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Orioles, Dietrich Enns Agree To New Deal

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7:15pm: Per Kostka, this deal is worth a guaranteed $2.625MM. That breaks down as a $2.5MM salary in 2025 with a $125K buyout on a 2027 club option worth $3.5MM.

3:58pm: The Orioles announced Monday that they’ve agreed to a one-year contract with left-hander Dietrich Enns for the 2026 season. It contains a club option for the 2027 campaign as well. Baltimore previously held a $3MM club option over Enns, a client of the Beverly Hills Sports Council. This new contract overrides that deal, per Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner.

Enns, 34, signed a minor league deal with the Tigers after a three-year run pitching in Asia (two years in NPB, one in the KBO). Enns pitched well enough in the Tigers’ Triple-A rotation to get a call to the big leagues in Detroit — his first MLB work since 2021 and just the third season in which he’s logged at least some MLB time. He struggled in 17 2/3 innings for manager A.J. Hinch’s club and was flipped to the Orioles for cash just prior to the July 31 trade deadline.

The change of scenery paid dividends. Enns thrived with the O’s, turning in 28 2/3 innings of 3.14 ERA ball (17 relief appearances, one start). He fanned 27.6% of his opponents in Baltimore and only issued walks at an 8.9% clip. Enns showed plenty of bat-missing ability with both teams, logging matching 13.5% swinging-strike rates in his two stops and topping a 34% opponents’ chase rate with each club.

Enns is out of minor league options, making him likely to break camp with the club next year. It’s at least possible that the O’s could try to pass him through waivers and stash him in Triple-A as a depth option, knowing he wouldn’t elect free agency and forfeit the guaranteed money on his contract. They’ve made similar depth-driven signings in the past under the current front office regime. Given how well Enns pitched for them down the stretch, however, there’s a good chance he’d be claimed, so today’s deal simply seems like a means of locking in some cost certainty and establishing another year of club control at a fixed rate.

Tyler O’Neill Declines Opt-Out Chance; Orioles Decline Jorge Mateo’s Club Option

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Outfielder Tyler O’Neill is staying in Baltimore. He could have opted out of the final two years of his contract, walking away from $33MM, but Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner reports that he will forgo that chance and stay with the Orioles. In other Baltimore contract news, Francys Romero of BeisbolFR reports that the club will turn down their $5.5MM club option on infielder/outfielder Jorge Mateo, who will become a free agent.

Neither decision is a major surprise. O’Neill, 31 in June, signed a three-year, $49.5MM deal with the O’s last winter, with that deal giving him a chance to opt out after the first season. At the time, he was coming off a solid 31-homer season with the Red Sox. However, he had a lengthy injury history. The deal was hopefully going to give the O’s a potent bat while O’Neill could return to the open market if he had a healthy and productive season.

It did not work out as hoped. O’Neill had multiple IL stints due to neck, shoulder and wrist injuries. He only got into 54 games and put up a dismal .199/.292/.392 line in those. After that performance, he wasn’t going to top $33MM, so he’ll stay with the O’s for another two seasons.

Baltimore’s outfield picture should look different next year, as they traded Cedric Mullins and Ramón Laureano at the deadline. Going into next year, O’Neill is in the mix for playing time alongside Colton Cowser, Dylan Beavers, Jeremiah Jackson and others. It’s also possible the Orioles give O’Neill lots of time as the designated hitter to keep him off the IL, though they also might want to have catchers Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo sharing the DH spot. Basallo can play first but the O’s also have Coby Mayo and Ryan Mountcastle in the mix there, unless Mountcastle is traded or non-tendered.

Mateo, 31 in June, has been with the O’s since 2021. He’s never been much of a hitter but has been a useful bench/utility piece thanks to his ability to steal bases and play multiple positions. 2025 was his final year of arbitration. He and the O’s avoided arb by agreeing to a $3.55MM salary with a $5.5MM club option for 2026.

However, 2025 was mostly a lost season for Mateo. He underwent left elbow surgery in August of 2024. Inflammation in that elbow put him back on the shelf in June of this year. While on a rehab assignment in July, he suffered a hamstring strain that kept him out of action until September.

Around all those injuries, Mateo got into 43 games and hit .177/.217/.266, so the O’s have made the easy decision to move on. He’ll become a free agent for the first time in his career. The O’s could bring him back at a lower price point or even on a minor league deal. Other clubs might also be interested in him as a depth add on a minor league pact or a modest big league deal for a utility role.

Photo courtesy of James A. Pittman, Imagn Images

Orioles Sign Luis Vazquez To Major League Contract

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The Orioles announced that infielder Luis Vazquez was signed to a Major League contract for the 2026 season.  Vazquez was already controlled for 2026 as a pre-arbitration player, but this transaction gives Vazquez a bit more roster security (for now) and probably gives him a small bump over the minimum salary was slated to earn next year.

The signing bears some similarities to Baltimore’s deal with Rico Garcia, which was also announced on Thursday.  In essence, Vazquez’s big league deal and Garcia’s split contract are meant to deter teams from claiming either player on waivers, should the Orioles designate either for assignment this winter.  The two situations aren’t exactly similar since Vazquez has minor league options remaining while Garcia is out of options, but both players can reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency should they get DFA’ed and then outrighted off the 40-man roster.

Vazquez (who turned 26 last month) came to the Orioles from the Cubs in a cash transaction last January, and then was designated and outrighted off Baltimore’s roster just a week later.  His contract was selected by the O’s in June, and he ended up appearing in 32 MLB games in 2025, with a .160/.208/.240 slash line to show for 53 plate appearances.  Vazquez did hit his first big league home run, which ended up being the game-winning run in the Orioles’ 3-2 win over the Astros on August 24.

Known as an excellent defender, Vazquez might be able to carve out a bench spot in the Show on his glovework alone, and he’ll get some consideration for the Orioles’ utility infield position during Spring Training.  However, he’ll have to deliver something more at the plate than his .404 OPS over 67 career big league plate appearances.  His work at Triple-A has been much more respectable, as Vazquez has hit .252/.340/.408 over 839 career PA with the Cubs’ and Orioles’ top affiliates.

Robinson Chirinos Will Not Return As Orioles Bench Coach

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The Orioles will not retain bench coach Robinson Chirinos for the 2026 season, reports Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner. Kostka writes that Chirinos technically remains under contract but is pursuing opportunities elsewhere.

That’s common practice when teams make managerial changes. Chirinos was hired just last offseason to replace Fredi González as Brandon Hyde’s top lieutenant. That lasted all of six weeks into the regular season. Baltimore fired Hyde after starting the season with a 15-28 record. While many teams promote their bench coach to interim manager after a midseason firing, the O’s opted for third base coach Tony Mansolino in that role.

This was Chirinos’ first season on an MLB staff, so it’s not surprising that the Orioles opted for a fifth-year coach in Mansolino for the rest of the year. They tabbed Guardians associate manager Craig Albernaz as their permanent skipper earlier this week. An external managerial hire usually results in an overhaul of the coaching staff. The O’s already moved on from assistant hitting coaches Sherman Johnson and Tommy Joseph. There hasn’t been official word on the statuses of any others.

The 41-year-old Chirinos should be able to find a coaching position with another club. The former catcher was a respected clubhouse leader over a playing career that spanned parts of 11 seasons. Chirinos played for six teams, including the Orioles, and spent the majority of his career with the Rangers.

Orioles, Rico Garcia Agree To Terms On 2026 Salary

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The Orioles announced that they have agreed to terms with right-hander Rico Garcia on a one-year split deal for the 2026 season. The club didn’t announce salary figures but Josh Tolentino and Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun report that the righty will get a $900K salary while he’s in the majors. He’d make $225K for time spent in the minors, according to The Associated Press.

It’s an unusual deal. Garcia, 32 in January, was already on the Baltimore roster, having been claimed off waivers from the Mets in August. He has less than two years of service time. That means he hasn’t yet qualified for arbitration. The O’s could have set his salary around the league minimum, which will be $780K next year. Bumping up to $900K is obviously attractive to Garcia but the O’s also expect some kind of benefit from it as well.

It’s likely the first step in a plan to have Garcia serve as non-roster depth. The O’s could put him on waivers and hope that the slightly elevated salary dissuades the other 29 clubs from putting in a claim. If Garcia passed through waivers unclaimed, he would have the right to elect free agency since he has a previous career outright. However, since he has less than five years of service time, he would have to walk away from his remaining salary commitments in exercising that right. Since Garcia is out of options, this potentially gives the O’s a way to move him to Norfolk and back, while getting around his out-of-options status.

The O’s have tried similar things before, usually with arbitration-eligible players. They agreed to a $1MM salary with infielder Emmanuel Rivera for the 2025 season. He was outrighted off the roster before the season began. During the season, he was added back to the roster and then outrighted again on three further occasions, giving the O’s an extra depth option. It doesn’t always work this way, however. The O’s and Jake Cave avoided arbitration in November of 2022, agreeing to a $950K salary for 2023. About a month later, they tried to pass him through waivers but the Phillies claimed him.

Garcia has seen limited action in five big league seasons but 2025 was his largest workload and his best performance. He tossed 34 1/3 innings for three different clubs, allowing 3.15 earned runs per nine. His 26.8% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate and 48.4% ground ball rate were all above average. Since he’s out of options, he bounced around the waiver wire, pitching for the Mets, Yankees and O’s last year. Perhaps the increased salary will help the O’s keep him as an up-and-down arm but it’s also possible some other club claims him and he gets paid his slightly elevated salary somewhere else.

Photo courtesy of James A. Pittman, Imagn Images

AL East Notes: Story, Flaherty, Lowe, Fairbanks

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MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam touched on an assortment of Red Sox topics in the latest edition of their Fenway Rundown podcast, including a brief mention of Trevor Story’s status as the shortstop considers an opt-out clause in his contract.  Cotillo believes “the Red Sox are pretty cautiously very optimistic that” Story will be staying with the team, and while’s plenty of grey area within that statement, it does offer some indication that Story is leaning towards declining his opt-out.

Story is owed $25MM in each of the next two seasons, plus there’s a $5MM buyout on his $25MM club option for the 2028 campaign.  The Red Sox can override Story’s opt-out by guaranteeing that 2028 club option right now, but that doesn’t appear to be on the team’s radar, so the ball looks to be entirely in Story’s court.  While Story’s .263/.308/.433 slash line and 25 homers over 654 plate appearances only translates to a 101 wRC+, his numbers were weighed down by a cold start to the season, as Story posted an .825 OPS over his final 429 PA.

Between this strong finish and a thin free agent shortstop market, there’s a case for Story to leave his $55MM guaranteed on the table and look for a bigger contract this winter.  On the flip side, Story turns 33 next month, his defensive metrics were subpar, and the injury problems that plagued him in 2022-24 will be on the minds of front offices even though Story stayed pretty healthy in 2025.  If Story wants to avoid the risks of another prolonged stint in free agency, staying in Boston with a contending Red Sox team certainly seems like a viable choice.

More from around the AL East…

  • Earlier this month, Jon Heyman of the New York Post floated Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty as a logical candidate to be part of the Orioles’ managerial search.  MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reports that Flaherty did indeed interview with the O’s about the position before the club opted to hire Guardians associate manager Craig Albernaz.  Any number of other names might’ve been considered by the Orioles, but Flaherty joins Albert Pujols, Luis Rojas, and Scott Servais as the candidates directly linked to Baltimore’s search whether in formal interviews or (in Servais’ case) just some interest on the club’s part.  Flaherty’s six seasons as an Orioles player likely held some extra appeal for Baltimore’s front office, but his well-regarded work as a bench coach in Chicago and San Diego has put him in the running for multiple managerial vacancies.  Flaherty is reportedly one of the finalists for the Twins’ job, and he is a candidate for both the Padres and Braves in their ongoing searches.
  • The Rays hold a pair of club options on Brandon Lowe ($11.5MM) and Pete Fairbanks ($11MM) for the 2026 season, and both players have expressed a desire to remain in Tampa.  Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times explores the option decisions, noting that between the team’s offensive needs and how “the Rays typically view the bullpen as more changeable and volatile on a year-to-year basis,” Lowe seems more likely than Fairbanks to be part of the 2026 roster.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that Fairbanks’ option will be declined, however, as the Rays would then lose the closer for nothing in free agency.  Perhaps the most probable scenario is that Tampa Bay will pick up both options and then explore trade possibilities for either player — in Fairbanks’ case, his $11MM salary might not seem that onerous to some rival clubs in need of high-leverage bullpen help.

MLBTR Podcast: Bo Bichette’s Health, Kazuma Okamoto, And Dylan Cease’s Market

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • If the Blue Jays were to extend Addison Barger, would the Lawrence Butler deal be a good comp? (40:35)
  • If a veteran signs a minor league deal, are they eligible to be taken in the Rule 5 draft? (44:50)
  • Will the Red Sox trade Jarren Duran? (46:25)

Check out our past episodes!

  • The Phillies’ Outfield, Tarik Skubal, And Hiring College Coaches – listen here
  • Murakami To Be Posted This Offseason, Managerial Vacancies, And More! – listen here
  • Rockies’ Front Office Changes, Skip Schumaker, And ABS Talk – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Dan Hamilton, Imagn Images

Sherman Johnson, Tommy Joseph Won’t Return To Orioles’ Coaching Staff

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Orioles assistant hitting coach Sherman Johnson is moving to the White Sox as a minor league hitting coordinator, reports Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner. Kostka also reports that Tommy Joseph, another assistant hitting coach, won’t be returning to the O’s next year. Those may not be the only changes for the Baltimore coaching staff, as Andy Martino of SNY reports that first base coach Anthony Sanders has been given permission to talk to other clubs.

The Orioles will have a new manager in 2026. Brandon Hyde was fired during the 2025 season. Third base coach Tony Mansolino took over as interim manager for the remainder of the campaign. It was announced yesterday that Craig Albernaz will now skipper the club. It’s common for managerial hirings to lead to coaching staff shake-ups, as the new bench boss will sometimes bring in his own guys or simply just have different ideas about the best way to move forward.

Johnson, 35, was just hired in November of last year. The 2025 season was his first on a big league staff. He had a brief playing career, with ten big league games for the Angels back in 2018. He played in the minors and independent ball through 2022 before transitioning into coaching. The O’s hired him to work as hitting coach for Double-A Bowie in 2023. He was a minor league hitting coordinator in 2024 before getting bumped up to the big leagues. He’ll now return to the minors in a role with the White Sox.

Joseph, 34, played for the Phillies in 2016 and 2017. He then transitioned to coaching, working in the minors with the Mets and Giants. He got a big league job with the Mariners in 2024, getting hired as an assistant hitting coach. He was hired away by the Orioles for the 2025 season but will be moving on after just one season in Baltimore.

Sanders, 51, played in the majors from 1999 to 2001. He later transitioned to coaching, working with the Rockies in the minor leagues. He worked his way up to the majors and then jumped to the Orioles as first base coach for the 2020 season. It’s not a foregone conclusion that he’ll be leaving the O’s but it seems he is at least exploring the possibility.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Orioles Hire Craig Albernaz As Manager

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October 27: The Orioles officially announced Albernaz as the club’s new manager this morning. He will be introduced at a press conference on November 4. Both Elias and Albernaz offered statements in the aftermath of the hiring:

“We are elated to welcome Craig Albernaz as the next manager of the Orioles and our leader on the field,” Elias’s statement reads. “Craig has built an exemplary career across multiple successful organizations and brings a tremendous amount of experience, knowledge, and talent to our organization and to this new challenge. We believe he is the right person at the right time to elevate our baseball operations and guide our team back to the playoffs and a World Series Championship.”

“I am deeply honored and humbled to join the storied Baltimore Orioles organization,” Albernaz’s statement reads. “This is a tremendous honor, and I’m grateful to Mike Elias and the entire Orioles team for entrusting me with the responsibility of leading this talented club.”

October 26: The Orioles are in the final stages of negotiations with Craig Albernaz about a deal to become the team’s next manager, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.  Moments before Passan’s report, Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote that Albernaz was the “frontrunner” in the Orioles’ search.

It’s quite an early birthday present for Albernaz, who turns 43 later this week.  Albernaz worked as the Guardians’ associate manager this year after acting as the team’s bench coach in 2024, and four seasons on the Giants’ coaching staff as a bullpen and catching coach.  Prior to his work on big league staffs, Albernaz spent four years in the Rays’ farm system, including managerial stints at the high-A and low-A levels.  Albernaz is a former player, suiting up primarily as a catcher in the Rays’ and Tigers’ farm systems from 2006-14.

Albernaz’s job with the Guardians developed after Cleveland interviewed him about their last managerial vacancy, and Stephen Vogt then hired Albernaz to his own coaching staff.  Albernaz was a finalist for both the White Sox and Marlins in their managerial searches last offseason, and he was linked to the Giants’ vacancy this year and also interviewed with the Nationals.  There hadn’t been any public indication that Albernaz was in the running for Baltimore’s job, but it isn’t surprising that the O’s were eyeing someone who has been such a popular candidate in recent years.

Like previous Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, Albernaz is becoming a full-time MLB manager for the first time, and is coming to the job at a relatively young age (Hyde was 45 when hired in December 2018.)  The circumstances of this hiring for O’s president of baseball operations Mike Elias are much different this time around — Hyde was hired to oversee an Orioles team embarking on a rebuild, while Albernaz will be tasked with getting a contender back on track.

It seemed like Baltimore’s rebuild had paid off when the team had a winning season in 2022, and when the O’s then reached the playoffs in both 2023 and 2024.  However, a bunch of pitching injuries and a near team-wide set of offensive struggles essentially sunk this year’s Orioles right out of the gate, as Hyde was fired in May when the team had a 15-28 record.

Tony Mansolino posted a winning 60-59 record after being promoted from third base coach to interim manager, which made Mansolino a candidate for the full-time position this offseason.  The Orioles were also linked to former Mariners manager Scott Servais, former Mets manager Luis Rojas, and superstar Albert Pujols in their managerial search, plus Cubs bench coach and ex-O’s player Ryan Flaherty was reportedly under consideration.

Albernaz doesn’t have the experience or the name value as the other candidates, yet he’ll become the latest in a long line of skippers with past ties to the Guardians and/or Rays organizations.  Those two teams have made a habit of staying in contention while focusing on player development, which is key for an O’s team that will need several of its young building blocks to rebound from underwhelming 2025 seasons.  How the Orioles will augment their young core with offseason additions is now the next goal for Elias with the managerial search concluded.

This has been a busy offseason for managerial hirings and firings, and we’re still not even halfway through the list of teams looking for new skippers in 2026.  The Orioles join the Angels (Kurt Suzuki), Giants (Tony Vitello), and Rangers (Skip Schumaker) as teams who have hired new managers, while the Nationals, Padres, Twins, Braves, and Rockies remain searching.

Inset photo courtesy of Joe Camporeale — Imagn Images

John Morris Passes Away

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Former big league pitcher John Morris passed away last week at the age of 84, according to an obituary posted to the Cape Gazette in Morris’s hometown of Lewes, Delaware.

A veteran of eight MLB seasons, Morris is perhaps best known as a member of the Seattle Pilots during the club’s lone 1969 season. Morris signed into the Phillies organization for his age-18 season in 1960 but spent the first several years of his career in the minors before making his big league debut with Philadelphia in 1966. He threw just 13 2/3 innings of work in that brief cameo in the majors before returning to Triple-A for the 1967 season, where he dominated with a 1.54 ERA across 33 relief appearances.

He was traded to the Orioles ahead of the 1968 season and briefly returned to the majors in 1968 with Baltimore but once again was sent back to Triple-A for much of the 1969 campaign, though he did make it to Seattle and pitch 12 2/3 innings for the Pilots. When the Pilots franchise moved to Milwaukee the following year, Morris remained with the club and became a regular fixture of the Brewers’ bullpen for the 1970 and ’71 seasons. In 1970, Morris served as a swing man and pitched to a 3.93 ERA across 20 games, including nine starts.

The highlight of Morris’s career came on May 13 and May 19, 1970 as he threw complete games in back-to-back starts. Morris surrendered four runs on ten hits and three walks while striking out 11 batters across those two complete games, both of which ended in wins for the Brewers. Morris’s May 19 start against the Oakland A’s saw him out-duel All-Star and future Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter on the mound as Milwaukee won 6-3. Morris’s solid season a swing man earned him a full-time look in the Milwaukee bullpen for the 1971 campaign, and he posted a 3.72 ERA in 67 2/3 innings of work across 43 appearances for the team.

Morris was traded to the Giants following the 1971 season and was mostly relegated to work at the team’s Triple-A affiliate once again. He pitched for San Francisco in parts of three seasons and ended his career on a high note with a 3.05 ERA in 17 appearances for the 1974 Giants in his age-32 season. In all, Morris appeared in 132 games for the Phillies, Orioles, Pilots, Brewers, and Giants across his eight seasons in the majors. He pitched to a 3.95 ERA, struck out 137 batters, finished his career with a lifetime 11-7 record and picked up two saves along the way.

We at MLB Trade Rumors send our condolences to Morris’s family, friends, and loved ones.

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