After Tuesday’s trade of Grayson Rodriguez—which was puzzling or just startling, depending on your perspective—the Orioles’ rotation needs have become even more pronounced. Starting pitching was already at the top of Mike Elias’ offseason to-do list, but the departure of Rodriguez means Baltimore now has one fewer established arm to pencil into next season’s rotation. […]
3 months ago | 3 reads
A year ago, there was an argument to be made that Devin Williams was the best relief pitcher in baseball. He had just wrapped a six-season stint at the back of the Brewers bullpen that saw him compile a 1.83 ERA and save 68 games over 235.1 total innings. All that stood in between him […]
3 months ago | 3 reads
Good morning, Camden Chatters. The dust is still settling on the Grayson Rodriguez-for-Taylor Ward trade and everyone in Birdland has an opinion. It was perhaps the most unexpected trade of the Mike Elias era, sending away one of the Orioles’ most high-ceiling (but also high-risk) young pitchers for a 32-year-old outfielder with just one season […]
3 months ago | 3 reads
Despite missing the playoffs last year, the Orioles are still entrenched in their “winning window.” Former top prospects Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, and Jackson Holliday all have multiple years of control remaining, and complimentary pieces like Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser are still getting better. The future appears bright for rookies Samuel Basallo and Dylan […]
3 months ago | 1 read
After Tuesday night’s divisive trade of Grayson Rodriguez, the Orioles’ biggest need is now bigger and more obvious than ever before. If Mike Elias has a Charlie Day board with his plans for the offseason, starting pitching was already plastered all over it in bold-lettered sticky notes. Those notes have now been taken down, underlined […]
3 months ago | 2 reads
Hello, friends. There are now 126 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2026. It will probably take several more of those days to digest the Grayson Rodriguez-Taylor Ward trade. That’s going to be a thing that’s prominently on my mind until the Orioles do a bigger move. It’s pretty much all that anyone else is […]
3 months ago | 1 read
The Orioles traded Grayson Rodriguez last night. Even with a little time to digest this maneuver, that was still a surprising sentence to write out. Mike Elias really went and did it, whatever “it” might turn out to be, bringing in 31-year-old outfielder Taylor Ward from the Angels. The righty-batting Ward has one year remaining […]
3 months ago | 3 reads
When you post on SB Nation, we don’t want you to miss all the conversations and responses that follow. So starting today, whenever a user replies to your comment or to your post on the Feed, you’ll see a notification at the top right corner of the page. And of course, this means that when […]
3 months ago | 1 read
Here we go, folks: I’m about to write a thousand words about how the Orioles should sign Kyle Tucker. Yes, yes, I do understand that there’s one critical flaw in that premise, and it is this: the Orioles are definitely not going to sign Kyle Tucker. The 28-year-old outfielder is the consensus #1-ranked free agent […]
3 months ago | 3 reads
The Orioles enter this offseason with a bullpen that is thin on pitchers with successful experience as late-inning relievers, and pretty much completely empty on pitchers who’ve been closers before. At last week’s GM meetings, Mike Elias acknowledged this in remarks to O’s reporters, saying, “Our plan A is to get somebody with closing experience.” […]
3 months ago | 3 reads
Good Morning Birdland, If you went to bed at a decent time last night, you may have missed one of the more surprising Orioles moves I can recall. The O’s are trading Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels in exchange for outfielder Taylor Ward. Independent of one another, the two pieces of this deal make sense. […]
3 months ago | 2 reads
Grayson Rodriguez will not be in the Orioles Opening Day rotation mix next year. He won’t be in the organization at all. The Orioles announced a surprise trade of the once-top prospect pitcher on Tuesday night, shipping Rodriguez to the Angels for outfielder Taylor Ward. Rodriguez has not thrown a pitch in an MLB game […]
3 months ago | 3 reads
The Orioles need to add two starters to their rotation for 2026 to have much hope of contending. The replacements for Tomoyuki Sugano and Zach Eflin need to be much better than either one of them to give the Orioles a chance. And Dean Kremer needs to find a place at the back of the […]
3 months ago | 1 read
The Orioles might have the perfect excuse to bring Tyler Rogers to Baltimore: he’s practically already on the roster. At least nominally. With Trevor Rogers establishing himself as a legitimate ace after his dominant 2025 season, the Orioles should obviously be allowed to sign Tyler Rogers too. It’s right there in the name. MLB can’t […]
3 months ago | 3 reads
Good morning, Camden Chatters. The first major move of the MLB hot stove season dropped yesterday, with the Mariners re-signing first baseman Josh Naylor to a five-year, $92.5 million deal. That news doesn’t particularly affect the Orioles, who had no need for Naylor with first basemen Ryan Mountcastle, Coby Mayo, and (sort of) Samuel Basallo […]
3 months ago | 3 reads
Last week, action in the Arizona Fall League wrapped up, and with it, so did the last of MLB-affiliated professional baseball in 2025. From play beginning in October and ending early last week, the Peoria Javelinas team that contained prospects from the Orioles and five other MLB teams played to a 12-15 record, with four […]
3 months ago | 4 reads
While much of the Orioles lineup is going to remained unchanged going into 2026, Mike Elias has been clear about two areas he is seeking improvement: outfield depth and right-handed hitting. Harrison Bader would tick both of those boxes, although he comes with plenty of risk. Bader had to settle for a one-year deal (with […]
3 months ago | 1 read
Mike Elias and the front office should enter this offseason motivated to make a true splash in free agency. The Orioles need to bolster the roster to have a real chance of competing in the AL East. Baltimore will look to sign players that can help the club return to the postseason, but what happens […]
3 months ago | 1 read
Happy Monday, Camden Chatters! The slow march of the offseason continues. We wait for the Orioles to make a move that involves players rather than coaches. For now, at least, they haven’t fallen behind other teams as it’s really too early for big moves. There has been some contract news in the majors. If you […]
3 months ago | 1 read
Hello, friends. There are now 130 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2026. The Orioles coaching staff for next season continues to come together. O’s reporters, including MASN’s Roch Kubatko, revealed two more names for Craig Albernaz’s 2026 staff yesterday. The latest newcomers are Miguel Cairo, a 17-year MLB veteran who was most recently interim […]
3 months ago | 1 read
Good morning Birdland, The GM Meetings took place in Las Vegas this week. No major moves were announced, but plenty of rumors have come out since. If these reports are to be believed, the Orioles have taken a rather aggressive posture heading into this winter. They want to rectify what went wrong in 2025, and […]
3 months ago | 2 reads
The offseason for the Orioles has officially begun, with Mike Elias once again making grand proclamations about Baltimore’s commitment to winning and how that will shape the O’s offseason. Atop Elias’ offseason wishlist, once again, is a “front-line starting pitcher.” Two years ago, the Orioles’ GM filled that need with the biggest move of his […]
3 months ago | 4 reads
Good morning, Camden Chatters. MLB’s hot stove has yet to start cooking. There have been no major trades or free agent signings of note in the less than two weeks since the World Series ended. This week’s just-concluded GM meetings in Las Vegas failed to produce any kind of news, but since The Baltimore Banner’s […]
3 months ago | 3 reads
Replacing Félix Bautista is no easy feat. The Orioles’ mountainous All-Star closer — who is likely to miss the entire 2026 season, just as he missed all of 2024 — has gigantic shoes that are hard to fill. Just ask Craig Kimbrel, whose 2024 experience in Baltimore turned into a boondoggle. Or Keegan Akin, who […]
3 months ago | 4 reads
Hello, friends. There are now 133 days until Orioles Opening Day 2026. The start of spring training is much closer, as we’re now less than three months away from when World Baseball Classic-participating pitchers and catchers are set to report. The offseason is kicking off with president of baseball operations Mike Elias saying a variety […]
3 months ago | 1 read