Good morning, Camden Chatters.
We’ve survived the first day of what’s sure to be a long and ugly offseason. On Dec. 2, MLB owners are expected to lock out the players amid a contentious debate over the next collective bargaining agreement. All major league roster moves will be frozen during the lockout, which will likely last for several months, quite possibly bleeding into next spring and delaying the start of the 2027 season.
Still, there could be plenty of activity over the next month, as teams
scramble to supplement their teams and players try to land new homes before the lockout hits. The hot stove action started yesterday, as the Mets’ Bo Bichette exercised his $42 million (!) option to remain with the Mets next year after an underwhelming 2026, while the Braves made the slam-dunk choice to pick up the options of Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies.
The Orioles, too, made a roster decision yesterday — or rather, a roster decision was made for them. Closer Ryan Helsley will exercise his $14 million player option for 2027, a move that shouldn’t surprise anyone. Helsley, signed last December to serve as the Orioles’ ninth-inning man, made only 17 appearances for the Birds while serving two stints on the injured list. He was shelved from May 1 to mid-June with right elbow inflammation, then landed back on the IL with right elbow discomfort on July 3, never to return. Coming off a lost year, it wouldn’t have made sense for Helsley to try to test the free agent market this offseason, so back to Baltimore it is.
When Helsley initially signed with the Orioles, fans wondered whether he would more closely resemble the former All-Star closer from his Cardinals days or his disastrous two-month stint with the Mets. We didn’t see enough of him to answer that question one way or the other. In his brief showing with the Orioles, Helsley was 8-for-9 in save attempts, but also surrendered 22 baserunners in 15.1 innings, including nine walks. It’s hard to read much into such a small sample. Now that he’s officially back for 2027, let’s hope for better health and a solid performance from Helsley next year.
Reportedly, the Orioles will also decline the $20 million option on outfielder Luis Robert Jr., another obvious decision. They’ll pay him a $2 million buyout instead. All told, the O’s ended up paying Robert about $5 million to play a total of three games before he suffered a season-ending left hamstring injury. I still think it was a worthy gamble for the O’s to claim Robert on waivers last August, and if he’d stayed healthy, he could’ve really helped the Orioles against left-handed pitchers and saved us from the painful Rece Hinds experience. Just add it to the pile of things that went terribly wrong for the Orioles this year.
The next three days give the Orioles an exclusive window to re-sign their own free agents before they’re available to sign with any team starting Nov. 2. The Birds’ free agent list includes Keegan Akin, Chris Bassitt, Andrew Kittredge, and Trevor Rogers. The O’s shouldn’t have any interest in signing those first three, while Rogers would be foolish not to test the free agent waters.
This could be a very, very busy month in baseball, followed immediately by absolutely nothing happening for a long time. Stay tuned.
Links
Banner makes interesting comparison when asked about Henderson, also offers opinions on analytics and farm system – School of Roch
Spoiler: the comparison was Pete Crow-Armstrong. I suppose the two are similar, in that neither one has ever been in my kitchen.
Who’s the greatest utility player in Orioles’ history? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com
This is a tough one, because any utility player who was halfway decent ended up becoming a regular starter. Can I say Jeff Reboulet because he always torched Randy Johnson?
Ranking Orioles free agents and option players most likely to return – The Baltimore Sun
Ryan Helsley was ranked as extremely likely to return. Jacob Calvin Meyer is 1 for 1 so far.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Just one Oriole in history was born on Oct. 30: happy birthday to 2000-06 outfielder Luis Matos (48).
On this day in 1986, the Orioles traded right-hander Storm Davis to the Padres for catcher Terry Kennedy and righty Mark Williamson. Davis had been a mainstay on the Birds’ staff for five years, collecting a pair of 200+ IP seasons and pitching two great games in the 1983 postseason for the World Series champion Orioles, and he was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame earlier this year. Still, the trade turned out well enough. Kennedy had an All-Star season behind the plate for the Birds in 1987, and Williamson spent his entire eight-year career in Baltimore, pitching 365 games with a 3.86 ERA.
