Replacing Félix Bautista is no easy feat. The Orioles’ mountainous All-Star closer — who is likely to miss the entire 2026 season, just as he missed all of 2024 — has gigantic shoes that are hard to fill. Just ask Craig Kimbrel, whose 2024 experience in Baltimore turned into a boondoggle. Or Keegan Akin, who underwhelmed as the Orioles’ fill-in closer after Bautista’s season-ending injury this season.

It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it. And Pete Fairbanks, a hard-throwing right-hander who’s spent the past few years as an Orioles rival, could be just the person to take up the mantle.

The 31-year-old Fairbanks is the classic Rays pitching development success story, another example of the Tampa Bay organization acquiring an unheralded hurler and molding him into a valuable contribu

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