Shane Baz is a big fan of the Orioles’ offseason moves, especially now that he’s become one of them.

The Orioles traded for Baz on Dec. 19, sending four prospects and a Competitive Balance Round A pick to the Rays. They began the month by signing closer Ryan Helsley and reached agreement with first baseman Pete Alonso at the Winter Meetings. Starter Zach Eflin was re-signed on the 28^th.

And that was just December.

Reliever Andrew Kittredge came back to the Orioles in a Nov. 4 trade with the Cubs, and outfielder Taylor Ward was acquired from the Angels two weeks later.

“The names that they're getting right now are superstar players - Alonso, you got Helsley, Ward, Eflin obviously coming back,” Baz said yesterday in a video call. “I don't know if I'm missing anybody, but those names are just really, really exciting, getting the chance to play with guys that are of that caliber and I know are really respected around the league and help teams win. And I think it speaks to how they want to play this year and what they're trying to do, and that gives you a little more motivation, I think, just to set the standard and winning is all that matters. And I really like that kind of situation.” 

The offseason feels slow, doesn’t it? Or does it always? 

The free agent market in Major League Baseball, much like the season itself, is more of a slow burn as compared to its football and basketball counterparts. In the National Football League, the biggest deals are often agreed to within the first few days of the signing period. Miraculously, mammoth National Basketball Association contracts are signed within minutes of the official window’s opening. 

Talk about some high-quality negotiation skills. 

We’re nearly two months removed from the start of MLB’s free agency and some of the top names - including Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger and Framber Valdez - are still available. Just how typical is this shortage of activity, and what could it say about the market moving forward? 

More specifically, with arms like Valdez, Ranger Suárez and Zac Gallen still available, and with the Orioles potentially on the pitching hunt, even after the additions of Shane Baz and Zach Eflin, what could the starting pitching landscape look like for Baltimore as we enter the new year? 

This week’s news that Anthony Rendon will no longer play for the Angels (or, in reality, anyone) was sad for anyone associated with the Nationals who was sorry to see his once-brilliant career come apart the way it did once he left D.C. for Anaheim.

While most everyone else in the baseball world will bemoan that the Angels wound up paying Rendon $245 million to play only 257 games while hitting only 22 homers with 125 RBIs – totals he surpassed in 2019 alone – everyone here still recognizes how great he was when healthy. And how the Nats would not have won the World Series without him.

It’s, of course, impossible not to make comparisons to Stephen Strasburg. Both were homegrown, first-round picks who became stars in Washington. Both rose to the occasion on the biggest stage. Both became free agents days after the World Series. Both wound up signing seven-year, $245 million contracts. Both never came close to living up to those deals, done in by career-ending injuries that forced them into early retirement and financial settlements with their clubs.

What’s also striking about the Rendon news, though, is the fact he becomes the latest member of that 2019 team to exit the playing stage.

That was admittedly an old roster, filled with veterans who had already enjoyed long and productive careers but were now united in their quest to win their first rings. But there were plenty of 20-something players on the team, too, including some of the best players in the sport. And only six years later, many of them have retired.

Shane Baz has gone through a trade previously in his baseball life. Just never like this one.

The Pirates selected Baz with the 12^th overall pick in the 2017 draft and sent him to the Rays a year later as the player to be named in a package for Chris Archer. He hadn’t pitched above rookie ball.

The second experience lands him in the Orioles’ rotation for his fifth major league season. They sent four top 30 prospects and a Competitive Balance Round A pick to Tampa Bay. He isn’t a throw-in in the early stages of professional development.

The expectations and stakes are much higher.

“It’s always kind of surprising,” he said today in a video call with the local media. “Same kind of deal. I felt kind of the same as the first time I got traded. You’re never really expecting it. I didn’t have any inside on it or anything like that. But you know, I think the excitement took over, just being able to join such a good team and I think what the front office is doing is really exciting.

Happy New Year! Hope everyone out there had a wonderful holiday season and is now looking forward to what's in store in 2026.

We're only 5 1/2 weeks away, believe it or not, from pitchers and catchers. There's still a lot for the Nationals to do between now and then, but we're slowly but surely getting a sense of what this team will look like under new management.

You've got questions. I've (hopefully) got answers. You know the drill by now: Submit your inquiries in the comments section below, then check back throughout the morning for my responses ...

Major League Baseball rang in the New Year by knocking down one of the big starting pitcher dominos in free agency. Maybe you heard the noise.

Not quite as jarring as a snow squall emergency alert on your phone.

I had to change the sheets.

The Astros reached agreement with Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai on a three-year, $54 million deal that includes multiple opt-out clauses. MLBTradeRumors.com ranked him seventh on its top 50 list and projected a contract for $150 million over six years.

Still on the market are Framber Valdez, who seems even less likely to stay in Houston, and Ranger Suárez. The Orioles have expressed their interest in both starters and remain in the running, as far as we know. CBS Sports’ R.J. Anderson predicted earlier this week that the Orioles would sign Valdez, whose 83 quality starts the past four seasons are second-most in the majors behind Logan Webb’s 85.

The Nationals entered 2025 with visions of taking a long-awaited step forward, turning the fourth season of their rebuild into their first winning season since 2019. That, of course, didn’t happen.

So as they now enter 2026, what visions exactly do this franchise have for the new year?

It’s not an easily answered question. Because of the massive changes that have taken place throughout the organization, it’s probably safe to say the goal no longer is to complete the rebuild that was kickstarted by the previous regime. The goal now, for better or worse, is to kickstart a new rebuild under new management.

That’s not going to sit well with a large segment of a fan base that already feels like its patience has been tested enough over the last four seasons. Most bought into the original plan orchestrated by Mike Rizzo, painful as that plan was to accept at the time, and were willing to see this thing through to conclusion, believing better days were coming soon.

But when ownership decided to fire Rizzo (and manager Davey Martinez) in July, then go outside the organization this fall to hire the likes of Paul Toboni, Anirudh Kilambi and Blake Butera, the reset button clearly was hit. With force.

The ball dropped at midnight and was scored a hit because nobody touched it.

That rule probably should be changed.

Orioles business in January includes trying to get their arbitration-eligible players under contract before next Thursday’s deadline for exchanging salary figures. Hearings will begin later this month and run into February.

The two sides can continue to negotiate, but a panel will decide the salary if an agreement isn’t reached. Only the figures submitted will be considered.

Some roster moves adjusted the list of eligibles to 11: Taylor Ward, Shane Baz, Ryan Mountcastle, Trevor Rogers, Tyler Wells, Adley Rutschman, Dean Kremer, Kyle Bradish, Gunnar Henderson, Keegan Akin and Yennier Cano. Ward and Baz are the newcomers, with MLBTradeRumors.com projecting their salaries at $13.7 million and $3.1 million, respectively.

We've reached the final week of the year, so it's time to look back at the Nationals' most significant stories of 2025. We conclude the series today with the decision to fire both Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez in early July ...

A Nationals franchise that experienced seemingly constant change through its first decade-plus in the District had become one of the most stable organizations in baseball during its second decade in town. After swapping one manager for another every two or three years, the Nats finally stuck with Davey Martinez for more than seven years. After a chaotic run under Jim Bowden, they promoted Mike Rizzo to general manager in 2009 and kept him at the helm for more than 16 years.

That’s what made the events of July 6 so stunning. Not because pressure wasn’t already building on Rizzo and Martinez in Year Four of a rebuild that hadn’t come close to producing a winning record. But because the all-important question always lingered over the whole enterprise: Would ownership actually make those kind of major decisions on two loyal, longtime employees who brought the city its first World Series title in 95 years?

Ownership not only did make those decisions. It made them in season, and in conjunction.

After the Nationals took a 6-4 loss to the Red Sox on July 6 to complete an uninspired weekend sweep, managing principal owner Mark Lerner and Lerner Sports Group COO Alan Gottlieb informed both Rizzo and Martinez they were being fired, then stood in the home clubhouse at Nationals Park and informed the rest of the team what had just taken place.

Zach Eflin probably won’t rise to the top of the Orioles’ rotation, where he resided on 2025 Opening Day. He might not settle at the bottom of it, either. However, he ranks highly on the list of potential bounce back candidates.

That’s because of his back.

Eflin went 16-8 with a 3.50 ERA and 1.024 WHIP in 31 starts with the Rays in 2023 and finished sixth in American League Cy Young voting. He posted a combined 3.59 ERA in 28 starts with Tampa Bay and the Orioles in 2024, allowing only 16 runs in 55 1/3 innings after the deadline trade.

Upon further review, it’s simply amazing that Eflin was this productive in his career while dealing with intense pain that eventually wrecked his mechanics, making him jump off his back foot, avoid using his lower half to drive through the baseball and drop his arm angle. Tricks to make it through each start that morphed into bad habits.

It finally caught up to him. All of it. The forced adjustments and pain that he described this week as someone holding a lighter to the bottom of his back.

We've reached the final week of the year, so it's time to look back at the Nationals' most significant stories of 2025. We continue the series today with the hirings of Paul Toboni as president of baseball operations, Anirudh Kilambi as general manager and Blake Butera as manager ...

It had been a long time since the Nationals found themselves searching for a new manager, longer still since they found themselves searching for a new general manager. And never before had they found themselves searching for both at the same time.

But when members of the Lerner family decided to fire both Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez on the same Sunday afternoon in early-July, this was the situation they created for themselves. They were going to finish out the season with interim replacements. Then they were going to have to decide who should get both jobs on a permanent basis.

First up, the GM position. The Nats could have opted to retain Mike DeBartolo, Rizzo’s longtime No. 2 in the front office who admirably took over during a time of turmoil and earned praise for navigating the franchise through the MLB Draft and trade deadline. In the end, ownership chose to go completely outside the organization and start fresh with one of the sport’s up-and-comers.

Paul Toboni was only 35, but he had spent the last decade climbing the ladder in the Red Sox organization and seemingly was in line to become their GM underneath chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. Until the Nationals lured him away with an offer of an even loftier title (president of baseball operations) and the keys to the entire front office.

Done after depth?

This is just one of the lingering questions after the Orioles brought back Zach Eflin on a one-year, $10 million contract Sunday with a mutual option for 2027.

President of baseball operations/general manager Mike Elias has negotiated with some of the top starters on the free agent market, including Framber Valdez and Ranger Suárez. He alluded to the possibility, or maybe it was likelihood, of another big acquisition following first baseman Pete Alonso, who received $155 million over five seasons in the second-largest deal in franchise history.

Eflin isn’t that guy. He won’t reprise his role as 2025 Opening Day starter. He might not be ready on that date after undergoing a lumbar microdiscectomy on Aug. 18 to cure the persistent lower-back pain that accounted for the last two of his three trips to the injured list last season.

Elias wanted to strengthen the back end of the rotation and give manager Craig Albernaz more options following a season when the Orioles used a franchise-record 70 players and 41 different pitchers, the organization’s second-highest total. Left unspoken for now is whether Elias shifts his full attention to the bullpen and potential role players or continues his pursuit of a potential No. 1 or 2 starter.

Veteran starter Zach Eflin is out of options but he had choices.

Other teams besides the Orioles expressed interest in Eflin during his tour of free agency. He was 4 ½ months removed from lower-back surgery and so confident in his recovery that he intended to be available for the first series. He felt good physically and about the negotiations that would lead him to another job.

“I didn’t know where I was going to be,” he said.

Eflin picked the team that traded for him at the 2024 deadline, put him on the injured list three times last season and voiced a desire to re-sign him.

The first preference gave him a second chance.

Signing Zach Eflin to a one-year deal, with a mutual option for 2027, wasn’t necessarily the huge starting rotation splash that many hoped Baltimore would make. Eflin’s status to begin the 2026 season, even, is uncertain. 

However, if the veteran right-hander gets back to his old self at some point in 2026, the Orioles have significantly raised both their floor and ceiling in the rotation for the upcoming campaign.

Let’s not forget what that “old self” looked like, despite a disappointing 2025. 

Eflin was acquired by the Orioles at the 2024 trade deadline in exchange for a prospect haul, and he didn’t disappoint in his debut stint in orange and black. The righty, fresh off of a sixth-place Cy Young finish in the previous season, posted a 2.60 ERA in nine starts for Baltimore to end the year.

To start 2025, he picked up right where he left off. 

We've reached the final week of the year, so it's time to look back at the Nationals' most significant stories of 2025. We continue the series today with the selection of Eli Willits as the No. 1 pick in the MLB Draft ...

There’s an inherent pressure that comes with the No. 1 pick in any draft, especially when there’s no clear consensus choice. Under normal circumstances, the Nationals would’ve felt that pressure as mid-July approached and they had to decide which amateur player to snag from a pool of several viable candidate.

And then the situation became anything but normal when ownership fired longtime general manager Mike Rizzo seven days before 2025 MLB Draft.

Though the club’s scouting department – led at the time by Danny Haas, Brad Ciolek and Reed Dunn – remained intact, the man who had the final say on the pick – interim GM Mike DeBartolo – suddenly changed.

And when the Nats proceeded to take 17-year-old shortstop Eli Willits over the more-often-touted Ethan Holliday and Kade Anderson, there was immediate speculation wondering if the club’s choice had changed during that dramatic week. The club’s decision makers immediately shot down that theory, insisting the decision was “unanimous.”

Outfielder Taylor Ward had no idea that the Orioles signed first baseman Pete Alonso until some friends alerted him through text messaging. 

Ward wanted to believe it, but he needed more proof. The internet isn't batting 1.000.

“You just never know when you receive that information if it’s true or not, but I’m glad it is,” Ward said during a recent appearance on the “Orioles Hot Stove Show” on WBAL Radio.

“It’s just gonna be great having him, and it’s really cool to see him want to be here, too. I think that’s another big part of it. It’s just exciting.”

Ward came to the Orioles in a Nov. 19 trade that sent pitcher Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels. He was the right-handed power bat that the front office desired since the beginning of the offseason.

The Orioles are bringing back one of their free agents, striking a deal with starter Zach Eflin a few days before 2025 runs out.

Eflin has agreed to a one-year major league contract that includes a mutual option for 2027, according to a source. Eflin will be paid $10 million this season.

President of baseball operations/general manager Mike Elias sought to improve the rotation’s depth and reached out to Eflin, who is recovering from August back surgery.

Eflin underwent a lumbar microdiscectomy procedure to alleviate persistent lower-back pain and was expected to be sidelined four to eight months. He made only 14 starts last season and had three stints on the injured list, the first related to a right lat strain. The veteran right-hander finished with a 5.93 ERA and 1.416 WHIP, with his final appearance on July 28.

“I think, for me personally, it’s been disappointing, depressing,” Eflin, the Opening Day starter, said prior to his surgery. “I’ve just tried to throw a baseball and I wasn’t necessarily comfortable all the time, and that’s not a really good place to be. It’s something I look back and I don’t like thinking back on it, because I didn’t necessarily feel good at times when I threw, but I also didn’t pitch well at the same time.

The Orioles tonight announced that they have agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher ZACH EFLIN on a one-year major league contract for the 2026 season with a mutual option for 2027.

Eflin, 31, was the Opening Day starter for the Orioles in 2025 and went 6-5 with a 5.93 ERA (47 ER/71.1 IP) with 88 hits (18 HR), 48 total runs, 13 walks, and 50 strikeouts last season. He was limited to 14 starts due to three stints on the Injured List and didn’t pitch after July 28. The right-hander posted a 3.00 ERA (6 ER/18.0 IP) in three starts before his first placement on the Injured List and had a 4.08 mark (24 ER/53.0 IP) in his first nine starts through June 11.

Eflin was acquired by Baltimore from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for three minor league players on July 26, 2024. He is 11-7 with a 4.48 ERA (63 ER/126.1 IP) in 23 career starts with the O’s and 68-67 with a 4.28 ERA (511 ER/1,073.2 IP) in 200 appearances (188 GS) over 10 major league seasons between the Philadelphia Phillies, Rays, and Orioles. Since he made his MLB debut in 2016, his 4.9 percent walk rate is the third best among pitchers during that time (min. 900.0 IP) behind Miles Mikolas (4.4%) and Zack Greinke (4.8%). The Orlando, Fla. native was originally selected by the San Diego Padres in the supplemental first round (33rd overall) of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft out of Paul J. Hagerty (FL) High School.

To make room on the 40-man roster, outfielder WILL ROBERTSON has been designated for assignment. The Orioles’ 40-man roster currently has 40 players.

I’ve reached that time of the year, near the end of it, when I’m asked to supply Orioles information to a national publication.

The early deadline makes it almost impossible to be completely accurate when checking back later. The roster isn’t set. It's gotten closer, but president of baseball operations/general manager Mike Elias has more work to do.

Elias signed veteran starter Charlie Morton, reliever Andrew Kittredge and outfielder Dylan Carlson in January 2025, outfielder Ramón Laureano a month later and veteran starter Kyle Gibson in March.

The doors were blown off my report on Feb. 1, 2024 when Elias traded for ace Corbin Burnes.

Much, much too late for a rewrite.

September, 2025 showcased exactly what the Orioles had hoped for: Coby Mayo showed flashes of being an everyday player. 

Ryan Mountcastle’s injury and Ryan O’Hearn’s new home in San Diego meant that Mayo had the keys to first base after the trade deadline. After recording just 12 hits in 25 games in August, the Florida native flipped a switch along with the calendar. 

In those 24 September contests, Mayo slapped 22 hits, eight of which went for extra bases. The result was a batting average over .300 and a .941 OPS in the month, showcasing why he had been such a highly-touted prospect across baseball. 

Mayo seemed primed to man first in Baltimore for seasons to come. That is, until Pete Alonso came to town. 

It’s not every offseason that you have the opportunity to acquire a player capable of playing all 162 games, mashing 40 home runs and driving in 125 teammates, but that’s what Alonso brings to Baltimore. Mayo very well could turn into that kind of player in the future, but the Orioles are aware of their current window of opportunity.