He can have my back if he needs a spare.

Echoing the first part of this, shout-out O's Bluesky for measured takes through and through tonight. I wasn't fully about to crash out or anything, but I had some concerns and feel much better now.

Seems like there are about a million permutations the rest of this O's off-season could take. But, with Mayo/Mounty still superfluous at 1B, and probably some redundancy in Kremer/Povich/Wells/Eflin, standing pat doesn't feel like one of those permutations.

This is a bit of a stretch, but I see this Zach Eflin move as somewhat Dodgers-like (assuming the O's add another good starter). When he signs, everyone asks "where are they gonna fit Eflin into this rotation when he is healthy in May?" And then it's May, and you need him, b/c injuries happen.

Couple positives here: -Orioles know his current medicals best. So, whatever the club expects from him is probably a reasonable bet for innings and performance. -Povich/Kremer are attractive, cost-controlled pieces for a lot of clubs. They both just became easier to package with Mayo.

BP is absolutely worth every penny, and supporting independent media, particularly in this day and age, is *so* vitally important. It's *literally* the cost of like a cup of coffee per month.

MLB's tech regulation plans give itself full control over who can do business with baseball. And I learned an AI scouting firm — founded by the uncle of an exec in Rob Manfred’s inner circle — may win a bid. Team sources and antitrust experts told me it creates a conflict of interest. NEW from me:

Only one team in Baltimore is taking things seriously rn.

Hunter Dobbins feels pretty light on the return? Will need to see who the prospects involved are I suppose

This is where I'm at too. The public-facing narrative certainly won't be "yeah, ugh, roster's pretty tightly constrained and we don't have any options really." They're certainly looking for Mayo trades as we speak.

It's easy to say "Grayson and Baz both had great stuff and a ton of injuries, lol Orioles", but it feels pretty disingenuous to me. Since July 5th, 2024, Baz has not missed a start. Since July 31st, 2024, Rodriguez has not pitched in an MLB game. Baz threw more than everyone but Dean last year.

This man's whole countenance and name feel coordinated. He's not about to waste time giving you six whole syllables when he introduces himself. You'll get six letters and then the conversation's gonna move on or he's gonna move on.

Final thoughts, Baz has front-line stuff and three years of control. We paid a lot for him... but Bodine is more high-floor than anything, Overn might not develop the pop to be an everyday guy, de Brun is like 12 years old, and Forret is a great pitching prospect!

I cringed. I gasped. Wow that is a lot.

Baz is so nasty. This is so much fun.

Yes.

It would've taken us giving up the draft pick for what will (if all goes well) be a one-year deal after he opts out. San Diego doesn't feel that penalty (they never had the pick to begin with), and King gets to show he's healthy for a year, then hit the market again without the QO attached.

Um, I was unaware we had to compete with them?

Chanukah Sameach to ME @fangraphs.com merch goes hard for the baseball lover in your life

Thought this was a useful perspective from Kyle

Pete has gone from "overly intense to the point of corny" to "oh my god his passion for the game is unending and he is our goober" in the matter of about a half hour here

AND HE SPEAKS SPANISH

HE TEXTED HIS WIFE THE FOLLOWING: "This is gonna be the place for us. This is the place for the Alonsos"

Pete seems so genuine. He is certainly pandering a bit but it doesn't feel forced at all. Nice hearing somebody say they're genuinely excited to immerse themself and their family in Baltimore.

"With love, Polar Bear" Pete Alonso says goodbye to New York 🧡

Going into the offseason, I did not expect the Orioles to even be involved with Alonso (or Schwarber). Tbh, I'm still not sure if I like it all that much. But it is awesome to see Elias/Rubenstein spend some money. This is undoubtedly a good thing! The team is better. They are more fun. Let's go!

After signing Pete Alonso, the Baltimore Orioles are still in hot pursuit of a front-line starter. Tatsuya Imai, Ranger Suarez, Framber Valdez are all potential options while they also continue to aggressively monitor trade options.

So about Mayo and Mounty...

I AM SHAKING

Orioles Reliever Rico Garcia has been named to Team Puerto Rico’s preliminary roster for the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Garcia posted a 2.84 ERA across 20 Games last year.

Oooooof 7th pick

It's impossible to say how much of a shift this off-season truly has been from the last one or two- the offer to Burnes was certainly a legitimate one. But, seeing our name attached to a legitimate offer to a VERY imperfect roster fit, that's probably an overpay, feels very different. I love it.

Absolute insanity

3/69 for Edwin. Nice.

Wait Edwin to the Dodgers too!?

Man 5/150 for a DH really just happened. Amazing.

it's literally 10am and there's nothing happening do these baseball people even work or is this just one big vacation

Inside of me there are two wolves: Wolf 1 knows that oftentimes conversations are beginning at the Winter Meetings and, while productive, they don't necessarily amount to anything during the meetings themselves. Wolf 2 doesn't care and just needs a fat, juicy piece of O's news today. Please

sorry, that's jackson holliday?

Mounty-plus for a Brenton Doyle would make me feel much better about center field.

Heyman saying we're meeting with Pete at the Winter Meetings. I don't really get it and complicates the roster heavily but I meannnnn... He bangs. I'm in. nypost.com/2025/12/08/s...

If the Pirates sign Schwarber and still suck bc they did nothing else, that's best case scenario for the owners. "We just can't build a complete roster in this economy". Teams who've never spent money coming out of the woodworks to show they care before CBA talks. Don't buy it when it's time.

The Guy Teams Were Willing To Face After Intentionally Walking Barry Bonds has now been elected to the Hall of Fame over Barry Bonds

I think they picked Kent just to make it really really really clear they aren't on Bonds' side.

Ironic to say this as somebody who saw Grayson Rodriguez go and said "I mean I guess the medicals were really bad", but I would love to see the O's grab Yoniel Curet and finally make the reliever conversion

Bryce Harper literally needs to just read the first paragraph of the wikipedia page. 4th grade level research screams "yeah that's probably not a good idea". Ozone therapy - Wikipedia share.google/0BLtrhkzxbxN...

I’d like everyone in the AL East (except the Orioles) to calm tf down right now

Why did it have to be the Rays smh

Will Benson, Cincy OFer and Righty-Masher, is currently playing in a celebrity chess tournament. This is awesome, we need more baseball players in the wild during the off-season. www.youtube.com/live/rna3Tnn...