Hello, friends.
There are now 86 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2026.
Any of the next few days could prove to be an eventful one, depending on when Japanese pitcher Tatsuya Imai decides on which
major league team he wants to join. The deadline awaits on Friday, so it will be then at the latest that we see what size contract he gets and apparently what kind of impact that has (or not) on the market for the two MLB veteran free agents at the top of the domestic market, Ranger Suárez and Framber Valdez.
The Orioles might not be the team for Imai, but it feels like that will probably set a price that they may or may not pay for those other guys. Once the calendar officially gets into 2026, I figure those guys will be looking to get signed. It’s seldom good for the free agent to keep dangling out there on the market as spring training nears.
What we’ve got in the meantime in Birdland is the fact of having re-signed Zach Eflin as a free agent to a one-year contract that, with escalators based on games started, could guarantee as much as $15 million. My question remains the same as my first reaction: Does this mean the Orioles are avoiding a bigger-ticket signing, or is it an in addition to continuing pursuit? We won’t know for sure until those other guys sign, either here or elsewhere.
One factor involved there might be whether Eflin is even able to pitch on Opening Day. The Baltimore Sun’s Matt Weyrich added to his report on the signing that the Orioles hope is for Eflin to “make his season debut early in the year.” My experience in following this kind of news from my tenure at this website tells me to read this statement as the Orioles already knowing that Eflin won’t be ready for the Opening Day rotation.
Eflin, for his part, is also expressing hope about Opening Day, as he told reporters in a Zoom call yesterday that he’ll resume bullpen sessions in early January with an aim to be ready for normal work at the beginning of spring training. MLB.com’s Jake Rill’s story on the call notes that the Orioles have tended to be on the conservative side with players coming back from injuries. Eflin had back surgery in August for an injury that’s apparently been bothering him for around a decade, so his optimism is also just generally about being able to pitch without that pain.
There is a plausible story there, if the back pain really was a substantial part of why Eflin had an ERA near 6 for the 2025 season, that there could be improvement coming in 2026. Mike Elias has made a relatively small bet on this being the case, enough to have Eflin around in the stable. Maybe he’ll end up serving more in the kind of Kyle Gibson (2025) insurance role in late April or early May, except with the benefit of signing in late December rather than late March.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
With a pain-free back, Zach Eflin feels ready to prove himself with the Orioles once more (The Baltimore Banner)
A player’s confidence is, on its own, worth pretty much nothing. Hopefully the coming season validates this confidence.
Even after Eflin deal, the Orioles have room for a front-line starter (The Baltimore Sun)
The Sun’s analysis on the signing is that Eflin won’t preclude the Orioles from a bigger signing. I hope they’re right about that.
New staff intent on helping Rutschman bounce back in ‘26 (Orioles.com)
Going into 2025, many of us (including myself) talked ourselves into believing that Rutschman had been secretly injured in the second half of 2024 and that explained why his numbers tanked. That theory of the case was validated. I’m quite curious what the plan will be for next year. It’s the kind of thing where nobody will talk about it because, you know, don’t want to give stuff away that other teams can capitalize on.
Looking back at some happy Orioles moments in 2025 (Baltimore Baseball)
There were actually some of these, even if it’s hard to remember it at times since the balance of what happened was bad.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Nothing of particular note is recorded as having happened on this day in Orioles history.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2006-07 pitcher Jim Hoey, 1996 pitcher Archie Corbin, and 1981-82 infielder José Morales.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: author Rudyard Kipling (1865), baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax (1935), musician Patti Smith (1946), golfer Tiger Woods (1975), and basketballer LeBron James (1984).
On this day in history…
In 1460, during the Wars of the Roses, rival claimant Richard of York was killed in the Battle of Wakefield.
In 1853, the United States completed the Gadsden Purchase, a land deal bringing parts of present-day Arizona and New Mexico into the country.
In 1916, advisor to the tsar Grigori Rasputin was murdered. You might have heard the song about him.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on December 30. Have a safe Tuesday.
