Good Morning Birdland,
A quiet period in MLB may be approaching. Baseball players, agents, and executives are people, and they also like to spend time with family around the holidays. With today being Christmas Eve, that could mean relatively few moves of significance in the next couple of days.
But that’s OK! The Orioles have been the busiest team in baseball so far this offseason. They are far better now than they were at the end of the 2025 season, and their aggressiveness so far leads me to believe
they will act to shore up the couple of holes left of the roster before spring training arrives. I can let them have a few days to chill.
If I were to write up a last-minute Christmas wish list of players I want to the Orioles to add, it would be pretty short at this point. Jolly old Saint Mike Elias has been cooking. But there are still some things I’ve got my eye on.
In the rotation, I want one more arm, but not just any arm. The unit needs a proven veteran that you “know” is going to give you quality innings. While I like the the trio of Kyle Bradish, Trevor Rogers, and Shane Baz, we have to admit they come with some unknowns and significant risk. And if I’m honest, the free agent options just don’t seem like a fit unless one of them goes for the short-term, high AAV deal that Elias is probably angling for. In my dreams, I want Tarik Skubal. More realistically, I’m good with Freddy Peralta.
My other desires are less specific. This team needs another veteran bullpen arm, preferably a lefty. I’m not picky. Just grab anything that looks like decent quality at a reasonable price. The same goes for a utility infield option. The one I have (Jeremiah Jackson) doesn’t fit just right. I need someone with a glove I can count on, especially on the middle infield. It shouldn’t cost too much.
What I really want, I can’t even ask for. It’s just too much. But if you poke me enough, I suppose I will relent. Give me a Gunnar Henderson extension. I know. I know. It’s not happening. They are impossible to find and extremely expensive. But sometimes it’s fun to dream. So I will put it out into the universe just in case.
Honestly, I won’t be greedy this holiday season. My team is making an effort. They are trying to win in 2026. That’s just about all I could reasonably ask for.
Links
Pirates To Sign Ryan O’Hearn | MLB Trade Rumors
The Pirates have made some interesting changes this offseason that should make them a more competitive team in 2026. They have been trying to find a left-handed slugger type for a while now, including offers to Josh Naylor and Kyle Schwarber. They will settle for the former Oriole O’Hearn instead, who enjoyed a career revival in Baltimore prior to a midseason trade to San Diego last year. Hopefully he crushes it in Pittsburgh for the next two years.
Mets Interested In Austin Hays | MLB Trade Rumors
The Mets are having a weird offseason. Cleaning the slate and going in a different direction makes sense. The team hasn’t been good enough. But some of the alternative paths they are taking don’t make a ton of sense if they goal is to win in 2026.
Questions linger as Orioles dive deeper into their offseason | Roch Kubatko
Roch recaps some of the Christmas Eve moves of Orioles past. Spoiler: not much has happened, so don’t expect it to change in 2025.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Miguel Castro turns 31 today. He spent parts of four seasons in the Orioles bullpen from 2017 through ‘20. In that time he had a 4.06 ERA over 241.2 total innings.
- Kevin Millwood turns 51. He played just the 2010 season in Baltimore, but he was named Opening Day starter that year and finished second on the team in innings with 190.2.
- The late Chico García (b. 1924, d. 2007) was born on this day. A legend in his native Mexico, García played in just 39 MLB games, all of which came for the newly-arrived 1954 Orioles.
This day in O’s history
Christmas Eve has been a slow day in Orioles history, according to Baseball Reference. Maybe that changes today. Until then, here are a few things that have happened on the date beyond Birdland:
1814 – Representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States sign the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812.
1818 – The first performance of “Silent Night” takes place in Austria.
1826 – The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy begins at a drunken Christmas party in the North Barracks. It ends the next morning.
1906 – The first radio broadcast is transmitted by Reginald Fessenden. It consists of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.
1973 – The District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington D.C. to elect their own local government.
