Daily Coverage of the Baltimore Orioles
Shane Baz hasn’t thrown a pitch in Baltimore yet, but he has signed a contract extension with the Baltimore Orioles. While the team hasn’t announced the extension, Baz is reported to have signed a five-year deal worth $68 million.
That’s a good thing. BUT…it mate have been prudent to have at least allowed Baz to throw a pitch for the O’s before doing an extension. But needless to say, the Orioles got their man.
2026 is already not being kind to the Baltimore Orioles in terms of injuries. Jackson Holliday broke a bone in his wrist – and might miss a couple of weeks. Then there’s Jordan Westburg…
All the Orioles are publicly saying is that he has a strained oblique. However as this week has gone on rumors have swirled that he would be missing more time, and might be facing surgery. Manager Craig Albernaz on Westburg (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):
Right now, he’s physically unable to participate right now. So he’s getting evaluated by a medical team and also outside people to make sure we have a plan in place and see what’s going on with Jordan and get him going.
That’s obviously a quote that’s fairly ominous among other things. It’s purposely vague. Will this be yet another year where the O’s struggle with injuries?
In a later comment Alberbaz also used the term play “this year” with regard to Westburg. Hopefully that’s truly the case. The Orioles were a much better team last year when Westburg was in the lineup. Time will tell.
The Orioles also open Florida Grapefruit League play this afternoon when AL East rival New York visits Ed Smith Stadium. Trevor Rogers gets the start for the O’s, and New York is yet to announce a starter. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.
1996 was the last time the President of the United States threw out the first pitch for the Baltimore Orioles. That in the form of President Bill Clinton on Opening Day. Vice-President Joe Biden also came to Camden Yards one year. But it’s been that long since a sitting President has done it.
The White House has a unique relationship with Major League Baseball, due to the tradition of the President throwing out the first pitch on Opening Day. President William Howard Taft almost inadvertently began the tradition in 1910 on Opening Day for the Washington Senators. Since then most subsequent Presidents have done it.
Sadly the tradition has waned in recent years. Neither President Biden nor President Trump (to this point) did the honors. But it was certainly a thing for a time. President Roosevelt (FDR) actually hit a Washington Post camera when doing the deed one year. President Kennedy opened the 1961 season (his first in office) and the new DC Stadium with a first pitch for the Senators on Opening Day. DC Stadium would later be renamed in honor of his slain brother, Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
When the Senators moved after 1971, the “Presidential Opener” did take on a Baltimore flavor. The Orioles were the closest team to the nation’s capitol, but ironically the first time a President did the honors at Memorial Stadium wasn’t on Opening Day. It was in the 1979 World Series when President Jimmy Carter threw out the first pitch. President’s Reagan, Bush (41), and the aforementioned President Clinton would come to Memorial Stadium and Camden Yards in subsequent years. (And the aforementioned Joe Biden, as Vice-President.)
Obviously the most celebrated and important first pitch in history was that of President George W. Bush at the 2001 World Series. This of course in the wake of 9/11, and at Yankee Stadium to boot. In a moment that largely symbolizes a moment when America rose like a Phoenix from the ashes (and yes I recognize that the Arizona Diamondbacks won that World Series!), the President threw from the mound as opposed to in front of it. And…he threw a strike.
Again, the tradition has waned. Many Presidents, including Bush (43) and Obama, have cited the fact that it’s somewhat unfair to fans coming to games to have to undergo the security checks which get set up by the Secret Service when the President shows up. Having attended football games with the President in attendance, honestly it isn’t as much as I would have thought. For what that’s worth.
As a Presidential history buff, this is one of my favorite “recurring” columns to write each year. I always end it the same way, and this year is going to be no exception. But I’m going to give an additional “add-on spin” to it also. We now have for the first time in history, a Pope born in the United States. So to His Holiness, Pope Leo, I suspect that your hometown team, the Chicago White Sox, would love to have you throw out the first pitch on Opening Day!
Again, I end this column in the same way every year, pointing at the current occupant of the Oval Office. I think the President of the United States should throw out the first ball on Opening Day in Washington DC every year.
It’s being reported this evening that the Baltimore Orioles have signed RHP Chris Bassitt to a one-year contract worth $18.5 million dollars. Bassitt, 36, now joins the Orioles’ re-tooled rotation.
Last year Bassitt went 11-9 with a 3.96 ERA with Toronto. And unsung benefit of the signing is that Bassitt obviously has post-season experience. He was a part of a Toronto rotation that went to the World Series last year. He also participated in a resurgence with Toronto, which the Orioles hope happens again but to them. Time will tell if that ends up being the case.
News out of Sarasota for the Baltimore Orioles today was more of the same as we saw at various points last year. Mike Elias announced this morning that Jackson Holiday would miss Opening Day with a broken hamate bone in his finger. Jordan Westburg is also working through a strained oblique, and will miss the beginning of Grapefruit League play. He’s not expected to miss any regular season games at this time.
The silver lining is that last part – that Westburg isn’t expected to miss any time in the regular season (at this time). It’s more concerning on a large-scale basis given the number of injuries this franchise sustained in 2025. And even before. Holliday’s injury was sustained a few weeks ago taking live BP.
You have to hope this is the extent of injuries this spring. If so, it’s a non-story. Blip in the radar. The other option is that maybe the Orioles need to look into their training programs. Jackson Holliday with a broken bone during BP – those things happen. But Westburg with the oblique…is there something wrong with how the Orioles are training? Because this sort of thing happened a lot last year.
The Baltimore Orioles made a move to acquire starting pitching today, trading for RHP Shane Baz, formerly of the Tampa Rays. In return, the Orioles sent OF Slater de Brun, C Caden Bodine, RHP Michael Forret and OF Austin Overn back to Tampa. The teams have not confirmed the deal, which also includes a Competitive Balance Round A pick going to Tampa.
Baz, 26, made a career-high 31 starts in 2025. He pitched to a 10-12 record with a 4.87 ERA. He struck out 176 and walked 64. He’s also under team control until 2029.
That last part is probably the key, presumably the reason the price was so high. Controllable pitching is a hot commodity. Many of the big names on the trade market are on the docket BECAUSE they don’t have much team control left on their contracts.
Controllable pitching is key. So is keeping your core. Any discussion of involving the likes of someone such as Jackson Holliday should be a non-starter.
Don’t say that the Baltimore Orioles weren’t aggressive this offseason. It’s being reported today at the MLB Winter Meetings that the O’s are signing former New York Mets’ first baseman Pete Alonso. The club has not confirmed the signing as of yet, as it’s pending a physical.
Alonso signed a two-year deal with New York last year, which had an opt-out clause. The deal with the Orioles is a reported five years and $155 million, and allegedly has no opt-out clause. Alonso, 31, is excepted to be the Orioles’ starting first baseman on Opening Day.
President of Baseball Operations Mike Elias said he went to the Winter Meetings partially to get a big bat, and he did. Alonso hit .272 last year, with 38 homers. Also 41 doubles. He should plug into the Orioles’ lineup well.
The question now becomes what to do with Ryan Mountcastle, who was recently tendered a contract. It’s entirely possible that he’ll be packaged in a trade for a starting pitcher. Or perhaps Coby Mayo could be that guy. Either way the O’s have a logjam now at first base, despite this being a winning move.
The Baltimore Orioles made a trade overnight. And a stunning one at that. Pitcher Grayson Rodriguez was traded to the Anaheim Angels in return for OF Taylor Ward.
For starters, Ward is a career .247 hitter. He did hit 25 homers in 2024, and 36 in 2025. Whether that translates to anything in 2026 of course remains to be seen. However we do know that Camden Yards tends to favor hitters, this despite the newish dimensions.
Rodriguez of course was expected to be a stalwart in the Oriole rotation at one time. He was injured in 2024, and missed all of 2025. Are the Orioles not confident that he’ll ever amount to what was thought to be his full potential?
At its surface, it’s a curious trade. The O’s had a lot invested in Rodriguez, and he was thought to be the future. Ward is also a free agent in 2027, for what that’s worth. Again, seems curious.
My thought is that yes, Rodriguez returning to form (or at all in 2026) could be in question. But keep in mind that we’re not even at Thanksgiving yet. The Hot Stove season has barely been ushered in. Maybe the Orioles have a trade in the works for a bigger name pitcher.
If they do, it may not even be one that’s consummated in the near future. But it’s a thought. For now, Grayson Rodriguez has gone to Anaheim, and the Orioles have Taylor Ward in the outfield.
The Baltimore Orioles appear to be hiring Craig Albernaz as their new manager. You might find yourself asking, “who?” You aren’t alone.
Albernaz, 43, was hired as the Cleveland Guardians’ bench coach for the 2024 season. He was promoted to Associate Manager for this past year. He was also the San Francisco Giants’ Bulloen Coach in 2019, and he’s coached in the Tampa Rays’ organization,
A minor league catcher, Albernaz never made it to the big leagues. He wasn’t on anyone’s short list as a candidate. My personal opinion was that it was going to be former Seattle skipper Scott Servais. But Albernaz did enough to woo Mike Elias to get the job. For what it’s worth, he was also rumored to be a finalist for at least one other job.
He’s another young hire, at 43. Brandon Hyde was 45. He’ll inherit a team that was riddled with injuries in 2025, and couldn’t quite put it together even in the short amount of time they were close to full strength. But he’ll also inherit a roster that has the potential to make a run at a title – IF the likes of Elias and the front office can add perhaps a big name in the field and on the mound. But one way or the other, Craig Albernaz it seems to be.
I wouldn’t expect a formal announcement until after the conclusion of the World Series, but this appears to be the direction in which the Orioles are going.
For the first time in their history, the Baltimore Orioles began the season north of the border in 2025. They played a four-game set in Toronto, splitting the series. But they did it in grandiose fashion, defeating Toronto 12-2 on Opening Day.
However the harbinger for the season dates back to 2024, that being injuries. The Orioles lost Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, and Tyler Wells in 2024, with Bradish and Wells returning at the tail end of 2025. On top of that, they lost Gunnar Henderson in the first week of spring training (through the first week of the regular season), and Colton Cowser over the opening weekend.
As the season was in its infancy, it was evident that something wasn’t clicking. And injuries piled up. Jordan Westburg ended up on the IL over time, as did Ryan Mountcastle. Down the stretch, Adley Rutschman even hit the injured list. And the players who were on the field weren’t producing.
Things came to a head after a blown save in May against Washington at home. GM Mike Elias called a press conference, and announced the next day that he had relieved manager Brandon Hyde of his duties. Tony Mansolino would be the interim manager for the rest of the season.
Things improved under Mansolino, and injured players started to return. However even wins were a struggle. The O’s had to settle for at times winning one of three in a series, with that one being a struggle. And at times it didn’t make sense. The games they would lose were very much against the run of play. But wins are wins, and losses are losses.
The Orioles made a few trades at the deadline, including their lone all-star, Ryan O’Hearn. Sadly, these were necessary moves. You may as well get something for a guy as opposed to getting nothing. The likes of Bradish and Wells would return late in the season, but the O’s also lost the likes of Ryan Mountcastle down the stretch, among others.
Part of the story of this season was that the right hand never seemed to compliment the left hand. In games where they scored runs, the pitching dumped out. And on nights when they pitched well, the bats fell silent. This year will be remembered for the injuries first and foremost. But never being able to put it all together was as much a problem as anything else.
There were some bright spots, however. Trevor Rogers worked his way into being the MVO, leading the pitching staff in a down year. The Orioles also called up Dylan Beavers and Samuel Basallo towards the end of the season. And the boys made an immediate impact. Basallo was also given an eight-year contract, four games into his tenure.
End of the day, they finished with 75 wins. You have to hope that playing this back next year, presumably under different leadership, maybe things are different. In 2025 just about everything went against them – things within their control, and outside of it. Maybe in the future, some of those things break the other way.
Birdland Crush 