Good Morning Birdland,
Just because you are an Orioles fan does not mean that you are a Ravens fan, but it is fair to say that the two fan bases overlap quite a bit. After all, they are the only two major
sports teams in the city. The organizations often support one another. Their stadiums are right next to one another. And they even share a parking lot. So it is worth noting that both organizations are existing in a similar moment.
The Orioles had back-to-back playoff appearances in 2023 and 2024. They have a talented homegrown roster led by MVP candidate Gunnar Henderson and a front office that, while not perfect, had done a masterful job of modernizing the organization and making them relevant again. It seemed like a continued ascension was almost a guarantee.
The Ravens are viewed as one of the NFL’s “model” franchises. They are led by a savvy front office. They make the playoffs with regularity. And they have a two-time MVP winner at the helm in quarterback Lamar Jackson. Each season has its ups and downs, but it always feels like they are in the mix for a championship.
Disappointing 2025 seasons have changed the plans for both of them.
The Orioles stumbled out of the gate. Henderson began the year on the IL. The team lost a lot of games and fell to the bottom of the AL East, a hole from which they never recovered. In May, they fired their longtime manager Brandon Hyde. This offseason, they have remade their coaching staff and taken a more aggressive posture towards free agency and the trade market.
Similarly, the Ravens were horrendous to begin their season. They lost big games and Jackson missed time with injury. Credit them for bouncing back to the point that they still had a chance to win their division on the final snap of the season. But it felt ludicrous that such a talented bunch had to scratch and claw for that opportunity. On Tuesday, it was announced that the team had parted ways with their longtime head coach, John Harbaugh.
Both Baltimore clubs will now enter 2026 with fresh perspectives. Craig Albernaz comes to the Orioles from a Guardians organization well respected for its ability to make more with less. It remains to be seen where the Ravens turn. Oddly enough, another former Cleveland coach, Kevin Stefanski, seems to at least be a potential candidate.
Who knows if these changes in leadership will yield anything of note for either Baltimore club. The teams might get worse. Or maybe they bounce back to competitiveness. But it seems clear that both changes had to happen. The understanding from each organization to actually pull the trigger on a transition is worthy of applause.
Links
The Orioles have checked multiple boxes this winter. Is another large splash possible? | The Baltimore Banner
The Orioles could absolutely use another starting pitcher. And let’s not forget that they don’t exactly have an everyday center fielder that you feel entirely confident in. So far, however, the Orioles and the options on the market have not lined up in terms of contact expectations. Will that change? Might they opt for a trade? Or will they get the season started and see how things go for a few months before making a move? It all seems to be on the table.
Looking at Eric Torres signing and more roster questions | Roch Kubatko
Roch alludes to the unlikelihood that the Orioles carry all of Pete Alonso, Ryan Mountcastle, and Coby Mayo into the 2026 season. Obviously, Alonso is the starter at first base and will be for the foreseeable future. Mayo sticks out as a player that could be worth quite a bit in a trade. The Orioles could just be waiting for the right deal to present itself.
Peter Schmuck: Hall of Fame voting has become an exercise in moral relativism | Baltimore Baseball
I mean, yeah? That’s the case with most things. As time marches on, context shifts, opinions evolve, and what was once deemed acceptable no longer is. And sometimes things that used to be taboo become more widely understood. There are probably several players not in the Hall of Fame that should be, and there are definitely some awful people that baseball would probably like to forget about that are in the Hall of Fame. It’s hardly a new development, and it isn’t reserved just for baseball.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Dean Kremer turns 30 today. While not flashy, he has become a dependable part of the Orioles rotation, seeing his ERA sit between 4.10 and 4.19 in each of the last three seasons. Similar output will be expected of him in 2026.
- Thyago Vieira turns 33. He pitched in one game for the 2024 Orioles.
- Kyle Hudson is 39 today. The outfielder’s only MLB action came with the 2011 Orioles, where he played in just 14 games.
- Francisco Rodríguez celebrates his 44th birthday. The electric righty was a dominant closer early in his career with the Angels, leading the league in saves on three occasions. He didn’t get to Baltimore until 2013 after he had been in the league for a decade. In 23 games he had a 4.50 ERA for the O’s.
- Ross Grimsley turns 76 today. The lefty had two stints in Baltimore, first from 1974 through ‘77 and then again in ‘82. In total he compiled a 3.78 ERA over 907.2 innings with the Birds.
This day in O’s history
Nothing of note has happened to the Orioles on this date, according to Baseball Reference. Perhaps that will change today. Until then, here are some happenings from beyond Birdland:
1619 – Galileo Galilei makes his first observation of the four Galilean moons.
1894 – Thomas Edison makes a kinetoscopic film of someone sneezing on the same day that his employee, Williamd Kennedy Dickson, receives a patent for motion picture film.
1931 – Guy Menzies flies the first solo, non-stop trans-Tasman flight (from Australia to New Zealand) in 11 hours and 45 minutes.
1954 – The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York at the head office of IBM.
