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The Orioles have made the following roster moves:
- Claimed OF Marco Luciano off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
- Designated OF Jhonkensy Noel for assignment.
- LHP Josh Walker cleared outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk.
The Orioles’ 40-man roster currently has 40 players.
The depth moves keep coming from the Orioles.
They aren’t solely geared toward making big splashes. Smaller transactions are trickling in, as well.
A source confirmed today that the Orioles claimed infielder Marco Luciano, 24, on waivers from the Pirates. A full 40-man roster will require a corresponding move to make him fit.
The holiday slowdown kept Luciano in limbo since the Pirates designated him for assignment on Dec. 19. They selected him on waivers from the Giants on the 5th.
Luciano appeared in 41 major league games with San Francisco from 2023-24, batting .217/.286/.304 in 126 plate appearances. Baseball America previously had ranked him among its top 15 minor league players when he was a teenager.
A busy offseason for the Orioles feels like it’s got a lot left in the tank.
How does a team make this many moves and still project to do so much more?
They aren’t sweating the small stuff, either, with their latest depth move being yesterday’s signing of left-hander Eric Torres to a minor league deal.
He isn’t the southpaw acquisition that fans wanted to hear about, of course, but the Orioles also are stocking the Triple-A roster. He was assigned to the Norfolk Tides.
Torres, 26, was a 14th round draft pick of the Angels in 2021 out of Kansas State. He posted a 2.31 ERA in 27 relief appearances with the Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas in 2024 and struck out 55 batters in 35 innings, but he allowed seven runs and walked 11 batters in 7 1/3 innings with Triple-A Salt Lake.
The Orioles have made the following roster move:
- Agreed to terms on a 2026 minor league contract with LHP Eric Torres.
On Oct. 17, 2024, the Guardians were one out away from finding themselves in a nearly insurmountable hole.
Luke Weaver, a failed starter turned high-leverage Yankees reliever, had the chance to give New York a 3-0 advantage in the American League Championship Series. All he had to do was put away a 22-year-old pinch-hitter with 74 big league games under his belt: Jhonkensy Noel.
Big Christmas, as he’s called, didn’t go down so easily.
On a 1-0 count, Noel punished a Weaver changeup that caught too much of the plate and drove it into deep left field for a game-tying two-run homer. It pushed the game to extras, where the Guardians emerged victorious. Cleveland lost the series, but between Noel’s heroic moment and his .958 OPS in the series, it seemed as if they had found a new middle-of-the-order bat for years to come.
The catchy nickname didn’t hurt, either.
The Orioles have made the following roster moves:
- Claimed OF Jhonkensy Noel off waivers from the Cleveland Guardians.
- Designated RHP George Soriano for assignment.
The Orioles’ 40-man roster currently has 40 players.
The Orioles increased their total number of players in DFA limbo to three yesterday by adding reliever George Soriano. But that’s only half the story.
Not the most interesting part, either.
President of baseball operations/general manager Mike Elias claimed outfielder Jhonkensy Noel on waivers from the Guardians, a move that didn’t seem to be on the shopping list.
First a Polar Bear, and now “Big Christmas.”
Maybe J.T. Snow will come out of retirement.
The Orioles delivered a powerful one-two prospect punch in August, selecting outfielder Dylan Beavers’ contract from Triple-A Norfolk on the 16th 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 83rd 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 11th 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 28th.
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 12th 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.
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.
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.
The Orioles tonight announced that they have agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher ZACH EFLIN on a one-year major league contract for the 2026 season with a mutual option for 2027.
Eflin, 31, was the Opening Day starter for the Orioles in 2025 and went 6-5 with a 5.93 ERA (47 ER/71.1 IP) with 88 hits (18 HR), 48 total runs, 13 walks, and 50 strikeouts last season. He was limited to 14 starts due to three stints on the Injured List and didn’t pitch after July 28. The right-hander posted a 3.00 ERA (6 ER/18.0 IP) in three starts before his first placement on the Injured List and had a 4.08 mark (24 ER/53.0 IP) in his first nine starts through June 11.
Eflin was acquired by Baltimore from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for three minor league players on July 26, 2024. He is 11-7 with a 4.48 ERA (63 ER/126.1 IP) in 23 career starts with the O’s and 68-67 with a 4.28 ERA (511 ER/1,073.2 IP) in 200 appearances (188 GS) over 10 major league seasons between the Philadelphia Phillies, Rays, and Orioles. Since he made his MLB debut in 2016, his 4.9 percent walk rate is the third best among pitchers during that time (min. 900.0 IP) behind Miles Mikolas (4.4%) and Zack Greinke (4.8%). The Orlando, Fla. native was originally selected by the San Diego Padres in the supplemental first round (33rd overall) of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft out of Paul J. Hagerty (FL) High School.
To make room on the 40-man roster, outfielder WILL ROBERTSON has been designated for assignment. The Orioles’ 40-man roster currently has 40 players.
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.
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.
