For anyone still processing what happened with the Orioles last week … Ryan Noda stayed in the organization after clearing waivers.

We don’t know what’s going on with catchers Maverick Handley and Drew Romo after they were designated for assignment.

There’s a little more to talk about, of course. The Orioles have a new first baseman. The buzz hasn’t faded.

Let’s keep the discussion going.

* Pete Alonso’s homework on the Orioles extended to a ballpark where he played 10 games as a visitor, resulting in three doubles, five home runs and 11 RBIs.

When a series of events unfolds as they did for the Orioles at the Winter Meetings and in the days that followed, there’s almost too much to digest. It’s like devouring a holiday feast but not having to adjust the holes in your belt.

Fans are hoping that their team keeps behaving like gluttons.

Beyond the minor league depth moves, the Orioles have signed outfielder Leody Taveras to a $2 million contract, traded for reliever Andrew Kittredge and power-hitting outfielder Taylor Ward, signed closer Ryan Helsley to a two-year, $28 million contract with an opt-out, and secured power-hitting first baseman Pete Alonso with a five-year, $155 million contract.

It’s the second week in December.

Alonso’s deal includes a $12.5 million signing bonus and an $18.5 million salary in 2026, followed by payments of $31 million in each of the next four seasons. He can receive award bonuses and has no-trade protection that allows him to reject eight clubs.

The Winter Meetings have come and gone, and not much has changed for the Nationals since they traded Jose A. Ferrer to the Mariners last weekend before heading to Orlando.

We did, however, see some changes across baseball’s greater landscape, most notably the Orioles signing first base slugger Pete Alonso to a five-year, $155 million contract. That was one of the first major dominoes to fall this offseason, with many more now to follow.

New president of baseball operations Paul Toboni didn’t leave the Winter Meetings with a splashy free agent signing nor another trade completed. He used the week to lay down groundwork for the deals he’ll make between now and the start of spring training.

But with other moves from around the league, we can now speculate on possible avenues he could pursue to fill out the 2026 roster.

After Wednesday’s blockbuster news of Alonso signing with the Orioles, a train of thought led to the possibility of the first-ever trade between the Nats and O’s.

The Nationals agreed to terms on a 2026 contract with Josiah Gray on Friday, avoiding arbitration with the right-hander, who is attempting to make it back from major elbow surgery.

Gray agreed to a deal that will pay him $1.35 million, a source familiar with the terms confirmed, matching his salary from this season. The vast majority of players who are arbitration-eligible receive raises through the process, but he was unlikely to be awarded one because he did not pitch at all in the majors in 2025.

Had the two sides not been able to agree to a salary on their own, they would’ve needed to file for arbitration next month, submitting competing offers and then making their cases before a three-judge panel in February.

Gray joins catcher Riley Adams ($1 million) as players who have avoided arbitration with the Nationals so far. They are still attempting to work out deals with five other arbitration-eligible players: second baseman Luis García Jr., shortstop CJ Abrams, left-hander MacKenzie Gore and right-handers Jake Irvin and Cade Cavalli.

An All-Star in 2023 and the team’s Opening Day starter the following season, Gray hasn’t pitched in a big league game since April 4, 2024, after which he reported forearm soreness. Initially diagnosed with a flexor strain, he was back pitching in minor league rehab games two months later and appeared to be on the verge of coming off the injured list when he reported new soreness in his elbow following a June 30 start with Triple-A Rochester.

The Orioles went into the Winter Meetings with a full 40-man roster and kept it that way. They just changed some of the names.

The big one, of course, is first baseman Pete Alonso, with the ink now dried on a five-year, $155 million contract. To make room, the Orioles designated catcher Maverick Handley for assignment.

"I think as the free agent process, once that kind of starts, you really kind of don’t know what’s going to happen," Alonso said at yesterday's introductory press conference. "It’s this weird baseball limbo. But then as you start to sit down and really start to think about things, you kind of have some time to really reflect. As the offseason progressed, realistically, as we got further along, this partnership to me, it was just head and shoulders above everybody else. This park, this city, this team, this organization, everything combined, everything just clicked. And for me, it was the perfect fit, not just as a player but for family life, too.

"I could go up and down a laundry list of things, there were just so many boxes, and every single box this place checked. For us, we’re just so pleased, and for this organization to see me, not just in the now but in the future, I mean, it’s such a blessing. I can’t wait to play, I can’t wait to perform, I can’t wait to win games.”

Switch-hitting catcher Drew Romo was a DFA victim Wednesday, which led to the understandable assumption that the Orioles were clearing a spot for Alonso. But no. They claimed left-hander Josh Walker on waivers from the Braves, bringing him back to the organization.

With a new president of baseball operations and a new manager, there were no shortage of Nationals-related topics to bring up at the Winter Meetings this week. Paul Toboni and Blake Butera were peppered with all sorts of questions during their three days in Orlando, and while some of those garnered the immediate headlines, a few more didn’t make the first cut.

With that in mind, let’s go back through the notebook and present Toboni and Butera’s thoughts on some other topics we didn’t get to earlier in the week …

* While we did print their answers to questions about the possibility of trading CJ Abrams, we didn’t get to the question of what position the new brain trust expects him to play if he’s not dealt this winter.

Abrams’ defensive struggles this season were well-documented. Of the 22 major league shortstops who played enough innings to qualify, he ranked 19th in Defensive Runs Saved (minus-6), 20th in Outs Above Average (minus-11) and 21st in Fangraphs’ all-encompassing defensive metric (minus-3.2).

Much of those negative numbers came during a particularly rough second half. After committing nine errors in his first 89 games, Abrams was charged with 13 over his final 53 games (including four during a five-day span in September).

To make a big splash at the Winter Meetings, the Orioles shed their conservative ways and took the Polar Bear Plunge.

The reception from the industry and fan base was anything but chilly.

Pete Alonso passed his physical and signed his five year, $155 million contract, giving the Orioles an infield composed entirely of Scott Boras clients – Alonso at first base, Jackson Holliday at second, Gunnar Henderson at shortstop and Jordan Westburg at third.

Long gone are the days when the Orioles hated to deal with Boras and tried to avoid negotiating with him – at any cost.

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias, appearing as a call-in guest last night on the “Orioles Hot Stove Show,” explained how quickly the deal came together.

ORLANDO – The Orioles looked like they were going to complete the most eventful Winter Meetings without actually doing anything.

They were rumored to be on just about every free agent, and certainly the most expensive. They offered designated hitter Kyle Schwarber $150 million over five years, but the Phillies matched it and got him. They remained in the hunt for outfielders Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger, the former ranked No. 1 on every board with a projected cost in the neighborhood of $400 million over 11 years. They were serious enough about first baseman Pete Alonso to schedule a face-to-face meeting and be viewed by at least a few industry folks as the dark horse pick to sign him.

I go back to an observation, which I shared yesterday morning, that Alonso was going to fall in their laps. My advice: Always wear a cup.

This is a monumental statement from the Orioles, who went from back-to-back playoff appearances to last place and a decline in attendance.

Alonso’s deal is the second-largest financial commitment made by the Orioles after Chris Davis’ seven-year, $161 million contract in 2016 that kept him in Baltimore. Adam Jones received a six-year, $85.5 million extension in 2012.

The Orioles today announced that they have agreed to terms with first baseman PETE ALONSO on a five-year major league contract for the 2026-30 seasons.

Alonso, 31, is a five-time All-Star, 2025 Silver Slugger Award winner, and 2019 National League Rookie of the Year, all over a seven-year career with the New York Mets. He slashed .272/.347/.524 (170-for-624) with 41 doubles, one triple, 38 home runs, 87 runs scored, and 126 RBI in 162 games last season, setting career highs in hits and doubles. Alonso became the first player in Mets franchise history to play in 162 games twice and has played 416 consecutive games since 2023, the second-longest active streak in the majors behind Atlanta’s Matt Olson (783 G).

Alonso became the Mets’ franchise leader in home runs after hitting his 253^rd on August 12, 2025 vs. Atlanta. He also ranks among franchise leaders with 712 RBI (3^rd), 655 extra-base hits (4^th), and 580 runs (8^th). The first baseman is one of six active players with five or more seasons of at least 35 home runs and joins Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber and New York-AL’s Aaron Judge as the only players in the majors since 2019 with five or more seasons of 35+ homers. His 264 career home runs are ninth-most in major league history through a player’s first 1,008 big league games and are the third-most by a player in his first seven big league seasons behind Ralph Kiner (294 HR) and Albert Pujols (282 HR). Since debuting in 2019, he’s driven in an MLB-high 712 runs, 33 more than any other player during that time.

Alonso was the Mets’ 2021 Roberto Clemente Award nominee, presented annually to recognize the MLB player who best represents the game through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy, and positive contributions, both on and off the field. He and his wife, Haley, founded The Alonso Foundation in 2020, a non-profit dedicated to supporting the community through advocacy, grants, and programs. The Alonso Foundation advocates for underserved groups through the support of youth causes, animal welfare, veterans, and more.

The Tampa, Fla. native was originally selected by the Mets in the second round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Florida. Alonso and his wife reside in Tampa, Fla. with their son.

As first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan and confirmed by Roch Kubatko and others, there’s a Polar Bear coming to Baltimore. 

What exactly does Pete Alonso bring to the table?

Most evidently, pop. Alonso is one of the best power bats that the game has to offer. Since entering the league in 2019, a season in which he led all of baseball with 53 longballs, Alonso has the third-most home runs of any player, trailing only Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber, and the most runs driven in with 712. 

He’s not just a power hitter, either. Last season, his .272 batting average was 16th-best in the National League, and his .347 on-base percentage was 21st. While he did strike out 162 times, his 22.8 percent strikeout rate was only slightly below league average.

While that batting average was 20 points higher than his career average, his underlying metrics would suggest that it was no fluke. 

Paul Toboni and Blake Butera each had attended several previous Winter Meetings in their roles with the Red Sox and Rays, respectively. Toboni had participated in high-level meetings in the organization’s suite, during which free agents were signed and trades were completed. Butera had met with fellow minor league managers and farm directors, and had even been one of the club representatives sitting at Tampa Bay’s table at the annual Rule 5 Draft.

Neither man, however, had ever been in these kind of positions of authority. Toboni had never been the one giving the final green light on a trade, nor led the meetings with top agents like Scott Boras. Butera had never been interviewed by reporters, nor asked to pose for photos with the likes of Terry Francona and Dave Roberts.

This week’s event in Orlando was both familiar and unfamiliar to the two 30-somethings now controlling the fate of the Nationals.

Asked if this feels different from his previous times attending the Winter Meetings, Butera smiled and said: “It does. One hundred percent.”

This felt decidedly different for the Nationals as a whole. The last time someone other than Mike Rizzo led baseball operations at the meetings was 2008. The last time someone other than Davey Martinez held a managerial press conference at the event was 2016.

ORLANDO, Fla. – The new Nationals front office’s first Rule 5 Draft pick is an experienced right-hander with elite stuff and high strikeout numbers, but a penchant for walking batters at an alarming rate.

Paul Toboni and Co. decided to take a shot at Griff McGarry, a University of Virginia graduate who spent the last five seasons climbing the ladder in the Phillies’ farm system but never got a shot in the majors because of his inability to consistently throw strikes.

McGarry, 26, was selected with the third pick in this afternoon’s Rule 5 Draft, behind fellow righties RJ Petit (Rockies) and Jedixson Paez (White Sox). The Nationals will give him a shot to make the Opening Day roster, then hope to keep him on the major league roster the entire season without offering him back to Philadelphia.

“The stuff stands out, the velocity,” manager Blake Butera said. “I’ve also heard, even since we just took him, some people have reached out to say what kind of kid he is, what kind of worker he is. We’re just excited to get somebody with that kind of stuff, obviously coming from a great organization. And you build in the work ethic and the character, it seems like a pretty good fit.”

The good with McGarry: His mid-to-upper 90s fastball, and multiple sharp breaking balls, all rate as elite pitches according to advanced metrics. Across 287 minor league innings since 2021, he has allowed only 182 hits while striking out 420 batters. His 13.34 strikeouts per nine innings this season ranked fourth across the entirety of Minor League Baseball, and the Phillies named him their organizational pitcher of the year.

ORLANDO – It wasn’t just talk.

And these weren't just another Winter Meetings for the Orioles.

The club is finalizing a five-year, $155 million contract with first baseman Pete Alonso, pending the results of a physical. A source has confirmed the agreement.

President of baseball operations/general manager Mike Elias sought a big bat and didn’t care about the position, in this case the crowd at first base. He also sought a clubhouse leader for a team relying so heavily on its young core.

Those boxes are checked.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Claimed LHP Josh Walker off waivers from the Atlanta Braves.
• Designated C Drew Romo for assignment.

The Orioles’ 40-man roster currently has 40 players.

The Washington Nationals selected right-handed pitcher Griff McGarry in the first round of the 2025 Major League Rule 5 Draft. Nationals President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni made the announcement.

McGarry, 26, ranked fourth in Minor League Baseball with 13.34 strikeouts per 9.0 innings (min. 80.0 IP) and fourth in the Philadelphia Phillies Minor League system with 124 strikeouts en route to being named 2025 Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Year. He went 2-5 with a 3.44 ERA and a .180 opponents’ batting average in 21 starts between Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Double-A Reading and Single-A Clearwater. From Aug. 1 through the end of the season, McGarry pitched to a 2.34 ERA (11 ER/42.1 IP) with 70 strikeouts and a .166 opponents’ average in nine starts.

Selected in the fifth round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Virginia, McGarry has posted 13.17 strikeouts per 9.0 innings and a .182 opponents’ batting average in five professional seasons. His strikeouts per 9.0 innings mark ranks third in all of Minor League Baseball, and his opponents’ average is good for fourth over that span (min. 250.0 IP).

In 2022, McGarry ranked among Phillies Minor Leaguers in strikeouts (3^rd, 130) and innings pitched (8^th, 87.1). He began his career as a starter before transitioning to the bullpen in 2024. McGarry returned to the starting rotation in 2025. He is 10-17 with a 4.14 ERA in 103 career games (61 starts).

McGarry is a native of San Francisco, Calif., and graduated from Menlo-Atherton High School. He was selected in the 31^st round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft but chose to attend the University of Virginia where he graduated with a degree in American studies.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Though most mentions of the Nationals at these Winter Meetings have focused on the players they may be willing to trade, for the record they are in fact also looking to add players via free agency.

“Absolutely, and those conversations have been going for some days, weeks now,” president of baseball operations Paul Toboni said Tuesday evening. “But you know how it is: Once the Winter Meetings get rolling, especially day two, some of these deals start to come through. I will say it’s moving a little bit slower, for whatever reason. But we’ll see how these next couple days go.”

Tuesday saw major free agent news involving two other teams in the National League East. The Phillies re-signed Kyle Schwarber for five years and $150 million, locking the slugger up through his age-38 season. The Mets lost longtime closer Edwin Diaz to the Dodgers, who were willing to pay the soon-to-be 32-year-old $69 million over three seasons. And shortly before midnight, old pal Kyle Finnegan re-signed with the Tigers for two years and $19 million.

Whether those deals open the floodgates for others remains to be seen. The meetings conclude this afternoon with the Rule 5 Draft, so time is running out for teams to finalize deals before leaving town. Then again, the meetings often serve merely as a forum for executives and agents to meet in person and lay the groundwork for agreements that come later in the offseason.

Toboni and his new-look front office have met with several agents and discussed several free agents while here. They aren’t expected to get involved in long-term, high-dollar sweepstakes, but they acknowledge there are specific areas of need they intend to address via the open market.

ORLANDO – Having Kyle Schwarber come off the board yesterday is expected to create the proverbial domino effect, which is a popular phrase at the Winter Meetings. A highly sought free agent reaches agreement on a contract and others begin to move, as well.

The Orioles could play their own version of the game.

They had serious interest in Schwarber, enough that they offered the same five years and $150 million that he accepted from the Phillies, as first reported by The Athletic and confirmed by an industry source, and plugging a designated hitter into the lineup would have led to some sort of trade. The same is true if they sign an outfielder or first baseman, and they remain linked to both Kyle Tucker and Pete Alonso.

According to another industry source, the Orioles were given a final chance at Schwarber if they attached an extra year to their offer. Schwarber turns 33 in March.

Agent Scott Boras had quips for days but didn’t bite when asked which teams were meeting with Alonso. The Orioles were reported to be in that group.

ORLANDO, Fla. – For the second time in three years, the Nationals entered the MLB Draft Lottery knowing they were ineligible for one of the top picks. And for the second time in three years, they learned after the fact they would’ve emerged with one of the top picks if not for the event’s convoluted rules.

The Nats will hold the No. 11 overall pick in the 2026 Draft, a position that was already sealed but became official tonight with the completion of the fourth annual Draft Lottery at the Winter Meetings. But had they been eligible, they would’ve been awarded the No. 2 pick after their combination of ping pong balls was drawn shortly after the White Sox’s combination was drawn for the No. 1 pick.

According to Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper, the designated pool reporter witnessing the actual lottery held several hours prior to the televised event, the Nationals’ combination of balls actually came up in four of the first nine draws. Each time, they were ruled ineligible, and another draw was made.

Why were they ineligible? The rules MLB established when creating the lottery in 2022 say that no team may participate in the lottery three consecutive years, and no team that is designated as a revenue-sharing payor (as opposed to receiver) may participate in the lottery in back-to-back years.

Because the Nats won the 2024 lottery – securing the No. 1 pick they would use to draft shortstop Eli Willits – and because they’re considered a revenue-sharing payor, they were ineligible this year. Despite finishing with the majors’ third-worst record, they could only pick 11th in next summer’s Draft. (They will, however, hold the third pick from the second through the 20th rounds.)

ORLANDO – The Orioles couldn’t beat their odds in tonight’s Draft Lottery.

Given the fourth-best chance to earn the No. 1 selection at 9.24 percent, they had to settle for receiving the seventh pick in July. The White Sox choose first, followed by the Rays, Twins, Giants, Pirates and Royals.

This will be the fourth time that the Orioles hold the seventh-overall selection and the first since taking outfielder Nick Markakis in 2003. Markakis is in their Hall of Fame and appears on the ballot this year for Cooperstown.

They’ve gotten the first pick on three occasions, selecting pitcher Ben McDonald in 1989, catcher Adley Rutschman in 2019 and infielder Jackson Holliday in 2022.

“Didn’t have a huge reaction, honestly,” said Will Robertson, the club’s vice president of domestic scouting. “I mean, it’s so out of our control. Obviously, higher is better, so would have loved to have seen a better number, but we just can control what we can control.”

The Orioles know how to draft. 

The 2019 class, the first in the Mike Elias era, produced a Rookie of the Year Award winner and a runner-up with a combined 36.5 bWAR in their careers, plus some key trade pieces. In 2020, they found another All-Star. The 2021 draft brought another Rookie of the Year runner-up and 2022 produced the highest-ranked prospect in baseball. You get the point. 

A down 2025 at the big league level was, of course, disappointing, but it did bring some benefits. At the trade deadline, Baltimore was able to reload a farm system that had been running thinner than usual due to promotions and trades. Tonight, the O’s reaped another reward: a high draft pick. 

Entering the evening, Baltimore had the fourth-best odds at landing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. All non-playoff teams are eligible for the Draft Lottery, and three teams with a worse winning percentage than the Orioles were ineligible based on past drafts. The O’s benefited. 

So, at pick No. 7, Baltimore has another golden opportunity to add to their impressive draft record. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the (very early) top players in next year’s draft class.