Hot topics after Orioles finish 2025 season

NEW YORK – The real work begins today.

Games are done until spring training and they won’t become official until March 26, when the Orioles play the Twins at Camden Yards. But the team must be rebuilt and rebooted. A repeat of 2025 won’t suffice. Anything close to it could spark an overhaul.

The Orioles will reach important dates in the offseason, including the GM and winter meetings, the start of free agency, exercising or declining options, and the non-tender and Rule 5 deadlines. Busy hands will reshape the roster.

This could be the most active offseason in a while. What just transpired was too traumatic to tweak.

Players will trust the process, as usual.

“It’s such a cliché answer, such a media answer, but it’s kind of like, I don’t like playing GM,” said pitcher Tyler Wells. “Mike (Elias) is really good at that stuff, Sig (Mejdal) is really good at that stuff, and I think that they definitely have a better approach to it than I ever would.

“Do I think there are pieces that we will probably add? For sure. Just how much activity we will actually have, I couldn’t tell you. I think we’ve seen that in the past. We’ve made unexpected moves and then we’ve made expected moves. Baseball’s kind of a crazy game where there’s a lot of unexpected that happens, and sometimes even the expected doesn’t happen. It’s very difficult to track that way. But I will say we have faith in Mike and the front office to make really good decisions, and I think ultimately they probably see it the way we see it right where, where we’re just looking for some consistent play.”

Elias will have his annual end-of-season press conference today, providing the latest opportunity to review everything that went wrong. He’s done it multiple times already – in dugout scrums and at Samuel Basallo’s presser to announce the rookie catcher’s contract extension.

Injuries devastated the club. Some players regressed. Not enough advancement from the core group. Rotten luck. Tough division. Elias will take responsibility for moves that didn’t pan out. Ownership support will be mentioned, which includes the green light to spend without handcuffing the franchise.

Far more interesting will be, among other things:

Details about the Elias promotion and working with a new general manager.

Elias went from executive vice president/general manager to president of baseball operations and general manager. The immediate assumption is that the Orioles will hire a GM, but it’s in his title – perhaps temporarily - so we need clarification.

Also, how would Elias coexist with a GM? Does he still have final say over every roster move? How are the jobs separated?

The club didn’t announce the promotion, but Elias’ title appeared in a recent news release and it’s changed in the staff listing.

What’s happening with Tony Mansolino and the managerial position.

Mansolino says he hasn’t been told of any decisions regarding his future. He’s waiting to find out if he’s full-time manager, going back to a coaching role or updating his resume.

“I’m confident in the opportunity to stay here in one form or another,” he said yesterday during his final pregame scrum, at least for 2025. “I think it’s gone really great. But I understand how this business is. You don’t ever put the cart ahead of the horse. There’s no changing that as a coach.

“I’m probably a little more scarred than most coaches because I grew up and watched my dad’s career and how that went. So I never make an assumption that I’m gonna be somewhere next year, whether you have a contract to do it or whether you don’t. I just make the assumption that every year is very year-to-year in a lot of ways and you hope you do a good job and you hope that people recognize it, and you hope that the chips fall in the right places. And if they do and you get to come back, you’re thankful for it because coaches aren’t guaranteed a thing in this game, and it’s sad that that’s how it is, but it’s been like that for 150 years and it’s not gonna change anytime soon. So you move forward with that mindset. And if you do, you’ll be fine.”

Mansolino managed in the Guardians’ system before the Orioles hired him as third base coach for the 2021 season. He didn’t expect to be in the dugout this summer. He didn’t imagine sitting behind Brandon Hyde’s old desk.

“It’s not an easy job in a lot of ways. It’s a challenge. But I will say this, I’ve learned a lot. I think you learn a lot in any job you’re doing in this game, and there’s certainly more lessons this year to take than there probably has been from previous years,” Mansolino said.

“What I have learned in this job is, you better be confident in this job and you better do your homework and you better be prepared and you better have a good understanding of what you want to do, and you better believe in it.”

Whether or not it works.

“I think if you have the confidence in yourself, and that comes from your homework and preparation and everything that you do,” Mansolino said, “then you’re gonna be at peace with however this thing goes. And I am.”

Players remain supportive of him, as they were with Hyde before the hammer fell.

“I think Manso’s handled it great,” Wells said. “Manso has always been a really good clubhouse guy as far as the relationships he’s had with players, the way that he communicates with players. And I think that for a lot of us, we didn’t like the situation that we kind of played ourselves into, and for him to be able to step into that role and handle it the way that he has has been great. And I think you can ask a lot of the guys in here, we all love Manso.

“We’ll see what happens there, but we really have a deep admiration for the way he’s handled it.”

“He stepped into a role and I think he did a great job,” said catcher Adley Rutschman. “He’s got great relationships with the guys in the locker room and does a great job talking with guys, knowing when to push and when to encourage, and he’s got a good feel for relationships with people and the way he goes about his business. So I think he’s done a great job.”

Roster priorities in free agency and on the trade market.

The Orioles will try to acquire at least one starter, and they could aim high in the hopes of landing a No. 1 or a pitcher to slot second behind Kyle Bradish. Anything they get from Grayson Rodriguez will be celebrated. Again, do not build plans around him. But envision how potent the rotation could be with him.

The bullpen is a mess after four trades and closer Félix Bautista’s shoulder surgery. Elias can talk about the options to find a ninth-inning specialist.

Is an outfield bat on the list? How about a utility infielder? Jeremiah Jackson is mainly a right fielder/third baseman. Versatility isn’t why he’s intriguing.

Will we see Ryan Mountcastle with the Orioles in 2026?

I’d be stunned if Elias volunteered that information.

Mountcastle made $6.787 million this season and he has one more raise coming before reaching free agency. The Orioles could nontender him and hand first base to Basallo and Coby Mayo.

They drafted Mountcastle 36^th overall in 2015 and watched him find a home at this fourth position, where he’s a two-time Gold Glove finalist. The offense comes in bursts. So do the injuries, just a run of bad luck.

“It’s gonna be one of my all-time favorite players that I’ve ever worked with for a lot of reasons,” Mansolino said. “In terms of his growth, I think he went from being kind of position-less to being a frontline defender at first base in this league. I think he’s a guy that still hasn’t tapped into his immense potential offensively. I think we’ve seen glimpses of it.

“I’m still hopeful that he’s going to find it in himself. You’re hopeful that it’s in the organization that raised him and kind of helped to lead him to his initial success in this game, but just like coaches, this business is tricky on players, too. There’s nothing guaranteed in this game for any of us, whether you’re a coach or a player. I hope that Mounty finds a home. Hopefully it’s here. If it’s not, hopefully it’s somewhere else. There’s gonna be a lot of people interested in the guy because of the skillset, because of the potential and because of some of the results that he’s had in this game.

“He’s been a really integral part of this organization turning into a winning organization and going through the lean years, and it’s somebody I love and somebody I’m very proud of.”

I think today is too soon for any roster decisions, which include Jorge Mateo’s $5.5 million option and whether Tyler O’Neill is opting out after making three stops on the injured list. He played in only 54 games and is expected to return.

An update on Heston Kjerstad.

The Orioles haven’t provided one since Kjerstad went on the Triple-A injured list with fatigue. His last game was July 25.

This feels like a delicate subject and the Orioles are handling it with care. But also, he was the second-overall pick in the 2020 draft and expected to play every day in right field. He hasn’t hit in the majors and struggled with Norfolk before the shutdown.

Kjerstad’s medical past, the myocarditis and concussion symptoms, add layers to the interest and concerns over his condition.