The Orioles and right-handed reliever Andrew Kittredge agreed to a one-year, $10 million deal with a team option for the 2026 season, according to multiple reports early Friday morning.

Kittredge, 34, has a career 3.44 ERA in 255 games across eight seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays and St. Louis Cardinals. The 2021 American League All-Star has been one of the most effective setup men in baseball, when healthy, over the past four years. He’s coming off one of the best seasons of career, posting a 2.80 ERA with 67 strikeouts in 70 2/3 innings for St. Louis.

Baltimore had an opening in its bullpen this winter after nontendering right-hander Jacob Webb and declining its team option for left-hander Danny Coulombe. Star closer Félix Bautista is expected to be ready for opening day after missing all of last season recovering from Tommy John elbow surgery, but the Orioles plan to ease him back into his role.

Kittredge, along with fellow late-inning relievers Seranthony Domínguez and Yennier Cano, would be one of the Orioles’ top candidates for early-season save opportunities should Bautista not resume his ninth-inning duties right away. Though he only has 16 career saves, Kittredge has elite swing-and-miss capabilities in his arsenal, as evidenced by his 38.9% chase rate that led the majors among qualified pitchers last season.

Where he really excels — and fills a hole for the Orioles — is against right-handed hitters. Kittredge held right-handed batters to a .188/.247/.291 slash line with four home runs in 183 plate appearances in 2024. Even with Coulombe’s option declined, the Orioles’ bullpen is projected to be heavy on left-handers with Cionel Pérez, Keegan Akin and Gregory Soto all penciled in for roster spots.

Kittredge’s signing represents the first major offseason move the Orioles have made to address their bullpen, which ranked 23rd in the majors with a 4.22 ERA last season. Between the addition of Kittredge, Bautista’s impending return and the departure of former closer Craig Kimbrel, who was released in September after a poor second half, Baltimore has plenty of reasons to be optimistic that its relief corps can bounce back in 2025.

The Orioles’ bullpen was a formidable unit as recently as 2023, when their 3.55 reliever ERA ranked fifth in MLB and Bautista won the Mariano Rivera AL Reliever of the Year Award. Cano made the All-Star Game in his breakout season as well.

In addition to Kittredge’s deal, the Orioles have handed out three other six-figure contracts this winter: three years, $49.5 million for outfielder Tyler O’Neill; one-year, $15 million for right-hander Charlie Morton and one-year, $13 million for right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano.

With catcher Gary Sánchez joining the club on a one-year, $8.5 million deal as well, the Orioles have committed $86 million to free agents this winter. That total is greater than any opening day payroll the Orioles carried from 2019 to 2023, according to Cot’s Contracts.

The Athletic was the first to report Kittredge’s deal, which includes a $9 million salary for next season and a $1 million buyout on a $9 million team option for 2026.

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