The Orioles have made a few moves this offseason but are still looking for a big rotation upgrade and an impact bat. President of baseball operations Mike Elias spoke to the media today about the club’s offseason and was asked if the O’s had enough spending capacity to address both needs via free agency. “Yes, I think so,” Elias said, per Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun. “I mean, you look at our payroll as it stands right now, and it’s still well below where we went last year.”
Baltimore went into 2025 with an Opening Day payroll of $165MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Thanks to some midseason trades and some guys reaching free agency at season’s end, next year’s payroll isn’t close to that number. As of today, their 2026 club is slated to cost about $118MM, per RosterResource. Even if there’s no bump in payroll coming, that’s more than $45MM in wiggle room.
Elias candidly admitted last month that a front-of-rotation starter and a reliever with closing experience were on the to-do list. The latter seems to be ticked off the list, at least for now. The O’s signed Ryan Helsley earlier this month. Today, Elias said the club is still looking for an external reliever but also might want to leave room open for some of their incumbent arms, per Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun.
That still leaves the rotation as an item to be crossed off. Adding an impact bat was also on the list. The O’s acquired Taylor Ward from the Angels last month but Elias admitted in the wake of that deal that bolstering the lineup was still on the agenda.
Elias said today that the club is willing to be open-minded about the positional fit of the hitter they look to add, per Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner. “If the player is good enough, we can figure out ways to accommodate them, so we have a lot of conversations going on, mostly in free agency, but also in some trades, on guys we view as impact bats.”
Just about anywhere the O’s add to their position player group, there will be domino effects. They don’t have a pure designated hitter but there are several guys who would currently project to spend time there. The catching duo is currently Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo, so the DH spot could be used to have both of them in the lineup regularly. In the outfield, they have Ward, Colton Cowser, Dylan Beavers, Tyler O’Neill and others in the mix. Given O’Neill’s injury history, it would make sense for him to get some DH time. At first base, they have both Coby Mayo and Ryan Mountcastle in the mix, so the DH spot would be needed if the O’s want both of those guys getting at-bats. The rest of the infield includes Jackson Holliday, Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg.
Adding just about any impact hitter would knock someone down the pecking order. If the O’s successfully sign a notable free agent bat, perhaps that will push someone currently on the roster to the trading block. In recent weeks, the O’s have been connected to notable free agents like corner outfielder Kyle Tucker, designated hitter Kyle Schwarber and first baseman Pete Alonso. On the starting pitching side of things, the O’s have been connected to names like Tatsuya Imai, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez, Michael King and Zac Gallen.
MLBTR predicted Tucker to earn a guarantee of $400MM over 11 years. That’s an average annual value of $36.36MM, which would eat up most of Baltimore’s remaining spending capacity, assuming they are willing to run a similar payroll in 2026. With the others, it’s somewhat possible to imagine two of them fitting into the club’s remaining payroll space. Valdez was projected for a $30MM AAV, Alonso $27.5MM, Schwarber $27MM, Imai $25MM, Suarez $23MM and then King and Gallen both at $20MM.
Theoretically, if the O’s do add two names from that list, they could also then save money via the trade market. For instance, Mountcastle is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $7.8MM next year. Or perhaps there’s a path where younger and cheaper players are traded for a more notable return, which lessens the need to do everything via free agency. Elias has yet to sign a starting pitcher to a multi-year deal but there have been offers, including putting a four-year pact on the table for Corbin Burnes.
If they do go the free agent route, Elias has already said they are willing to sign guys who rejected qualifying offers. As a revenue-sharing recipient, the O’s would have to forfeit their third-highest selection in next year’s draft to sign a guy who rejected a QO. Of the aforementioned names, that would apply to Tucker, Schwarber, Valdez, Suarez, Gallen and King. Alonso wasn’t eligible to receive a QO because he got one a year ago. Imai is coming over from Japan, so the QO situation doesn’t apply, but whoever signs him would have to pay a posting fee to his NPB club.
Elias also provided one other note about the club’s plans, noting that they hope to develop Jeremiah Jackson in a utility role, per Weyrich. Jackson debuted in 2025 and hit well, with a .276/.328/.447 line, though that was buoyed by a .365 batting average on balls in play. He played second base, third base and right field. In the minors, he also has experience at shortstop and the other two outfield slots.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images
