Hello, friends.
There are now 140 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2026. We will get a bit more clarity today on the shape of the free agent market, as today is the deadline for teams and players
with contract options to make decisions about those options. It’s also the deadline for teams to extend qualifying offers – potentially lining up for draft pick compensation – to departing free agents. Finally, the five-day “quiet period” after the World Series is over, meaning that any free agent can negotiate and sign with any other team starting today.
The Orioles don’t have any tough qualifying offer decisions to make. Nobody who made it to the end of the season with the team and is now a free agent deserves one. Their one remaining contract option decision is regarding Andrew Kittredge, who they reacquired from the Cubs earlier in the week. Presumably, they wouldn’t have bothered if they weren’t planning to pick up Kittredge’s team option, but Mike Elias is a weird guy who does weird things, so one never really knows.
Elias has been busy already at the margins of the roster, as is one of his hallmarks. That included a couple of moves yesterday that don’t have an immediately-apparent huge impact. The Orioles made a waiver claim of Marlins right-handed pitcher George Soriano, a 27-year-old righty. Soriano had an 8.35 ERA in 24 games in 2025, and has a 5.95 ERA across parts of three major league seasons. He’s now out of options, so if he even makes it to spring training on the 40-man roster, he’d have to make the Opening Day bullpen to stick in the organization.
There was also a small major league signing dropped in there. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported that the Orioles are signing outfielder Leody Taveras to a major league contract for next year. The deal is worth $2 million. Taveras, 27, is a righty-batting outfielder who has almost exclusively played center field across a six-year major league career. He has, as a big leaguer, batted .236/.287/.365, though his most recent season, split between the Rangers and Brewers, was substantially worse than that. That’s why he was available as a free agent.
Taveras is out of options, so this doesn’t seem to be a pure depth move. What it might be is another move in the vein of “the Orioles sign a player for slightly more than the MLB minimum, so that if he is later put on waivers, nobody will claim him.” Certainly this signing is not going to be enough to move the needle of excitement for anyone who has hoped to see the Orioles sign an outfielder with more potential (who will cost more money) such as Harrison Bader.
Minor moves of this nature invariably lead to a certain sort of person making sarcastic comments about buying World Series tickets, but it’s not like Elias is out there thinking this is the last piece falling into place. He thinks stocking some pitching depth or outfield depth is a better use of a roster spot than one of his existing guys (outfielder Daniel Johnson was designated for assignment) and so he’s done it. We may never have occasion to think about Soriano again. He could end up in the Cody Poteet category. Or perhaps, if they’re lucky, the Rico Garcia category. Taveras might end up as a bench guy.
In non-roster news, the Orioles on Wednesday also announced 2026 spring training information. You can fix this earliest date for pitchers and catchers to report in your mind: February 9. That’s not so far away. That date is for guys who are participating in the World Baseball Classic. WBC position players report on February 12. Otherwise, it’s February 11 for non-WBC pitchers and February 16 for non-WBC position players. The first spring training exhibition game is on February 20. The team will also play two final tune-up exhibitions against the Nationals after breaking camp and heading north, one in Baltimore on March 22 and one in the District on March 23.
There haven’t been any rumblings about who on the Orioles might make a WBC roster. With few exceptions, this wasn’t a roster that covered itself in glory in 2025, so particularly for the American players, there aren’t going to be many opportunities to break in unless a lot of guys higher up the depth chart say no thanks. If Félix Bautista wasn’t injured, he might be the easiest choice to get on a team. Alas, that’s not how it’s working out.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
Everybody is still thinking about that Craig Albernaz/Mike Elias/David Rubenstein press conference, because there was a lot to try to absorb and also because nothing else big has happened since.
Orioles hitters regressed in 2025. Craig Albernaz envisions a more ‘diverse offense’ (The Baltimore Banner)
“We’re going to have a number of ways to beat you,” was one of the takeaway comments from Albernaz about the offense. It’s a great goal to have. Achieving it will be up to an entirely different set of hitting coaches than we saw in 2025.
From ‘Gahdians’ to Camden Yards: Meet new Orioles manager Craig Albernaz (Baltimore Magazine)
One way you know this was a notable event is how even non-sports outlets like this one have taken notice, covered the presser, and wrote up a real profile out of it.
Rubenstein hints at higher offseason spending to improve Orioles 2026 playoff hopes (Baltimore Baseball)
Read on its own, Rubenstein referencing the deep pockets of the ownership group and saying “we don’t have particular constraints” are tantalizing hints. I think, however, phrases like “can do what the team needs to do” will be the operative phrase and there will be thoughts that they don’t NEED this or that free agent, so it probably will not be liftoff from here.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Today in 1969, Mike Cuellar was announced as co-winner of the AL Cy Young Award, alongside of Detroit’s Denny McLain. Cuellar dropped a 2.38 ERA in 290.2 innings on the competition.
There are a pair of former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2003 infielder Deivi Cruz, and 1982-85 infielder Leo Hernández. Today is Hernández’s 66th birthday, so an extra happy birthday to him.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you as well! Your birthday buddies for today include: saxophone inventor Adolphe Sax (1814), composer John Philip Sousa (1854), basketball inventor James Naismith (1861), baseball Hall of Famer Walter Johnson (1887), author Colson Whitehead (1969), and actress Emma Stone (1988).
On this day in history…
In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States with a 40% plurality of the popular vote in a four-way election.
In 1943, Kyiv was liberated from Nazi occupation as the Battle of the Dnieper progressed to where the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front took back the city.
In 1995, then-Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell announced that he would be moving his franchise to Baltimore, where it would eventually be renamed the Ravens.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on November 6. Have a safe Thursday.
