Happy Monday, Camden Chatters. The Orioles did something this weekend! They signed a starting pitcher, although it probably isn’t the pitcher you were hoping for. While you were out there hoping the Orioles would
sign Tatsuya Imai or Ranger Suárez or Framber Valdez, instead they reunited with Zach Eflin on a one-year deal.
The contract is for one year, $10 million, with a mutual option for 2027. The news broke last night at about 8 p.m., first announced by Bob Nightengale. By 9:30, it was officially announced by the Orioles. In a corresponding move, the Orioles designated outfielder Will Robertson for assignment. Robertson had only been with the Orioles since December 5th, just long enough to have a story written about him and the other Will Robertson.
So what does the Eflin signing mean for the Orioles? It means a current rotation of Kyle Bradish, Trevor Rogers, Shane Baz, Eflin, and Dean Kremer. Tyler Wells, Albert Suárez, Cade Povich, and Brandon Young will be waiting in the wings. On first glance, that looks like a complete rotation, though I find the next men up a little lacking.
We all know the Orioles had a large number of injuries last year, and in fact they had sixteen different pitchers start a game for them. So while I listed quite a few names up there, the Orioles will probably need more. Of the starting five, just Baz and Kremer pitched a full season in 2025. And just Kremer has stayed healthy for multiple seasons in a row. Even if all five pitch up to their potential, it’s highly likely that multiple of them will miss time. Pitcher injuries are inevitable.
So even though it’s hard to imagine the Orioles signing yet another pitcher because it could, conceivably, push Kremer out of the rotation, the Orioles should still do it. They are trying to build a winner, after all. And when injuries happen, they can’t be in a position where they have to give chunks of starts to the likes of Povich and Young.
Imai’s deadline to sign is this Friday based on when he was posted by his Japanese team. Valdez and Suárez figure to shake out soon enough after that. Let’s get that last signing locked down and move on to spring training!
Links
Recapping a disappointing 2025 season for the Orioles – Baltimore Baseball
Rich Dubroff takes a trip down memory lane of excruciating 2025 storylines.
A much-too-early projection of Orioles’ roster and lineup – MASN Sports
Roch Kubatko posted this before the Eflin signing, but otherwise pretty spot on.
Orioles Re-Sign Zach Eflin – MLB Trade Rumors
Of all the announcements of this signing that were posted, I picked MLBTR because it goes a little deeper into Eflin’s career history, including injuries.
Birthday and History
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have four Orioles birthday buddies who combined to appear in 77 games with the Orioles. 51 of those games were played by relief pitcher Dave Ford (69) from 1978-81. The other three celebrating today are Jaret Wright (50), Jim Brower (53), and Ken Rudolph (79).
On this day in 2005, Orioles legend Elrod Hendricks was laid to rest with thousands attending to pay their respects. Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray, Earl Weaver, Mike Hargrove, Ray Miller, and Melvin Mora were among those who came to say goodbye to the man who spent nearly 40 years in the Orioles’ organization.
In 2015, the Orioles signed veteran utility player Paul Janish for the second of three consecutive off-seasons. Janish played in 42 games from 2015-17 with the Orioles and 244 with Triple-A Norfolk.
