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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 time 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.
He spoke Friday like a man who wants to plant roots here.
“For me, I’ve played on a couple winning teams, and yes, you need talent, you need especially some young guys and a mix of veterans, and you need commitment from top to bottom,” he said. “For me, there was no hesitation at all. It was like, ‘Yep, that’s the team. Yep, these are the people. Yep, Baltimore’s it.’”
Alonso sent a text message to his wife Haley that read, “This is going to be the place for us. This is the place that really wants us. And this team, this organization, this is going to be it.”
She replied, “OK, let’s do it.”
“For us, I can’t speak to how much gratitude we have,” he said. “But again, we want to make good on it. I’m going to take care of things on the field, win as many ballgames as possible and hold up a trophy at the end of the year, and immerse ourselves in the community.”
President of baseball operations/general manager Mike Elias set his goals for the offseason and plugging a potent bat into the middle of the lineup was near or at the top of the list. He wanted to lift some pressure from the young core, as it’s referred to in pretty much every article or conversation. He needed a hitter who was less prone to slumps and more inclined to launch home runs, play every day and carry the team on his shoulders when necessary.
“Well, you don’t know if you're going to get somebody of his caliber to add to your lineup,” Elias said at the press conference. “That's hard to do in any offseason. There's very few available. I think he's played in five All-Star Games and hit 30-plus homers or something like that every season of his career, and many of them were 40 or 50, and his RBI total … I mean, just what he's done is really special and really hard to get your hands on. So you view it as an opportunity when a player like that is a free agent, period.
“We have had a young core and that continues to be the backbone of the team, but Pete's a young guy himself, first of all, but also he's had more experience than our players. He's played the big leagues longer, he's been in New York City, he's been in the playoffs, he's had success in playoffs. So that's really important I think to our position-player side and, apart from the production that we expect from him on the field, we're going to be getting that behind the scenes.”
Alonso can lead by voice and also by actions. He’s played in 162 games in each of the past two years and averaged 158.5 in his six full major league seasons. Teammates won’t be pushed to duplicate his schedule, but he sets a wonderful example. Watch and learn.
This is reminiscent of pitchers marveling at Corbin Burnes’ preparation and obsession with every little detail while throwing in Sarasota.
“I'm a worker. It doesn't matter,” Alonso said.
“That's one of the things I pride myself in. That's why I'm able to play every day, and I think for me, I like diving into the work and having the desire to get better and be the best. And pretty much for me, I hate not knowing what my ceiling is and that's why I work. I want to be the best I possibly can be and I want to be the best. So I'm always going to work. I'm always going to strive to be the best, make adjustments, adapt and do what I can to really deliver on a daily basis.
“I think defense, and whether it be defense, baserunning, there's so many different ways to win a ballgame. And I know everyone, yeah, when you think of me, you think of me hitting. But for me, I really take pride in doing the little things to win a game, whether it be going from first to third, whether it be advancing on a kind of an in-between read from second to third to get to third base with less than two outs, or getting to second where it's kind of one of those hustle-double situations. But there's so many different ways to win a game and defense is one of those, whether it be making a pick, making a play in the hole, giving a good feed. I just want to play my part. I want to play my part the best I possibly can for the whole picture, because it takes not just nine guys, it takes so many different people to win a ballgame, and I just want to be the best I can every single day.”
How’s that for leadership?
“When I kind of reflect on the season for the O's in '25, what I notice is not everyone was healthy all at the same time. And obviously there's some people, some pretty key components that missed time, whether it be arms, whether it be position players, and that's important,” Alonso said.
“You need to have your guys healthy as long as possible. I think that played a huge part in it. But for me, I think how I can lead and how I can kind of just give little nuggets of wisdom and information, but whether people want to take it or not, that's fine. I want to be able to at least provide some insight, because I feel like I have a good amount of experience, and I want to be able to kind of help people along. I know there's a couple other veterans in the clubhouse that will assist me in that.”
The Mets re-signed Alonso to a two-year, $54 million contract in February 2025 and gave him an opt-out clause that he exercised. A second shot at free agency landed him a much sweeter deal.
“For me, every offseason, it's interesting,” he said. “As you kind of step into free agency, you're just kind of, 'All right, let's see what happens.' Whatever unfolds, you have to make the best of the situation. Last year, I feel like it was still a great situation. But for me, I think ultimately this year has just been such a tremendous process.
“The way that it happened, it was perfect, it was absolutely perfect, and I wouldn't change anything for the world. This is beyond special. I know I'm kind of saying the same thing over and over again, but I can't express enough gratitude and appreciation for how this has been, and I just want to hit the fast forward button for whenever spring training starts in February, because this is going to be a really special group.
“This season is going to be great, but I feel like not just this one, but as long as I'm here, I'm really excited for the future, not just for myself, but for this team, this town, this sport.”
This just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?
No right-handed hitter has homered onto Eutaw Street in the ballpark’s history. Alonso possesses tremendous power, of course. And he’d enjoy being the first.
“I mean, why not, why not?” he said. “I mean, yeah, that’d be great. Obviously, I’ve got to get a pitch to do it. And yeah, hopefully it happens. That would be great.”
Doing it would make him worthy of a few more billboards downtown.
