Good Morning Birdland,
Well, yesterday was a busy one for the Orioles. First, we learned that Gunnar Henderson will be joining Team USA at the World Baseball Classic . Shortly after that, it sounded like
a Kyle Schwarber decision was imminent, and the Orioles ended up a lot closer to signing him than you would have guessed. In fact, they offered an identical five years, $150 million that he accepted with the Phillies. In the evening, the Orioles got the seventh overall pick in the 2026 draft. And then, just before bed, yet another rumored dropped.
The Athletic reported that the Marlins are shopping most of their pitching staff, including Edward Cabrera. They named the Orioles specifically among a bunch of other anonymous teams that are supposedly interested in the 27-year-old righty.
The Orioles have been connected to Marlins pitching for years now. Famously, they acquired Trevor Rogers back in 2024. That deal has had its ups and downs, but it looked pretty smart last year, even while Kyle Stowers made an All-Star team for Miami. Rogers was sensational.
It’s odd for the Orioles to be the only team named as interested. The Mike Elias-led front office tends to be tight-lipped, so it’s doubtful that the information came from them. But who knows. This whole offseason has felt different than years past, so maybe they are opening up a bit.
Elias has always seemed to prefer a trade for a younger pitcher withs years of control rather than paying top dollar for an older arm. He’s more comfortable paying for hitters. Although, to be fair, he hasn’t really paid for either up to this point, the lone exception being Tyler O’Neill’s deal last offseason, but even that wasn’t a huge contract in the grand scheme of things.
It’s tough to envision the Orioles signing a pricey aging hitter, like Pete Alonso, AND an older pitcher near the top of the market, like Ranger Suárez, in the same offseason. It’s much easier to imagine them parting with a few prospects to add a 27-year-old with three years of team control in which they will be relatively cheap and then making one big splash in free agency, regardless of position.
All of this is uncharted territory for Elias. He is speaking like someone that desperately wants to put a winner on the field and keep his job. So far, he has finished second for Schwarber and simply been connected to every available arm. At some point, he will need to come out on top in these conversations.
Links
Trade talks for Marlins starter Edward Cabrera heat up, with Orioles in the mix: Sources | The Athletic
Cabrera has long been an intriguing pitcher, but he’s not a slam dunk “frontline” arm. There are injury concerns, and he has never had a huge pitching workload. Tread carefully, Elias.
Day 3 of the Winter Meetings | Roch Kubatko
Roch indicates that the league believes Schwarber’s signing will now open the floodgates on hitters. That could mean that if the Orioles are going to dole out a big contract to a hitter, it’s going to happen soon. But that is true every offseason. Most of the time, players like to get things done between the Winter Meetings and Christmas. We shall see.
Albernaz wants to see Orioles ‘attack the fundamentals’ in camp | Orioles.com
Everything the new manager has been saying feels right. The Orioles have enough talent to win 90+ games. But they need to do the small things better. Hopefully he can instill some of that in them during the six weeks the crew is down in Sarasota.
With Schwarber off the board, Orioles to shift to Pete Alonso while also targeting pitching, sources say | The Baltimore Banner
It sure sounds like the Orioles are prepared to spend quite a bit this offseason. Depending on where you look, they have $40-50 million to spend before they even get to their 2025 payroll, and Elias has said they have room to go beyond that figure. That would be pretty neat!
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Coby Mayo turns 24 today. The former top prospect finally started to impress at the end of the 2025 season. Right now, he is poised to see substantial at-bats at first base and DH next year, but a major free agent signing could change the Orioles roster math.
- Nestor Cortes turns 31. He debuted in MLB with the Orioles back in 2018 after the team selected him in the Rule 5 draft, but he made just four appearances before he was sent back to his original parent club, the Yankees.
- Austin Wynns is 35 years old. From 2018 through ‘21 he was a backup catcher with the Orioles. Since then, he has bounced around the league and played for five other clubs. At the moment, he is in the Athletics organization.
- Pedro Florimón turns 39. The utility man played in four games for the 2011 Orioles before he was waived and claimed by the Twins later that season.
- Luis Polonia is 62 today. He was an outfielder with the Orioles for a postion of the 1996 season.
This day in O’s history
1999 – The Orioles trade lefty Jesse Orosco to the Mets for pitcher Chuck McElroy. It’s a homecoming for Orosco, who had last pitched for the Mets back in 1987.
2009 – The Orioles and Rangers officially complete a trade that lands Kevin Millwood in Baltimore when the Rangers pick pitching prospect Ben Snyder as the player to be named later.
