-1745819772711.png){kind=logo}
Plotting an offseason strategy to improve the roster and the Orioles’ chances of reaching the playoffs in 2026 requires a deep-dive into the weaknesses that must be addressed and an accurate measurement of payroll flexibility.
Contending comes at a cost.
The trade deadline, free agency and Félix Bautista’s shoulder surgery created openings across the board - in the rotation, bullpen, infield and outfield. The Orioles have room for Jorge Mateo and a need for a utility-type player with elite speed, but he might be running out of time.
Mateo is coming off back-to-back, injury-shortened seasons, appearing in only 68 games in 2024 before undergoing reconstructive elbow surgery and 40 this summer due to elbow inflammation and a hamstring strain that he sustained on his rehab assignment.
The Orioles added Mateo to their expanded September roster, but he’s started only four times – three since Wednesday against left-handers, and received 15 at-bats. He went 0-for-3 with a strikeout last night, is hitting .184/.225/.276 and owed $5.5 million next season.
The punishment that Tomoyuki Sugano absorbed tonight in the first inning looked a lot worse on the scoreboard than on the field.
Still counts, though.
Aaron Judge poked a two-out single into right-center field at 88.2 mph, and Cody Bellinger followed with a looping single to right at 68.5. Giancarlo Stanton lined a sweeper the opposite way, the ball carrying only 358 feet but reaching the first row of fans above the out-of-town scoreboard.
The sequence didn’t seem alarming but it set the tone, with the Orioles losing to the Yankees 6-1 before an announced crowd of 37,675 at Camden Yards and guaranteeing a sub-.500 finish to the season.
Judge hit his 49th home run leading off the third, a full-count sweeper – the eighth pitch of the at-bat – staying fair down the left field line at 112.2 mph and landing deep in the lower section. That one was loud.
The Orioles claimed right-hander Dom Hamel on waivers today from the Mets and optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk. The 40-man roster is full.
Hamel, 26, was a third-round draft pick in 2021 out of Dallas Baptist University. His only major league appearance came on Wednesday against the Padres and he tossed a scoreless inning with three hits allowed and a hit batter.
Hamel made 31 appearances (11 starts) with Triple-A Syracuse and posted a 5.32 ERA and 1.330 WHIP. He struck out 75 batters in 67 2/3 innings.
Alex Jackson is catching tonight in a mostly right-handed lineup. Ryan Mountcastle is the designated hitter. Jorge Mateo gets another start in center field, which moves Colton Cowser to the bench.
Tomoyuki Sugano makes his 29th start. His ERA is down to 4.39 in 149 2/3 innings after holding the Blue Jays to one run in six frames in Toronto.
The Orioles won’t have much of a presence in the voting for the four major awards, which is part of the fallout from being in last place and underachieving to such a large degree. The shows will go on without them.
There’s always 2026.
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America is adding a reliever award next year, but it wouldn’t have mattered this summer. Félix Bautista was the only hope and he hasn’t pitched since July 20, before his surgery to repair his labrum and rotator cuff. And he might not return until 2027.
None of the Orioles are expected to sneak onto the 10-man ballot for Most Valuable Player after Gunnar Henderson finished eighth and fourth in his first two seasons. Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh and Bobby Witt Jr. can battle it out for first place.
The rookie ballot is expanding from three to five players, but the Orioles probably will be shut out again unless Tomoyuki Sugano gets some backend support. We can talk about Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers next season.
Trevor Rogers sprinted from the dugout to the mound tonight after Jackson Holliday made the last out in the bottom of the fifth inning. Yankees players hadn’t started to come off the field and Rogers wanted to begin warming. He might have set a land speed record.
Rogers exudes confidence, always in control, always giving the Orioles a chance, whether he’s working in a five- or six-man rotation.
Ryan Mountcastle moved down from leadoff to cleanup tonight and gave them an early lead with the loudest home run of his career, and he expanded it with a sacrifice fly.
Reduced to playing the role of spoiler, the Orioles slowed the Yankees’ pursuit of first place in the division with a 4-2 victory before an announced crowd of 26,269 at Camden Yards.
Rogers tossed five no-hit innings before Austin Wells led off the sixth with a groundball single. Dylan Beavers made two outstanding catches on consecutive plays to ensure that Rogers would keep the Yankees scoreless under his watch, and the Orioles improved to 73-81 while preserving their slim hopes of a .500 season. They’ve got to run the table.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino received the news of his bump from third base coach after a May 16 loss to the Nationals at Camden Yards, and his immediate thought turned to the rest of the staff. The uncertainty for everyone moving forward.
He could relate and sympathize.
Mansolino witnessed it through his childhood. He’s dealing with it now, unsure whether he’s returning in 2026. What's here today can be gone tomorrow.
“Listen, I grew up, and I can use my history as a kid, I watched my dad (Doug) be on one-year contracts for most of his career,” Mansolino said. “I watched my dad get fired, get sent home, have to look for a job, and just saw how that affected our family. I lived it, so I’m very sensitive to it and understand it. And in this situation here, I think once this all happened in May, my first reaction was the room, the staff. Because usually what happens in these scenarios is, things change quite a bit.
“Now, I’m hoping that our coaches are recognized for the job that they’ve done here over the last four months. I was just informed that, I guess we’re about to set a record for players used. I had no idea. But if we use that many players and we’ve traded everybody and done the whole deal, and our guys have played the way they have, I hope that reflects upon that coaching room in there. I really hope it does. And they deserve it.
Trevor Rogers makes his 17th start tonight as the Orioles try to even their series with the Yankees following last night’s 7-0 loss, their 15th shutout of the season.
Rogers is 8-2 with a 1.43 ERA and 0.894 WHIP in 100 2/3 innings. He’s allowed two runs or fewer in 15 starts.
His ERA is the lowest by any major league pitcher through the first 16 starts of a season since Nolan Ryan’s 1.29 in 1981, per STATS. And it’s the fourth-lowest in a minimum 15 starts since 1920, after Satchel Paige (1.01 in 1944), Jacob deGrom (1.08 in 2021) and Bob Gibson (1.12 in 1968). Dwight Gooden is behind Rogers with a 1.53 ERA in 1985.
Opponents have a .408 OPS against Rogers through six home starts. Per STATS, he’s the first American League pitcher with that mark or lower through his first six home starts, with a minimum 150 batters faced, since Ryan in 1979.
Tonight marks Rogers’ first game against the Yankees in 2025. He’s faced them twice and allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings.
Some leftovers are more appetizing than others. For instance, the container of Chinese food that I ordered before flying to Chicago has no business being in my refrigerator. The plastic lid is corroding.
However, the mailbag questions that weren’t used earlier this week remain fresh – except for the one asking whether Hanser Alberto has a future in Baltimore. Don’t know how I missed that one. Must have gotten pushed to the back like my beef lo mein.
Here are some extras that didn’t make the first cut.
Do the Orioles expect Grayson Rodriguez to be ready for spring training?
Absolutely. He underwent a procedure on his right elbow to remove a bone spur on Aug. 11. That's plenty of recovery time. There's a reason why he did it last month. And it was a bone spur. We're not talking reconstructive surgery here. The question is whether he remains a starter and can he make it through an entire season healthy. He hasn't pitched in a major league game since July 31, 2024. Counting on him to work near or at the top of the rotation and getting nothing from him is one reason why the season went south.
Will Jackson Holliday get reps in center field next spring, Maybe Coby Mayo in right field some? It sure would help if we have as many extra-inning games next year as this one.
Plans for players in camp will reveal themselves later, but the Orioles seem committed to keeping Holliday and Mayo on the right side of the infield. They didn’t give Mayo reps in right field last spring and have settled on first base as his permanent home. He isn’t working out at third anymore. Holliday stands a better chance of becoming a plus defender at second if he isn’t experimenting with the outfield. Any changes with these players would be a surprise.
The quest for a .500 season just got a little harder.
A 7-0 loss to the Yankees tonight, played before an announced crowd of 25,253 at Camden Yards, left the Orioles at 72-81 with only nine games remaining in the season. They need to run the table to post a non-losing record.
The schedule includes six more games with the Yankees, including the final series in the Bronx, and three versus the Rays at home.
Cade Povich allowed three runs and five hits with four walks and five strikeouts in five innings and carries a 5.06 ERA into his final start, assuming that the six-man rotation remains untouched. He couldn’t keep up with Yankees left-hander Max Fried, who tossed seven scoreless innings and tied his career high with 13 strikeouts.
Coby Mayo had the only hit off Fried, a one-out single in the second, until Ryan Mountcastle’s single with one out in the sixth. Twelve Orioles in a row were retired.
Ryan Mountcastle didn’t play the past two days in Chicago because of a sore finger, but he’s batting leadoff tonight for the first time in his career.
Mountcastle is part of interim manager Tony Mansolino’s right-handed lineup against Yankees lefty Max Fried.
“Just trying to give Jackson (Holliday) a blow for today,” Mansolino said. “Like a lot of guys this time of year, they’re kind of nicked up in a lot of ways. Just felt like he needed to take the day. I think if you’re in the hunt, Jackson’s probably playing today.”
Holliday has reached base in all seven of his career games against the Yankees. David Newhan was the last Oriole to do it in 2004, per STATS. Brian Roberts (14) was the last to reach in at least eight games in a row from 2001-03.
Mansolino wants to give Mountcastle more playing time down the stretch, though Coby Mayo remains the primary first baseman.
Ryan Mountcastle is batting leadoff tonight for the first time in his career, in his 646th major league game, as the Orioles begin a four-game series against the Yankees at Camden Yards.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino is using a right-handed heavy lineup against Yankees left-hander Max Fried.
Colton Cowser is on the bench again, with Jorge Mateo in center field. Luis Vázquez is the second baseman instead of Jackson Holliday.
Catcher Samuel Basallo is the only left-handed hitter.
Dylan Beavers also is sitting tonight. Jeremiah Jackson is in right field and Tyler O’Neill is in left.
CHICAGO – The Orioles are back home for a four-game series against the Yankees that begins tonight, followed by three against the Rays and a final trip to the Bronx. The light at the end of the tunnel isn’t another oncoming train. The season is almost done.
An entire day passed yesterday without a roster move, if you don’t count the Braves claiming reliever Carson Ragsdale on waivers. No one was hurt. No one was put on a plane with instructions to join the team.
Poor health has wrecked the Orioles’ hopes of a third consecutive playoff berth, but they aren’t leaning on that excuse.
It might not support their weight, and the crash could bring physical harm.
“It’s gonna be a huge part of (the story) in a lot of ways,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino. “We’re not gonna blame it all on injuries. I think that’s a little bit of a copout, it’s not very accountable from our perspective to do that. But yeah, it’s hard when all your players aren’t on the field at the same time.
CHICAGO – With a Wild Card berth no longer a mathematical possibility, official elimination arriving late last night, the Orioles must set other goals over the last few weeks.
Perhaps they can finish in fourth place in the division. Maybe post a non-losing record along the way.
Sights are lowered for a team in the basement.
The Orioles completed their sweep of the White Sox this afternoon with a 3-1 victory before an announced crowd of 10,919 at Rate Field. They return home to play the Yankees and Rays and make their final trip with a weekend series in the Bronx.
That’s a wrap on 2025.
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.
CHICAGO – Four relievers pitched last night for the Orioles before they could secure an 8-7 win over the White Sox. Left-hander José Castillo kept his jacket on and his seat on the bench.
Castillo would be the 69th player to appear in a game with the Orioles this season. The Marlins set the record last year by using 70.
The Orioles are in a September race, but not the one they wanted.
The club record was 62 in 2021, but it didn’t stand a chance this year. Injuries and the trade deadline created a roster churn that’s still in motion.
The Orioles have used 39 different pitchers, including position players forced into emergency relief, the second-most in franchise history behind the 42 in 2021. Thirty-four position players have gotten into games, tied for first with the 1955 team.
CHICAGO – What seemed inevitable has become official. The numbers can’t be manipulated. Optimism can’t be manufactured.
The 2025 Orioles are eliminated from the playoff chase.
Tonight’s 8-7 victory over the White Sox at Rate Field won't prolong their bid for a miracle run at the final Wild Card. The Mariners and Astros won, and those teams held the Orioles' fate in their hands.
Finishing above .500 remains a possibility if the Orioles (71-80) win their last 11 games. Their most recent non-winning season was in 2021, when they lost 110.
They shocked the industry in ’22 by posting 83 victories and signaling an end to the rebuild, and they went 101-61 the following year to claim the division.
CHICAGO – The Orioles will get a second opinion on Albert Suárez’s right elbow after he underwent an MRI last night.
Suárez is done pitching in 2025 after the Orioles put him on the 15-day injured list yesterday with right elbow discomfort. He noticed it after throwing three innings Sunday in Toronto.
“I think in the next week we’ll have something official on him that we want to release,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino, “but we have to go through the proper channels and make sure that the treatment plan and everything is appropriate.”
The season has been a grind for Suárez, who made one appearance in March, also in Toronto, before going on the IL with a rotator cuff strain. He got into four games this month, allowing two runs in nine innings, before enduring another shutdown.
The bullpen has a new left-hander, José Castillo, a waiver claim from the Mariners who reported today.
CHICAGO – Jordan Westburg is ready to play again for the Orioles, who reinstated him from the 10-day injured list earlier today. He’s serving as the designated hitter for tonight’s game against the White Sox.
Westburg’s last appearance came on Aug. 18 in Boston. He’s been out with a right ankle sprain.
The injured list is back down to 10 players.
Infielder Emmanuel Rivera was designated for assignment to make room for Westburg. He’s hit .250/.291/.283 in 42 games.
The 40-man roster has 39 players.
CHICAGO – The White Sox announced last night’s attendance at 11,020, but the entire upper deck was empty and the lower bowl had rows and rows of unoccupied seats. Tickets sold don’t equal bodies in the ballpark. The Windy City isn’t keen on supporting a team that …
You can fill in the rest.
The mailbag carried the necessary weight to avoid tipping over. Time to sort through it.
This is the latest sequel to the beloved 2008 original. You ask and I answer. The sarcasm comes at no extra charge.
Also, my mailbag lays down squeeze bunts and your mailbag gets chased out of bakeries for squeezing bundts.
CHICAGO – Tony Mansolino was the Orioles third base coach and infield instructor last summer, not their interim manager, when Kyle Bradish tossed seven hitless innings in the White Sox’s home ballpark. The details are a bit fuzzy.
Rain delayed the start of the game for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Bradish matched his career high with 11 strikeouts and came out after 103 pitches. The first batter to face reliever Danny Coulombe ruined the drama by homering.
“How do I not remember this?” Mansolino asked this afternoon during his dugout media session.
“I hope he does it again tonight.”
Bradish walked the leadoff hitter, struck out the next two and surrendered back-to-back singles to give the White Sox an early lead. He wouldn’t chase history. The goal was much more simple. Just do the job well enough to give his team a chance to win.
