Stephen King wrote a novel in 1979 entitled “The Dead Zone” that became a movie four years later and a television series in the early 2000s. No one had October in mind for baseball’s non-playoff teams, but it applied. Just sub out Christopher Walken for Christian Walker. But this is about the Orioles. A manager wasn’t going to be hired this quickly

PLAYER REVIEW: MACKENZIE GORE Age on Opening Day 2026: 27 How acquired: Traded with CJ Abrams, James Wood, Robert Hassell III, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit from Padres for Juan Soto and Josh Bell, August 2022 MLB service time: 4 years 2025 salary: $2.89 million Contract status: Arbitration-eligible, free agent in 2028 2025 stats: 5-15, 4.17 ERA, 30

I’m going to continue taking my turn asking questions, knowing that the correct answer is unattainable this early in the offseason. It’s also another chance to veer away from the constant chatter about a new manager, which is lacking anything concrete beyond reports that Yankees third base coach Luis Rojas interviewed for the job. Here are two more

The top end of the Orioles’ farm system is filled with talent.  Four of the top 10 prospects in the system, according to MLB Pipeline, were selected in this year’s MLB Draft. Two, Esteban Mejia and Nate George, were unranked entering 2025, but burst onto the scene with incredibly impressive seasons. Boston Bateman, the team’s No. 9 prospect, was ac

PLAYER REVIEW: DREW MILLAS Age on Opening Day 2026: 28 How acquired: Traded with Richard Guasch and Seth Shuman from Athletics for Yan Gomes and Josh Harrison, July 2021 MLB service time: 178 days 2025 salary: $760,000 Contract status: Under club control, arbitration-eligible in 2028, free agent in 2031 2025 stats: 18 G, 55 PA, 49 AB, 6 R, 15 H, 5

Questions linger for the Orioles beyond their managerial search and whether they hire a general manager this winter. Should they have matched the Dodgers’ 10-year, $700 million offer for Shohei Ohtani? OK, maybe not that one. Here are three randomly chosen inquiries, with many more to come. How will the Orioles jam their starters into a five-man ro

PLAYER REVIEW: PAUL DeJONG Age on Opening Day 2026: 32 How acquired: Signed as free agent, February 2025 MLB service time: 8 years, 57 days 2025 salary: $1 million Contract status: Free agent 2025 stats: 57 G, 208 PA, 193 AB, 18 R, 44 H, 10 2B, 0 3B, 6 HR, 23 RBI, 4 SB, 0 CS, 11 BB, 70 SO, .228 AVG, .269 OBP, .373 SLG, .642 OPS, 81 OPS+, -4 DRS, -1

Joe Flacco, age 40, outdueled 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers Thursday night in Cincinnati. The Blue Jays’ Max Scherzer, at age 41 and making the 500th start of his career, earned the win in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series in Seattle. My mailbag is 17, old enough to drive but not to drink. The fluctuating weight is normal. You fill it a

PLAYER REVIEW: NASIM NUNEZ Age on Opening Day 2026: 25 How acquired: Selected in 2023 Rule 5 Draft MLB service time: 1 year, 89 days 2025 salary: $760,000 Contract status: Under club control, arbitration-eligible in 2028, free agent in 2031 2025 stats: 39 G, 92 PA, 82 AB, 13 R, 19 H, 2 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 9 SB, 1 CS, 8 BB, 20 SO, .232 AVG, .297

We’ve reached the point in the offseason when we still don’t know who’s playing in the World Series, we don’t know who’s managing the Orioles and we don’t know how far along they’ve gotten in the interview process beyond a couple of reports linking them to Luis Rojas and Albert Pujols. Rojas had an interview. Pujols might get an interview. Ryan Fla