The Orioles tonight announced that they have agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher KYLE GIBSON on a one-year contract for the 2023 season.

Gibson, 35, made 31 starts for the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies in 2022, the fifth time in his career making at least 30 starts in a season. He went 10-8 with a 5.05 ERA (94 ER/167.2 IP) and a career-best 3.00 K/BB ratio (144 K/48 BB). In 18 home starts, Gibson pitched to a 7-4 record with a 4.57 ERA (52 ER/102.1 IP) and 80 strikeouts, compared to a 3-4 record with a 5.79 ERA (42 ER/65.1 IP) and 64 strikeouts in 13 road starts.

Gibson appeared on his fifth career Postseason roster and made his World Series debut in Game 3 at Citizens Bank Park, working 1.0 scoreless inning out of the bullpen with one hit and one strikeout in Philadelphia’s 7-0 loss to the Houston Astros. In two relief appearances during the 2022 Postseason, he worked 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing two hits with one walk and two strikeouts. 

He was named the Phillies’ 2022 nominee for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award, which recognizes a player from each club who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, sportsmanship, community involvement, philanthropy, and positive contributions, both on and off the field. While with the Phillies, Gibson donated to Philabundance (a Philadelphia-area nonprofit food bank) and Cradles for Crayons after every strikeout and win and started a Philly Fantasy Football League to support Help One Now, an organization that empowers families in developing countries to end extreme poverty. Gibson serves as vice president of Big League Impact, a nonprofit founded in 2013 by Roberto Clemente Award winner Adam Wainwright (2020) to help people meet basic human needs, including food, clean water, medical care, shelter, and education. He was also nominated for the Clemente Award in 2019 as a member of the Minnesota Twins.

A native of Greenfield, Ind., Gibson was selected by Minnesota in the first round (No. 22 overall) of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Missouri. The 2021 American League All-Star was also a 2011 All-Star Futures Game selection before undergoing ligament transplant surgery on his right elbow late in 2011. He made his MLB debut on June 29, 2013 vs. Kansas City (W: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, HBP, 5 K) and became the third Minnesota pitcher all-time to win his debut while recording at least five strikeouts. Gibson is 89-91 with a 4.52 ERA (755 ER/1,504.0 IP) in 267 career games (261 starts) between the Phillies, Twins, and Texas Rangers. He has appeared in six games, all starts, at Oriole Park while going 3-1 with a 4.13 ERA (15 ER/32.2 IP).

SAN DIEGO – The Orioles made their first move of the Winter Meetings this afternoon. A minor league deal that won’t get a team to the podium but is aimed at providing depth.

The club announced that it signed pitcher Ofriedy Gómez, who spent this season in the Phillies organization and registered a combined 5.19 ERA and 1.754 WHIP in 38 games between Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Gómez is assigned to Triple-A Norfolk’s roster.

The one-year deal with starter Kyle Gibson, pending a physical, hasn’t been announced. An agreement was reached over the weekend.

Gómez, 27, hasn’t pitched in the majors. He spent eight years in the Royals organization beginning in 2013, and the 2021 season in the White Sox’s system following his release. He signed with the Phillies in April.

The Orioles have made the following roster move:

• Agreed to terms on a 2023 Minor League contract with RHP Ofreidy Gómez.

SAN DIEGO – Justin Verlander is off the Winter Meetings board after reaching agreement with the Mets today on a two-year, $86.66 million deal. The Rangers already secured Jacob deGrom with a five-year, $185 million contract.

Left-hander Carlos Rodón is the top free agent pitcher on the market, and the Orioles have been linked to him based on how they “checked in” – a popular offseason term – their quest for a frontline starter and their willingness to expand payroll.

That’s basically it.  

They aren’t ignoring the top tier, but they’re most aggressive below it.

Rodón is seeking a six-year deal at an annual rate of $30 million or more, according to the New York Post, which is territory that the Orioles aren’t expected to wander into this winter. However, there is legitimate interest in veteran right-hander Jameson Taillon. He’s created the loudest lobby buzz on the first day.

The Orioles today announced that individual tickets for all Spring Training games at Ed Smith Stadium will go on sale Friday, December 9, at 10:00 a.m. ET. The club also announced its promotional schedule for the spring season, which is highlighted by four giveaway items.

Beginning Friday, December 9, fans can purchase individual tickets for the Spring Training season. Birdland Members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets in advance as part of a members-only pre-sale on Tuesday, December 6. In addition, fans can sign-up for the Sarasota 365 newsletter for pre-sale access on Wednesday, December 7. All tickets must be purchased online at Orioles.com/SpringTickets. Information on in-person ticket sales will be announced at a later date.

The 2023 Spring Training promotional schedule features giveaways and opportunities for fans of all ages. Again this year, the Orioles invite children and seniors to run the bases after select home games. Kids Run the Bases is open to all fans ages four to 14, and will return following every Sunday home game, while Seniors Stroll the Bases, presented by Sunways Senior Living Concierge, available to fans age 60 and older, will return after each Monday home game.

The promotional schedule is highlighted by special event days such as Heroes Day (March 8), presented by Cheney Brothers, and Youth Sports Day (March 19), as well as various giveaways, including a Magnet Schedule (February 25), presented by Tommy’s Car Wash, Orioles Spring Training T-Shirt (March 3), Chick-fil-A Plush Cow and coupon (March 4), presented by Chick-fil-A, and an Orioles Golf Visor (March 16), presented by First Watch.

During every Saturday and Sunday home game, the Orioles will honor members of the Sarasota community who are selflessly working or volunteering to improve the lives of others through the Birdland Community Heroes program. To nominate a hero, please visit Orioles.com/Spring.

As the MLB Winter Meetings begin a three-day run today in San Diego, the Orioles continue their search for starting pitching. The weekend agreement with right-hander Kyle Gibson is expected to be a starting point but not the end point. They are not done.

Now we await the next rumor and/or dispatch from San Diego that could give us a clue which free agent pitchers the Orioles are truly “in on” and how high they may be aiming in bolstering their starting rotation.

Is it possible that Gibson will not make the Orioles rotation and will pitch out of their bullpen? I would say yes possible, but it seems unlikely. Just as now former Oriole Jordan Lyles was for Baltimore, Gibson is an innings eater and 98 percent of his career MLB appearances have come as a starter. He has thrown 150 or more innings seven times and 180 or more three times. His career-best is 196 2/3 in 2018.

Gibson went 10-8 with a 5.05 ERA last year for the Phillies and actually pitched better at home despite pitching in such a hitter-friendly park. His ERA was 4.57 at home and 5.79 on the road in 2022.

If Gibson is essentially a replacement for Lyles, he could also be, as Lyles was, a clubhouse leader. He was said to be that for the Phillies last season and was the team’s nominee for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award. Gibson was involved with several charities in the Philly area, raising $108,000 thousand dollars during his time with the club.

SAN DIEGO – Baseball executives and media are flowing into the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego today for the start of the Winter Meetings that were held virtually two years ago due to the pandemic and canceled in 2021 during the lockout.

The Orioles haven’t announced the signing of veteran pitcher Kyle Gibson to a one-year contract because he must pass his physical before the deal is official.   

Other business is conducted that extends beyond the major league and minor league roster.

The club is operating behind the scenes to promote and hire members of the scouting and analytics departments.

Kevin Carter and Will Roberston have been promoted from Pro Scouting Analyst to Senior Pro Scouting Analyst. Ben Reed is promoted from Pro Scouting Fellow to Pro Scouting Analyst.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves: 

• Claimed INF Lewin Díaz off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates 
• OF Daz Cameron cleared outright waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Norfolk 
• OF Jake Cavae was claimed off outright waivers by the Philadelphia Phillies
• Agreed to terms on a 2023 Minor League contract with 1B/OF Franchy Cordero 

The 40-man roster currently sits at 37 players.

How does a player with a combined OPS+ the last two years of just 64 (36 percent below league average) command strong attention in free agency? He does if he is a past National League Most Valuable Player, as outfielder Cody Bellinger is. And he does if his intention is to sign a one-year deal, which brings more teams into play in the bidding.

Should the Orioles be one of those teams?

Why not? To use a phrase once big in Birdland. Sure, the Orioles have talent they like now in their outfield, and more on the way from the farm. But how would Bellinger look hitting in the middle of a lineup with players like Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson, to name two. He is a lefty hitter the Orioles are said to be seeking that could play all three outfield spots, first base or DH. 

And if the O’s did sign such a player they could take their outfield surplus and deal from that – say for pitching. It all could work out nicely in Birdland.

Here is the catch, or catches, as it were.

Considering he has had more than a few good days over the years at the Orioles expense, it’s pretty easy to guess where most O’s fans would like to see Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge playing next year. That is anywhere but the Bronx. San Francisco could be nice that time of year.

With the Winter Meetings now just a few days away, Judge, the No. 1 ranked free agent, is still available. While it is possible he signs somewhere that is not New York or San Francisco (the Dodgers could be involved), there have been almost no reporting from major outlets indicating we are going to get a surprise here. But it wouldn’t be the first time.

Last year, Judge recorded his best season yet, setting the American League record for homers with 62. He posted a career-best OPS at 1.111, which produced an OPS+ of 211. He led the majors in runs (133), home runs, RBIs (131), on-base percentage (.425), slugging percentage (.686) and total bases (391) this past season.

Judge of course picked a great time to have his career year. His MVP 2022 season produced a 207 wRC+ that stands as the best offensive season in recent history. Barry Bonds was the last player to match or exceed that level, and prior to him, no qualified hitter had done so since Ted Williams in 1957.

Judge has 35 homers in 87 career games versus the Orioles with a career .310 batting average and 1.133 OPS against Baltimore pitchers. That is his most homers against any team and that OPS tops all against teams he has played 25 or more games against. He has hit 19 career homers at Camden Yards, his most at any park outside Yankee Stadium and by a big margin with his 12 homers at Rogers Centre in Toronto next. His career OPS at Oriole Park is 1.154.

One of the potential benefits of attending the Winter Meetings, held next week at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, is the chance to gain more clarity on the Orioles’ preferences for the construction of their roster. Any specifics regarding the pitching staff or lineup. How they might pivot if the original plan begins to crumble.  

Daily media sessions with executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias can be enlightening, without any expectations of him providing play-by-play on his meetings with executives and agents. Information can be dispensed in broad terms and still satisfy the masses.

The desire to sign or trade for at least one veteran starting pitcher has been confirmed. Nothing new on that front. And the targeted areas in free agency are below the top tier, which you’d hope would douse any reports linking the Orioles to the priciest arms and suggesting that they’d engage in a massive bidding war.

Here's the question that hasn’t been answered: What is the exact level of importance in bringing in a left-hander?

John Means will head back to the 60-day injured list after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Bruce Zimmermann broke camp last spring as the No. 4 starter but made a few trips to the minors and isn’t a lock for the rotation after registering a 5.99 ERA and 1.480 WHIP.

As some free agent signings are starting to trickle in, we are now just days away from the Winter Meetings in San Diego. The rumors will certainly heat up there, even if the action doesn’t.

As it relates to the Orioles, here is what we do know: not very much.

I think they prefer it that way. Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias likes to play it close to the vest, as we know. That is not likely to change anytime soon. He doesn’t see any advantage in letting information leak out. And at a time when social media will spread almost any rumor rapidly with little accountability, all is mostly quiet about the Orioles.

There is no reason to jump to the conclusion that that means the Orioles will have a quiet winter. That seems very, very unlikely. In fact, Elias himself has said the payroll will increase and additions will be sought both for the rotation and the batting order. We are all waiting to find out what that means, exactly, and how much the payroll will increase and in what ways.

Elias has said numerous times now that the playoffs are the goal for 2023, and he didn’t make such a proclamation previously since joining the Orioles. The club has reached the point of producing a winning season, notching 83 wins in 2022, and now the chase is on to add to that and to be playing in the postseason next October.

With the Orioles a contender in the American League East, there’s a flurry of off-season activity. Fans can catch up on the latest Orioles news in a special new series: “The Hot Stove Show.”  

It airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on MASN. Special segments will also be available on masnsports.com and the MASN app. The series will focus on analyzing the roster, trades, and free agent signings.

MASN’s Paul Mancano and MASN Insiders Roch Kubatko and Steve Melewski will host the weekly 30-minute program. The MASN Hot Stove Show features interviews with Orioles front office executives, big league players and top prospects, and exclusive insights provided by MASN broadcasters and analysts as the Orioles and Major League Baseball prepare their rosters for the 2023 season.

Contact:  Adam Martiyan amartiyan@masnsports.com

Today we’re taking a look at two more free agent pitchers. We previously, in this blog entry, presented some stats and facts related to free agent pitchers Taijuan Walker, Chris Bassitt and Jameson Taillon. We did the same for Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea in this entry.

Today let’s take a look at two pitchers MLBTradeRumors.com has ranked as the No. 18 and No. 21 available free agents in this class.

Lefty Andrew Heaney: Heaney is No. 18 on the free agent list. I don't believe he will get a contract as strong as the one predicted by MLBTradeRumors.com: three years for $42 million.

On the negative side, there is an injury history here, and Heaney is certainly not an innings-eater. But what some front offices will also see is how the Dodgers turned him into a two-pitch pitcher in 2022, resulting in some pretty strong swing-and-miss and strikeout rates.

For his career, Heaney, 31, is 36-42 with a 4.56 ERA and 1.245 WHIP. He's posted a career walk rate of 2.5, a 9.7 strikeout rate and a 1.6 homer rate. His homer rate was 2.0 in 2021 and was 1.7 last year for the Dodgers. But perhaps the O’s front office will see a lefty here who would benefit greatly from the deeper left field wall in Baltimore. For his career, his OPS against is .780 versus right-handed batters and .679 against lefties.

Today a bit of a follow up to yesterday’s article about how the Orioles’ 2022 draft class fared so well in stats like walk rate and on-base percentage. This is important because for years the Orioles at the big-league level have not excelled in these stats.

At the MLB level, the Orioles last year posted a walk-rate of 7.9 percent per plate appearance, which was just under the MLB average of 8.2. The Orioles rated seventh in the American League and 16^th in MLB in team walk rate for last season. In terms of OBP, the Orioles number of .305 was below the major league average of .312. The O’s rated 11^th in the AL and 22^nd in MLB in OBP last year. So, there is room for improvement.

With the ’22 draft class producing a collective .400 OBP for nine position players, which was second among all 2022 MLB Draft classes and a walk rate of 17.3, ranking first in the majors, the future on offense for Birdland, could be bright.

At least the Orioles could be evolving into producing a future lineup that features a group of tough outs that can work counts and will take a walk. Keep escalating opponent pitch counts and turning over the batting order. It should lead to more runs being scored.

Seeing so many young players get off to good starts in the plate-discipline stats, led by 18-year-old Jackson Holliday, the No. 1 overall draft pick last summer, was encouraging. The kid recorded a .489 OBP with a 27.8 walk rate in his debut pro season.

In the 20-round MLB Draft last summer, the Orioles selected 10 position players and 10 pitchers. They signed nine of the position players. And in what was clearly a small sample which should be noted, that group of nine showed some outstanding plate discipline which could bode well for their future MLB chances.

As a group of nine players, the Orioles draft class produced a collective .400 OBP to rank second only to Seattle's draft class. The Mariners also had nine players that produced a collective .405 OBP.

But the Orioles did rank No. 1 in MLB with a draft class walk rate of 17.3 with San Diego (also nine players) second at 16.2.

Among O’s minor league players with 50 or more plate appearances last year, no player had a better walk-to-strikeout rate as a hitter than O’s No. 1 overall pick Jackson Holliday. He also led the organization with a 27.8 walk rate. He is just 18 years old.

Over 20 games between the Florida Complex League and low-A Delmarva, Holliday walked 25 times with just 12 strikeouts. That is a robust 2.08 walk-to-strikeout ratio, the best on the O's farm. Maxwell Costes, a non-drafted free agent from the University of Maryland was next at 1.50 with Adley Rutschman third at 1.38.

Tommy Milone allowed just one run over five innings in Sunday's 5-1 win over the Rays.

Núñez homered for the second straight game on Monday in a 5-1 victory over the Rays.

The Orioles are just 1.5 games out of first place in the AL East after a three-game sweep of the Rays.

Cole Sulser has a 4.50 ERA in four games in 2020.