The Orioles delivered a powerful one-two prospect punch in August, selecting outfielder Dylan Beavers’ contract from Triple-A Norfolk on the 16^th and catcher Samuel Basallo’s contract the following day.

How often have two such highly anticipated promotions happened in such a short span?

MLB Pipeline ranked Beavers No. 3 in the organization and 83^rd overall. Basallo remains No. 1 in the system and seventh overall. Both players retain their rookie eligibility in 2026 by staying under the 45-day, 130 at-bat thresholds.

The announcements came while the Orioles were in Houston, on the same trip when rookie Brandon Young retired the first 23 batters in his 11^th major league start.

What a weekend.

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? 

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.

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 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.

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

The next big move for the Orioles remains on hold since they traded for Rays starter Shane Baz. They might not strike again until 2026.

What else is in store before Opening Day is the most popular question among fans and media. Rank it No. 1, like the starter who could walk through the door.

We’ve addressed several topics, including how the Orioles will jam five starters into the rotation with multiple newcomers expected, who’s the leadoff hitter, whether Tyler O’Neill can extend his record for most Opening Day home runs in a row, will there be innings limits on some starters coming back from surgery (this one was asked before the Grayson Rodriguez trade), whether Albert Suárez would re-sign (he did), which starters could move to the bullpen, whether Trevor Rogers can match his 2025 dominance, which starter will lead the staff in innings, what’s next for Heston Kjerstad, who gets protected in the Rule 5 draft (Anthony Nunez, Cameron Foster and Reed Trimble), how the Orioles round out the rest of their coaching staff, will Coby Mayo play other positions besides first base, and whether Leody Taveras makes the Opening Day roster.

Among the quicker hits from a few days ago were the following:

Who is the next starting pitcher acquired by Mike Elias and will he come via free agency or trade, what’s the order in the rotation, does another new starter bump Tyler Wells to a relief role, what other moves will be made, with the expectation that Elias isn’t done with the bullpen or finding some role players, are a utility infielder and third catcher necessities, will Elias trade from the major league roster, who’s vulnerable to come off the 40-man roster, is Colton Cowser the center fielder on Opening Day, does Tyler Ward remain a middle-of-the-order bat, which non-roster players receive invites to spring training, and which ones have a real shot to make the club, and will the payroll exceed the approximately $164.6 million from Opening Day.

Outbidding other teams to sign first baseman Pete Alonso would have qualified as wishful thinking back in the day.

On this day, it remains a reality for the Orioles. They did it.

Shoppers are forming lines to return holiday gifts. Not every wish is granted. But the Orioles don’t want any refunds. They’re thrilled to go into the New Year with Alonso, Taylor Ward, Ryan Helsley, Shane Baz and Andrew Kittredge.

They also have center fielder Leody Taveras on a $2 million contract. He was the offseason’s first significant signing for the Orioles, with the deal finalized on Nov. 5.

Taveras is penciled into the outfield with Ward, Colton Cowser, Tyler O’Neill and Dylan Beavers. Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias isn’t done checking the market, especially center fielders, which would enlarge the crowd and raise questions about Taveras.

The day has arrived for many of us when the angst over getting ready for the Christmas holiday is replaced by the angst over making it through the Christmas holiday.

I recommend a discreet exit to the bedroom and a few minutes screaming into a pillow. Don’t return to your guests until the redness has left your face.

Fa la la la la …

Orioles fans already received a middle-of-the-order, five-time All-Star for first base, a closer who led the majors in saves in 2024, a power-hitting corner outfielder who set career highs this year in doubles, home runs and RBIs but could bat leadoff in some lineups, and a starting pitcher for the middle or back end of the rotation with a big arm, high ceiling and three years of controllability.

Other gifts should arrive after the last of the wrapping paper is balled up and tossed into the trash and leftovers are packed into plastic to-go containers that you’ll never get back.

Would the Orioles dare to make a roster move on the day before Christmas?

There are no organizational rules against it. President of baseball operations/general manager Mike Elias won’t silence the ringer on his phone.

It didn’t happen last year. They signed three players to minor league deals on Dec. 23 – pitchers Matt Bowman and Gerald Ogando and outfielder Jordyn Adams. And they traded first baseman Lewin Díaz to the Braves for cash considerations on Dec. 23, 2022, during that weird stretch where they’d lose him and take him back. It felt like a toxic relationship.

Catcher Lians Beato signed a minor league contract on Christmas Day 2018. Gift exchanges weren’t paused and he never made it past the Dominican Summer League.

You must go back to 2014 to find the last Christmas Eve transaction, when the Orioles signed left-hander Cesar Cabral to a minor league deal. They claimed catcher Ryan Lavarnway on waivers from the Cubs the previous day.

The Orioles succeeded in trading for a starting pitcher without losing anyone from the major league roster or on the threshold of joining it.

Does that desire change in future deals?

President of baseball operations/general manager Mike Elias spoke Saturday in a video call about “steering more toward guys that were recently drafted or a draft pick itself.” He veered in a different direction than other executives who also wanted Rays starter Shane Baz.

The odds of winning remain higher by refusing to strip away talent that could be needed in 2026. Makes sense when you put it that way. Don’t potentially weaken one area to strengthen another. But Elias could reach the point where he dips into the excess, if that’s how he views it.

This roster has four first basemen if you include catcher Samuel Basallo’s second position. Pete Alonso has played in 162 games in each of the past two years and never fewer than 152 in six full seasons. He’s a $155 million roadblock.

Grayson Rodriguez is probably sitting at home wondering how he got dragged into another trade.

Rodriguez has one of his own, with the Orioles sending him to the Angels a month ago for power-hitting outfielder Taylor Ward. The former top pitching prospect is gone but far from forgotten.

Rodriguez’s name keeps coming up in discussions and analysis of the Shane Baz deal with the Rays. Similar ceilings and injury histories, though Baz returned from ligament-reconstructive surgery on his right elbow to make 31 starts last season.

The last Rodriguez start happened on July 31, 2024. His record improved to 13-4 after he allowed three earned runs (four total) in six innings and struck out eight Blue Jays in a 10-4 win.

Craig Kimbrel and Burch Smith covered the last two innings. James McCann was behind the plate. Cristian Pache was a defensive replacement in right field. Times were good.