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By Alex Kirschenbaum
Contributing Entertainment Writer
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The Baltimore Orioles' 2025 season didn't turn out the way the club had expected.
Following a solid 91-71 finish in 2024 and their second straight postseason appearance, a Wild Card berth, the Orioles were looking to do big things the next year.
Instead, injuries killed any momentum they had developed. 29 Baltimore players landed on the club's injured list, and the Orioles actually tied an MLB record by using 70 players in a single season. The Orioles fired former manager Brandon Hyde in May, replacing him with Tony Mansolino on an interim basis.
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Now, Baltimore's got a brand-new bag. In October, the club poached former Cleveland Guardians associate manager Craig Albernaz to guide it.
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Then team president Mike Elias went on a spending spree.
Most critically, Elias stole former five-time All-Star New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, on the heels of his winning the Silver Slugger Award. Last month, the 31-year-old inked a five-season, $155 million deal with Baltimore, after opting out of the final year of his contract with New York.
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Jon Heyman of The New York Post ranks the Orioles as the clear winners of the Winter Meetings.
"How happy are they to add Pete Alonso? Perhaps as unhappy as Mets fans were to see him go. Perhaps hyperbolically, Orioles owner David Rubenstein likened the acquisition to the Birds acquiring all-time great Frank Robinson 60 years ago," Heyman writes. "The team placed 19 billboards around town celebrating the Polar Bear with the words, 'Icy Conditions Ahead.' Via multiple moves, the Orioles have transformed their team, also adding starter Shane Baz and relievers Ryan Helsley and Andrew Kittredge. They’re still looking for another starter and reliever, with a lefty pen preference."
Baz, 26, was brought in through a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays. He went 10-12 with Tampa Bay last year, notching a 4.87 ERA and logging 176 strikeouts. Helsley, also 26, agreed to a two-season, $28 million contract. The 35-year-old Kittredge, an All-Star in 2021, had been flipped from Baltimore to the Chicago Cubs last season. The Orioles reacquired Kittredge in the offseason.
Baltimore also flipped pitcher Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels for left fielder Taylor Ward, while re-signing another pitcher, Zach Eflin, on a one-year, $10 million contract.
As Heyman indicates, Baltimore's run isn't quite done. Among southpaw relief pitcher options, Cubs vet Taylor Rogers and Los Angeles Angels reliever Andrew Chafin could be intriguing fits.
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