The signings: Within an hour of each other, the Orioles -- who stood to take a bigger hit in free agency than most, if not all, other MLB teams -- watched Wei-Yin Chen and Gerardo Parra become their first two FAs this offseason to reach agreements with new clubs. Per ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, Chen and the Marlins have agreed to a five-year, $80 million contract that includes a vesting option for a sixth year that could bring the total value to $96 million. Meanwhile, according to Wilmer Reina of Venezuela’s Diario La Verdad, Parra is headed to the Rockies on a three-year, $26 million deal.

The reasons: In short, the Orioles were done with both players. Despite being the lone southpaw in the O’s rotation and one of the team’s most consistent and dependable starters since arriving from Japan in 2012, the 30-year old Chen, who’s repped by superagent Scott Boras, was considered too pricey for Baltimore to keep.

One of the reasons that the Orioles are still looking for lefty bats and outfield help is because of Parra. After coming over from Milwaukee in a deadline deal for pitching prospect Zach Davies, the 28-year outfielder disappointed, posting a .625 OPS that was 105 points below his career mark, and more than 250 points less than the .886 he’d compiled last season in the four months prior to the trade.

The impact: In (officially) losing Chen, Baltimore’s rotation is now entirely right-handed. Not that that necessarily matters: GM Dan Duquette has reiterated that how productive a pitcher is matters more to him than what hand he throws with. Not to mention, all four of the Orioles’ AL East rivals hit for a higher average last year against lefties than against righties. So maybe the Orioles don’t need another southpaw after all. One thing is for sure: They do need another starter.

Both Chen and Scott Kazmir, whom the Birds were rumored to have interest in but who signed with the Dodgers, inked deals worth $16 million per year. So it’s safe to assume that the O’s, whose richest free-agent pitching pact was the four-year, $50 million deal they gave Ubaldo Jimenez in 2014, won’t be breaking the bank (or even hairline fracturing it) on a replacement for Chen. Instead, look for them to focus on the next tier of free-agent arms, a group that includes names like Doug Fister, Yovani Gallardo, Mat Latos, and Ian Kennedy. Sexy, they aren’t, but hey -- this is the Orioles we’re talking about.

As for Parra, his departure closes the book on a deal that seemed myopic from the get-go, especially for a 2015 O’s team that many thought would be sellers instead of buyers. Looking ahead to 2016 and the outfield void that Duquette still needs to fill, the odds of Baltimore resigning Parra were never more than slim. Still, his deal with the Rockies means there’s one less free agent out there.

That said, the addition of Parra gives Colorado yet one more left-handed hitting outfielder, to go along with their existing trio of Corey Dickerson, Charlie Blackmon, and Carlos Gonzalez. In what’s been a relatively slow-developing winter, the Rockies have almost singlehandedly been stoking the hot stove heater with trade rumors. Now that they have Parra, it seems like a near-certainty that they’ll be dealing an outfielder. The Orioles could certainly use one, and Fox Sports reports that Baltimore and Colorado are engaged in discussions, but the Rockies are looking to add... yep, you guessed it: Starting pitching. As mentioned above, the O’s aren’t exactly in a surplus position when it comes to arms.