The World Series is over and fans are deprived of an epic Game 7. The Dodgers dashed those hopes by winning in five.

The offseason is underway, with players on the 60-day injured list returning to the 40-man roster and teams having exclusive negotiating rights with their free agents for five days before everyone tips off in the auctions.

Pitchers Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells and Félix Bautista as well as infielder Jorge Mateo are back among the 40 players. Out are pitchers Corbin Burnes, John Means and Brooks Kriske, catcher James McCann and outfielders Anthony Santander and Austin Slater. Bradish and Wells will return to the 60-day IL during spring training while recovering from elbow surgery.

Outfielder Daniel Johnson and pitcher Burch Smith declined assignments to Triple-A Norfolk and elected free agency.

The Orioles will make decisions on which players have options for 2025 and which ones will receive contracts and protection in the Rule 5 draft. General managers’ meetings begin next week. Winter meetings are planned for next month.

Random thoughts, observations, and other things can run at any time. For example:

*The Rawlings Gold Glove Awards will be announced Sunday evening starting at 8:30 p.m. and the Orioles could go 1 for 2.

Ryan Mountcastle is the runner-up at first base for the second year in a row. He lost in 2023 to Nathaniel Lowe of the Rangers, and he looks at a disadvantage this season against Lowe and Carlos Santana of the Twins. Mountcastle and Santana have eight defensive runs saved (DRS), but the latter’s 14 putouts above average put him well ahead of Lowe (seven) and Mountcastle (two).

He seems to be the favorite.

Cowser faces Steven Kwan of the Guardians, who won last year, and Alex Verdugo of the Yankees. Cowser’s 11 outs above average (OAA) per Statcast include eight in left field that are double Kwan’s total and eight more than Verdugo’s.

He seems to be the favorite.

*If I’m the Orioles or have permission to spend their money, I’m talking to Means about another two-year deal that could allow him to maybe help out through the end of next season and to keep him permanently under team control in 2026.

He’s really good when he’s healthy. And who has ever heard of a triple Tommy John operation?

OK, there’s Jonny Venters and Jason Isringhausen, but it’s an exclusive club. Like people who like sea urchins or Kevin Federline.

Means could wait until the summer to consider a new contract, but he could also decide to take the security of a two-year deal and stay with the organization that drafted him. He definitely wants to pitch again. He hasn’t finished trying.

*I agree with the Baltimore Sun’s recent ranking of the Orioles free agents most likely to re-sign with the team.

McCann is also #1 on my list. I’m not making predictions. He will draw interest from other clubs looking for a veteran leader who puts on a good game and has the respect of the pitching staff. However, he’s exactly what the Orioles want on a short-term deal and he’s loved his time in Baltimore.

Plus, the rest of the team’s free agents obviously have their place behind him.

Means is second, followed by Slater, Santander and Burnes. The last two are naturally the longest positions based on projected salaries. Burnes will break the bank, carry the pieces out to the driveway, and back his car over them.

*The contracts of some minor league personnel expired yesterday, putting the Orioles in the position of making new deals or finding replacements. Other organizations can step in and make hires.

One way to keep a manager or coach in the organization, for example, would be to promote them to the major league staff.

* The Orioles need to find new co-hitting coaches, a bench coach and a major league coach. I’ve talked to a few people in baseball who think Triple-A manager Buck Britton makes a lot of sense as José Hernández’s replacement. Britton’s contract expired yesterday.

A major league manager is like a super-utility player. Hernández was rebounding and helping the other coaches. Britton has those kinds of skills, but without the big league experience.

* Ryan Fuller has yet to join the new team, but Matt Borgschulte returned to the Twins as hitting coach after spending four years in the same role in their minor league system.

Borgschulte gets a nice raise and a fresh start with an old acquaintance. He was added to Major League Baseball’s pension plan for the first time. Only five members of each staff are eligible.

It was simply too good an opportunity for him to pass up. And this confirms once again that he was not pushed out.

* Twenty-two grand slams have been won in the World Series, and the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman owns the only walk in Game 1.

The Orioles have one representative on the roster.

You go way back as a fan if you know it’s pitcher Dave McNally.

McNally entered the game in the sixth inning to face Wayne Granger of the Reds in Game 3 of the 1970 Series at Memorial Stadium. Paul Blair singled and ran to third base on Brooks Robinson’s double, and Davey Johnson drew an intentional walk. Andy Etchebarren struck out, but McNally lined a 2-2 fastball into the left field bleachers.

“I knew it was a strike and I swung. I knew I did pretty well, but I didn’t hit enough home runs to be sure it was out of the park,” McNally said.

“I was so excited by the time I got to the shelter that I didn’t hear anything that was said. I don’t even remember what I said. All I know is that I was screaming.

McNally, who hit nine regular-season homers during a 14-year major league career, went the distance that day. No bullpen games. No nonsense. The way the baseball gods intended.