The Blue Jays finished in last place in 2024 and are headed to the World Series. They were the top seed in the American League, just like the Orioles in 2023.

The Orioles slipped to the top Wild Card the following year and all the way into the division basement this summer. They won 75 games, one more than Toronto in 2024.

Should parallels be paraded to fans praying for a prolific bounce back next season?

Payroll disparities can’t be ignored – the Blue Jays at almost $242 million on Opening Day and the Orioles at around $164 million.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. signed an extension in April for $500 million over 14 years and he was named Most Valuable Player in the Championship Series. George Springer signed a six-year, $150 million free-agent contract in January 2021 and his three-run homer in the seventh inning in Game 7 propelled the Blue Jays into the World Series.

Orioles 22-year-old minor league left-hander Luis De León pitched at three levels of the farm system this year, was selected for the Arizona Fall League and didn’t miss a beat.

De León, the 21^st-ranked prospect in the organization per MLB Pipeline, allowed an unearned run and one hit in four innings in his first AFL start with the Peoria Javelinas. He also struck out seven batters.

De León climbed from Class A Delmarva to High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Chesapeake, making three starts with the Baysox and allowing only three earned runs and striking out 24 in 16 innings. Overall, he posted a 3.30 ERA in 20 games this year, struck out 107 in 87 1/3 innings and didn’t surrender a home run.

A scout from outside the organization has watched De León multiple times, including the AFL start, and described him as “really exciting.”

“Really good (stuff),” he said. “Good fastball, a good slider, the changeup’s coming. Kind of gave him a chance at being a bottom-of-the-rotation type arm with upside. I think he’s gonna have to develop a fourth pitch, but he’s only 22.”

Ramón Urías appeared in 506 games with the Orioles over parts of six seasons. He played every position in the infield. Both of his managers praised his versatility and those stretches when he seemed like the only hot hitter in the lineup.

The trade deadline got him, too. Though under team control through 2026, Urías was dealt to the Astros for Class A pitcher Twine Palmer.

The roster priorities begin with pitching, both the rotation and bullpen, but the Orioles probably will check on infielders who can replicate Urías’ glove work. Jorge Mateo has a $5.5 million option in his contract that they could decline. Luis Vázquez has a great defensive reputation at shortstop but is 9-for-62 in the majors. His biggest contribution came on the mound with four scoreless relief appearances over 4 1/3 innings.

Jeremiah Jackson was head and shoulders above the other two, which got his foot in the door for 2026. He batted .276/.328/.447 with 10 doubles, two triples, five home runs and 21 RBIs in 48 games, but he doesn’t really fit the utility profile because his starts came at third base and in right field. He’s also made starts at shortstop and second base and in left and center field in the minors, but the Orioles don’t envision that kind of movement from him.

If the Orioles can’t make room on the roster for Jackson and a super-utility player, they could bank of the versatility of other infielders for coverage. Interim manager Tony Mansolino didn’t think that Jackson had to play shortstop in order to break camp with the team. They have backups, including Jackson Holliday, who handled the position while Gunnar Henderson was on the injured list.

The Orioles reach another milestone today with their last off-day in 2025.

We’re counting it.

The next break will extend through the winter and into spring training. There could be an instructional camp in January, but we’re not counting it.

Do the last six games on the schedule matter? Winning is better than losing – if we learned anything from Bull Durham – and therefore, yes, a team should keep fighting as a matter of pride and because it’s the job.

Beating the fourth-place Rays at Camden Yards, where their series begins Tuesday night, could lift the Orioles out of the basement. Beating the Yankees in the Bronx over the weekend won’t influence whether the front office is more active in the offseason or becomes convinced that they can contend. Just like losing three of four at Camden Yards doesn't lower their opinion.

The 2025 season hasn’t gone the way that anyone had hoped. 

At 73-81, the Orioles are likely on their way to a losing season, playing spoiler rather than contender. Just two active members of Baltimore’s roster have played more than 85 games, and only two pitchers have started more than 20 contests. 

Yet, despite disappointing results, there have been no shortage of positive stories. This week on “The Bird’s Nest,” we broke down some of our favorites. 

If you missed this week’s show, you can watch the full episode here: https://masn.me/v3mmyrwe. 

Trevor Rogers 

CHICAGO – The Orioles will go for their eighth sweep this afternoon as they wrap up their series against the White Sox.

Tyler Wells makes his third start after allowing three runs in 11 2/3 innings. He’s faced the White Sox twice in his career and surrendered five earned runs (six total) in 7 1/3 innings.

Jorge Mateo is in center field today and batting ninth. Jordan Westburg bats second and starts at third base.

Tyler O’Neill is the designated hitter. Jeremiah Jackson moves down to fifth in the order and is in right field.

Alex Jackson is catching. Samuel Basallo goes to the bench.

TORONTO – On Aug. 1, the Orioles’ outfield no longer included Cedric Mullins, a mainstay in center field since his breakout 2021 campaign. The next day, right-fielder Tyler O’Neill was a late scratch from the lineup due to illness. And a few days later, after a collision with the wall, O’Neill hit the injured list with wrist inflammation. 

On Aug, 1, Jeremiah Jackson was called up to the big leagues after hitting a staggering .377 in 40 games with the Triple-A Norfolk Tides. Most anticipated that Jackson, who played 35 of those 40 games in the infield, would fill the role vacated by Ramón Urías. 

Instead, through 35 games with the Orioles, Jackson has spent 27 days in the depleted outfield and has mostly been patrolling right field, a position that he had played on just seven occasions as a minor leaguer. 

Today, Baltimore’s primary right fielder, O’Neill, returns from a rehab assignment. But don’t expect Jackson and his .829 OPS to just hit the bench. 

“We’ll see kind of where it goes,” Tony Mansolino said of his lineup upon O’Neill’s return. “It’ll be very day-to-day, and we’ll do the best we can with the lineup and get people in the right spots.”

Jeremiah Jackson sat at his locker earlier today, raised his right arm and pointed to the spot where last night’s pitch slammed into his elbow. He showed a teammate the damage, which he said was minimal.

He knew that it could have been worse.

Braxton Ashcraft’s 95.5 mph fastball nailed Jackson in the eighth inning after he singled and homered. Daniel Johnson pinch-ran for him.

“Elbow ‘s fine,” Jackson said this afternoon before heading to the field for the team photo. “A little sore. I was coming out of the game anyway, defensive replacement. But yeah, I mean, it’s never fun to get hit in the elbow, but everything’s fine. Just a little bruise.”

Jackson is playing pretty much every day as a rookie and he’s thriving with a .314/.346/.521 line in 33 games. He has six doubles, two triples, five home runs and 18 RBIs.

The celebration tonight carried up the right field line, as opposed to center field Saturday after Emmanuel Rivera's two-run single. Samuel Basallo was chased like a thief, maybe because the Orioles stole another win.

Basallo dumped a single down the opposite line, hitting chalk with a fly ball that scored Gunnar Henderson in the 11th inning for a 3-2 victory over the Pirates at Camden Yards, the Orioles' third walk-off in four games. 

Dietrich Enns tossed two scoreless innings past regulation and Basallo singled off Dauri Moreta before an announced crowd of 15,488. Ryan Mountcastle singled and Colton Cowser was given an intentional walk to set up Basallo, who had to wait through a crew chief review.

Tommy Pham attempted to make a sliding catch, the ball might have nicked his glove and umpire Manny Gonzalez ruled it foul. Crew chief Alan Porter announced the decision.

“Have not seen it that way where umpires pretty much had to place the runners there to finish the game off," said interim manager Tony Mansolino. "It was one of those deals where if they didn’t call it fair, I was probably going to throw a fit.”

SAN DIEGO – It keeps happening. In every game and every start that he makes.

Rookie Jeremiah Jackson slashed .323/.344/.484 last month in 96 plate appearances, his first in the majors. Of course, he stayed in the lineup Monday afternoon at Petro Park, shifting from third base to right field, and tied his brief-career high with three hits.

Batting second again last night, Jackson fell behind 0-2 to Yu Darvish in the first inning and pulled a sweeper into the left field seats. He’s homered in three of his last four games. And his fielder’s choice grounder in the eighth scored Dylan Beavers with an insurance run.

The Orioles won’t try to carry over his rookie status to 2026. He isn’t in any Top 100 prospect rankings. He might not break camp with the team next spring, though he’s making a solid case for it.

Jackson is in a different kind of phase as the season draws nearer to a merciful conclusion. The Orioles aren’t focused as much on exposing him to big league pitching as they are figuring out who he really is and whether he can fill a utility role next season.

SAN DIEGO – Tyler Wells waited 508 days to pitch in a major league game. He could handle another 18 minutes.

Padres starter Yu Darvish threw 30 pitches in the top of the first inning, surrendered a home run to Jeremiah Jackson, hit two batters and issued a walk. The three strikeouts extended his stay on the mound while Wells paced in the dugout.

Finally able to pick up the baseball, Wells gave the Orioles five innings with two runs allowed and had teammates waiting to slap hands and hug him after his final batter in a 6-2 victory over the Padres before an announced sellout crowd of 42,536 at Petco Park.

Jackson has homered in back-to-back games and three of the last four. Emmanuel Rivera delivered two-out, two-run singles in the third and fifth innings to tie his career high in RBIs.

The Orioles claimed the series after dropping three in a row, improved their record to 63-76 and made certain that they wouldn’t lose 100 games.

SAN DIEGO – The season moved into a new month today, the last before the Orioles can board flights home and begin to put it behind them. They will use it to give Kyle Bradish innings in preparation for a normal offseason and spring training. They will keep evaluating rookie Jeremiah Jackson and whether he can be a piece moving forward in a role that fits. They will expose Dylan Beavers to major league pitching, reap the rewards, and be careful to keep his rookie status intact for 2026.

Bradish’s second post-surgery start lasted four innings, a step back results-wise but still encouraging as he retired the last seven Padres batters and turned up the heat on his fastball. Jackson singled twice and homered to keep suggesting that the bat might play at this level.

Wins have been in short supply, but the Orioles eked one out today, getting a tie-breaking single from Beavers off Robert Suarez in the seventh inning to defeat the Padres 4-3 before an announced crowd of 45,586 at Petco Park.

Rico Garcia retired the side in order in the eighth and Keegan Akin stranded a runner in the ninth for the save, improving the Orioles’ record to 62-76 with their third win in 12 games.

"We hung in there, man," said interim manager Tony Mansolino. "Listen, we’re just trying to piece this together. I’ve told you guys there’s gonna be days where it works and there’s gonna be days where it doesn’t. We’ve got guys kind of pitching up in terms of like roles they’re throwing and today it worked out. I’m proud of the guys. They did awesome, and we were kind of due for a good one, so happy for that.”

SAN FRANCISCO – The mailbag didn’t empty on my first attempt, so let’s try again.

Here are some leftover questions as we await the second game of the series against the Giants, with a starting time of 4:15 p.m. on the West Coast.

Which prospects recently brought up are you most surprised by with their performance, whether good or bad?
So we’re not counting Jeremiah Jackson, right? You said “prospects.” But he’s definitely a surprise. I didn’t put much stock in his Triple-A numbers. Dylan Beavers is an on-base machine, which isn’t to be confused with Vimael Machín. I just assumed that he’d start slowly like so many others, but he’s worthy of an elevated spot in the lineup – next season after he retains rookie status.

Should Ryan Mountcastle change positions, since first base is crowded with Samuel Basallo on the roster?
Mountcastle already has played four since the Orioles drafted him – shortstop, third base, left field and first base. I don’t think there are plans to put him in the five-timers club and give him a special jacket. He’s also a two-time Gold Glove finalist at first. He’s fine. The bigger question is whether the Orioles give him another raise in arbitration in his final year before free agency, and if so, how they work the lineups with Basallo, Adley Rutschman and Coby Mayo.

Do you have any preferences for any of the rumored expansion cities? Guess one has to be on the West Coast?
Not sure I’m caught up on the rumors. Salt Lake City and Nashville? I saw the USA Today report last month that those cities are targeted. Bring back Montreal so I can finally make a trip. The Expos had the undisputed worst ballpark in the majors and every beat writer circled those dates on the calendar. Had nothing to do with Olympic Stadium. It was all about the city, which, as the backup on the beat, I never got to experience. Delmarva would be ideal because I could stay with my mom.

The American League Cy Young race is one of the two-man variety, coming down to the wire between Detroit’s Tarik Skubal and Boston’s Garrett Crochet. 

The latter has been dominant in a Red Sox uniform, posting a 2.38 ERA and over 11 strikeouts per nine innings entering this afternoon’s contest against the Orioles. 

The O’s were lucky to avoid Crochet for a two-game series up in Fenway. They didn’t get so lucky in this afternoon’s series finale in OPACY. 

In a game that Crochet starts, you’re fortunate to not be trailing when he leaves. That’s where the Orioles found themselves entering the seventh inning, all knotted at two. 

But it was the Red Sox bullpen that got the best of the Orioles, blanking the birds' bats in the final three innings. The Sox were able to push one run across in the eighth, and that was all they needed. The O's fell 3-2 and were swept in this four-game series. 

Kyle Bradish has stopped by the Camden Yards clubhouse in between rehab starts, but yesterday was different.

Teammates looked across the room and saw their starting pitcher.

They waited a long time for it.

Bradish made his return from elbow reconstructive surgery and struck out 10 batters in six innings. He allowed a pair of solo home runs among his four hits, and he didn’t issue a walk. The sinker was on point.

Having Bradish on the roster again is exactly what this club needs, no matter the outcome.

Tomoyuki Sugano didn’t allow a run today while he was on the mound and the Orioles kept manufacturing them.

They were able to control everything except the weather.

Sugano shut out the Mariners over 5 1/3 innings before a series of storms forced a stoppage that lasted 2 hours and 18 minutes in the Orioles’ 5-3 victory before an announced crowd of 14,083 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles are 55-66 overall and 7-14 in rubber games. They went 5-1 against the Mariners and are 13-5 since the beginning of 2023.

The 5-0 lead in the fifth inning represented the most runs scored since Aug. 6 in Philadelphia. They came on a wild pitch, double steal, single, double and sacrifice fly.

The Orioles bailed out Dean Kremer tonight, which was the first order of business. Battle back twice to tie. Conclude his frustrating night with no decision. Try to win a game in the series and go for the split on Sunday.

They couldn’t complete the mission.

Christian Walker hit a two-run homer off left-hander Dietrich Enns in the seventh inning and the Astros hung on for a 9-8 victory over the Orioles before an announced crowd of 30,159 at Camden Yards.

Walker mashed a changeup 414 feet to left field with two outs, extending his home run streak to three games in a row. The Orioles (59-70) have lost three straight after winning six of seven. They didn't lose their 70th last year until Sept. 22.

Jeremiah Jackson hit his first major league home run in the fourth inning, a 439-foot shot to center field that reduced the lead to 7-6. Colton Cowser followed his two-run single in the first with a solo homer in the fifth off AJ Blubaugh that knotted the score.

BOSTON – Those moments during the season when it felt like the Orioles were scrambling to fill out their roster have disappeared like one of Samuel Basallo’s home run balls in the minors.

The crab cake analogy fits again – less filler makes for a better product.

Manager Tony Mansolino has a plan, devised by the group, and it’s going to get Basallo, Dylan Beavers and Coby Mayo in the lineup on most nights. Mayo and Adley Rutschman sat last night because Basallo needed to catch and Ryan Mountcastle needed to get some reps at first base. Players can rotate into the designated hitter role, with Jeremiah Jackson taking his turn against the Red Sox.

“It’s exciting,” Mansolino said. “It’s a good problem to have.”

Much better than those constant headaches.

Anyone else want to play the outfield?

The Orioles aren’t holding tryouts but there’s a little experimenting with Jeremiah Jackson, who started in right again yesterday. Dylan Beavers will get plenty of starts in the corners – right Saturday and left yesterday. Interim manager Tony Mansolino said the organization’s No. 3 prospect isn’t here to sit.

Colton Cowser moves back to center field after being planted in left prior to his concussion. Greg Allen, Jordyn Adams, Daniel Johnson and Ryan Noda are gone. Tyler O’Neill is coming back, perhaps in early September.

(Adams had a triple and home run Friday night with Triple-A Norfolk and was ejected by the plate umpire after striking out. But we digress …)

Noda was listed as an infielder on the active roster, but he made three of his five career starts in right field with the Orioles.

No pitcher in the history of the Baltimore Orioles has thrown a perfect game.

No one could have anticipated that a rookie carrying a 6.70 ERA in his first 10 major league starts would get within four outs.

Brandon Young is a big fan of classic rock. His outing last was an instant classic, and boy, did he rock. He retired 23 batters in a row before former Oriole Ramón Urías reached on an infield single in the eighth inning in the Orioles’ 7-0 victory over the Astros at Daikin Park.

Urías sent a chopper to the left side and Young made a barehand grab. He threw off his back foot and the ball sailed past first baseman Coby Mayo for a hit and error.

Young probably had time to plant and throw but understandably was in a rush.