Jordan Westburg, 3B

Adley Rutschman, C

Ryan O’Hearn, DH

Colton Cowser, LF

Tyler O’Neill, RF

Ryan Mountcastle, 1B

Jackson Holliday, 2B

Cedric Mullins, CF

vs. LHP:

Gunnar Henderson, SS

Jordan Westburg, 3B

Adley Rutschman, DH

Tyler O’Neill, RF

Ryan Mountcastle, 1B

Colton Cowser, CF

Gary Sánchez, C

Ramón Laureano, LF

Jackson Holliday, 2B

These are just mocks, though. Stay tuned for actual projections with explanations later this spring.

Have a question for next week’s mailbag? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer @baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/JCalvinMeyer.