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The Orioles are just as busy making changes to their front office as they are the coaching staff and roster.
Matt Blood is receiving another promotion, according to sources, with a new title of vice president of player and staff development.
In his new role, Blood will continue to oversee all aspects of minor league player development and operations, but with duties expanded to provide executive support for manager Craig Albernaz in major league staff and player development, as well as supporting the sports medicine and performance departments.
The latest bump removes Blood’s title of vice president of player development and domestic scouting, which he held since October 2023.
The Orioles hired Blood in September 2019 as director of player development after he served as Rangers' director of baseball innovation. Blood had worked for three years as USA Baseball's director of the 18-and-under National Team Program, and he previously spent seven seasons as an area scout in the Cardinals organization, where he worked with Mike Elias.
The first Orioles front office promotion came over the spring when Elias was named president of baseball operations/general manager. He’s got a new assistant GM, with the Orioles promoting Brendan Fournie from senior director of baseball strategy and operations, per sources.
Fournie will oversee baseball economics, advanced scouting and salary arbitration, and also provide roster and transaction support.
At least four other promotions are known, according to sources.
Will Robertson is going from director of pro personnel to vice president of domestic scouting, Chad Tatum from manager of domestic scouting to assistant director of domestic scouting, Hendrik Herz from manager of domestic scouting analysis to assistant director of draft operations, and Kevin Carter from manager of pro scouting to assistant director of pro scouting.
Robertson will oversee domestic scouting and draft operations and work with Tatum, Herz and director of draft analytics Michael Weis.
The Orioles haven’t announced or confirmed their front office staffing.
* MLBTradeRumors.com ran its 20th annual top 50 free agents list, headed by outfielder Kyle Tucker, who’s projected to receive an 11-year, $400 million contract. Opinions vary among the staff, but everyone agrees that the Orioles aren’t in the running.
Four staff writers are predicting that Tucker signs with four different teams – the Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies and Giants. Shortstop Bo Bichette is ranked No. 2 and everyone has him staying in Toronto after rejecting the qualifying offer.
No. 3 is starter Dylan Cease, and MLBTradeRumors.com’s Anthony Franco has him going to the Orioles. The site projects a salary of $189 million over seven years. The Orioles don’t normally patrol such a rich neighborhood, let alone set up residency.
Durability and dominance make Cease, who turns 30 in December, one of the most attractive free agents on the market. He finished second in Cy Young voting in 2022 and fourth in 2024, but his ERA over the past four seasons has bounced from 2.20 to 4.58 to 3.47 to 4.55. He’s averaged 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings in his career, with a rate of 11.5 this year, but also 3.8 walks.
Cease has made at least 32 starts in the last five seasons but ranked 83rd in the majors this year, in a minimum of 100 innings, with 5.25 innings per start. He keeps taking the ball but doesn’t routinely go deep.
Even so, it’s fun to imagine a rotation that begins with Cease, Kyle Bradish and Trevor Rogers. The Orioles are expected to also acquire another starter for depth, but they’ve got Tyler Wells, Dean Kremer and Grayson Rodriguez as rotation pieces and also have Cade Povich and Brandon Young returning.
The more the merrier, but inflated numbers also provide the team with possible bullpen options. Wells will enter camp as a starter but could be used again in relief. Rodriguez hasn’t pitched since July 31, 2024.
I’d be surprised if the Orioles shove a hand that far into their deep pockets, but the possibility has more life under the new ownership.
The site’s Steve Adams has the Orioles signing left-hander Framber Valdez at $150 million for five years. Valdez, as pointed out in the article, ranks second to Logan Webb in regular-season innings since his 2021 season debut. He’s averaged 192 innings per year from 2022-25.
Being a groundball pitcher also makes him a good match at Camden Yards.
Cease and Valdez received qualifying offers, which comes with draft pick compensation.
Two of the four writers have the Orioles signing starter Michael King (four years, $80 million). He also comes with an attached qualifying offer, and some questions about his health after dealing with shoulder and knee injuries this summer that damaged his effectiveness.
King turns 31 in May, which also could impact his offers.
Also linked to the Orioles are starter Lucas Giolito (two years, $32 million), and relievers Raisel Iglesias (two years, $26 million), Luke Weaver (two years, $18 million), and Tyler Rogers (two years, $18 million).
* Baseball America is tracking the minor league free agents and lists the following Orioles:
RHP Shawn Dubin
RHP Logan Rinehart
RHP Houston Roth
RHP Thaddeus Ward
C Jakson Reetz
SS Noelberth Romero
SS Liván Soto
OF Mishael Deson
One of the bigger surprises for me in 2025 was Soto’s disappearance, with all 99 of his games played in the minors, including 96 with Triple-A Norfolk. He got into 12 with the Orioles in 2024 after the trade deadline.
Soto attended the Opening Day workout at Rogers Centre in Toronto, but Jorge Mateo occupied that locker after convincing the Orioles that he was ready physically. That was it for Soto after he hit .386 (17-for-44) with a .926 OPS in spring training.
