It is not clear at all who made the call on this and of course we will never know. But the one thing that has been consistent is the Orioles under this ownership NEVER gets the free agent if any other teams are competing for them .
The only major mega free agent sign was Chris Davis and there Angelos was schnookered to be bidding against himself.
Winning in 2024 which had seemed so much of a priority with Burnes trade and new ownership now has taken huge steps backward with injury to Bradish (imho the Os PR aside the odds are he will have to have TJ surgery this year), the continuing uncertainty and current unavailability of John Means, the huge failure to keep Jackson on this team from the opening bell, the failure to sign any other starting or bullpen help at all.. and now not topping a 25 million one year deal to an ideal top notch playoff and World Series pitcher to try to win in 2024. No we get Tony frigging Kemp!
This team certainly has enough talent to overcome these mistakes by Elias and by ownership but certainly it does not demonstrate the type of commitment I wanted to see as to winning it all in 2024.