Orioles Rumors

Even as Spring Training begins to get underway, the Orioles are continuing to explore trade possibilities involvingCoby Mayo andRyan Mountcastle, according to a report fromKen Rosenthal of The Athletic.

That news comes in spite of recent news that second basemanJackson Holliday has undergone hamate surgery, which is expected to sideline him for the start of the season. That news creates a path for the Orioles to roster both Mayo and Mountcastle by movingJordan Westburg to second base in Holliday’s absence and playing Mayo at the hot corner, where he’s gotten most of his reps throughout his career. Of course, that’s a less than ideal solution given that Mayo’s lackluster defense at third base is what prompted the club to explore the option of using him in a first base/DH role in the first place. Whether Mayo ultimately winds up playing third on Opening Day or not, however, the Orioles will struggle to find roles for both Mountcastle and Mayo throughout the year given the presence ofPete Alonso at first base,Taylor Ward in left field, and the club’s desire to utilizeSamuel Basallo at DH when he’s not backing upAdley Rutschman behind the plate.

Rosenthal notes that Mayo would have more value than Mountcastle on the trade market, and that’s certainly the case. Mayo is a former top prospect who has not yet broken through at the big league level, but he posted a decent 95 wRC+ in 85 games last year, including a 109 wRC+ after the All-Star break. Mayo only just celebrated his 24th birthday in December, has six seasons of team control remaining, and is still making the league minimum salary. That should make him a very attractive potential option for clubs interested in adding some right-handed pop in a corner, though the Orioles would surely be looking for a significant return for such a well-regarded young player.

Mountcastle, on the other hand, shouldn’t cost much in trade at all. The six-year MLB veteran will celebrate his 29th birthday later this week, and while he was a career .265/.316/.450 (111 wRC+) hitter entering last year, an injury-marred 2025 campaign left him with an 81 wRC+ in just 89 games last year. He avoided being non-tendered by the Orioles somewhat surprisingly this past winter and is now set to play on a one-year deal that guarantees him $6.787MM and comes with a $7.5MM club option for the 2027 season. That club option creates some upside for an acquiring club, as it would allow them to retain Mountcastle next year if he bounces back to his career norms. Even so, Mountcastle was a below replacement level player last year and is making a salary that’s hardly insignificant. With players likeTy France andRhys Hoskins still available in free agency for nothing but money, it would be a surprise to see a team give up significant trade capital in order to acquire Mountcastle.

That doesn’t mean there’s zero room for a deal to be made, of course. Perhaps a team like the Guardians, Rangers, or Cubs could benefit from adding some right-handed pop to their first base/DH mix. Alternatively, it’s not hard to imagine a team like the Nationals, Rockies, or White Sox with space to fill on their roster and low expectations for 2026 seeing Mountcastle as an intriguing bounceback candidate who they could give significant runway to in hopes of helping him rebuild value and flipping him either at this summer’s trade deadline or next offseason. Mayo could surely fit all of those teams as well, of course, though at a much higher asking price and with plenty of additional possible suitors. Teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Pirates, and Marlins could all be feasible longer-term fits for Mayo, particularly if they believe him to be capable of handling third base.

The Orioles have acquired right-handerJackson Kowar from the Twins in exchange for cash considerations, according toRoch Kubatko of MASN. The team placed fellow right-handerColin Selby on the 60-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation in a corresponding move. Both teams have announced the move.

Kowar was designated for assignment by the Twins on Thursday. Prior to that, he had only recently been claimed off waivers from the Mariners. Kowar spent most of 2025 shuttling back and forth from Triple-A, though he did make 15 appearances (17 innings) at the big-league level. He had a 4.24 ERA in that sample, along with a 21.1% strikeout rate and a 9.9% walk rate. Kowar’s expected stats were more pessimistic, with his 5.15 xERA and 5.84 FIP suggesting he benefited from good luck.

Since his debut in 2021, Kowar has thrown 91 innings over 54 appearances (eight starts) between the Royals and Mariners. Unfortunately, he owns an unsightly 8.21 ERA in that time, with his expected numbers putting him in the upper-5.00s. His 20.3% strikeout rate is serviceable, but the righty has struggled with control to the tune of a 13.1% career walk rate. He also struggles to keep the ball in the yard, having allowed 19 home runs throughout his career (1.88 HR/9). Injuries certainly haven’t helped his performance. In March 2024, he suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament and underwent Tommy John surgery while with the Mariners. Though he returned in May 2025, he missed the last month and a half of the season with a right shoulder impingement.

Kowar makes for an interesting low-cost flier for the Orioles’ bullpen mix. Statcast graded his fastball velocity in the 90th percentile and valued the pitch at two runs above average in 2025. Unsurprisingly, Kowar leaned on the pitch 57.7% of the time. The key for him will be improving his location and avoiding hard contact, as hitters slugged .476 against the pitch in 2025. His mid-80s slider was his second most-used pitch could be a plus pitch going forward. While it had a -1 run value this year, Kowar struck out 39.1% of hitters on that pitch. He has less than three years of service time and is out of options, so the club would need to pass him through waivers if he doesn’t make the roster.

Recent reports indicated that Selby was dealing with shoulder inflammation. He’ll now open the season on the injured list and will stay there until at least late May. Selby was acquired from the Royals in a July 2024 cash trade. He has thrown 18 big-league innings for Baltimore since then, 14 of them coming in 2025. In that small sample, he impressed with a 3.21 ERA and a microscopic 3.3% walk rate (which was admittedly an outlier from his career numbers). Selby’s sinker, slider, and knuckle curve all graded slightly above average in terms of run value. He has less than a year of service time and is also out of options, so he’ll need to perform well upon his return or else risk being placed on outright waivers.

Photo courtesy of Dennis Lee, Imagn Images

Feb 13: Baltimore has officially announced the Bassitt signing. No corresponding move was needed, as the club had room on the 40-man for the veteran righty. The Orioles’ 40-man roster is now full.

Feb. 12:The Orioles are reportedly in agreement with starterChris Bassitt on a one-year, $18.5MM contract, pending a physical. Bassitt, a client of Meister Sports Management, receives a $3MM signing bonus and would unlock another $500K if he reaches 27 starts. Baltimore has an opening on the 40-man roster after losing infielderBryan Ramos on waivers to St. Louis.

President of baseball operations Mike Elias has made a habit of signing veteran starters to one-year deals over the past few years. They found some success withKyle Gibson in 2023. Last winter’s reunion with Gibson and additions of Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano did not go as planned. Bassitt is in a similar stage of his career as he nears his 37th birthday, but he should have a higher floor than those previous additions.

Bassitt didn’t reach 100 MLB innings in a season until his age-30 campaign in 2019. He has been a consistent mid-rotation presence over the last seven years. Only once did his earned run average climb north of 4.00. His 2.29 mark during the shortened season was a small sample outlier, but he has otherwise been a safe bet to allow between three and four earned runs per nine while logging a heavy workload. Bassitt has surpassed 150 innings in each of the last five seasons, one of just six pitchers to do that. He’s eighth in total innings over that stretch.

The veteran righty has paired the bulk with mid-rotation quality. He’s coming off a 3.96 ERA with slightly better than average underlying marks. Bassitt fanned 22.6% of batters faced against a 7.1% walk rate across 170 1/3 innings a year ago. His per-pitch whiff rate is a little below average, but he has managed to strike out between 22-23% of opponents in each of the past four seasons.

Bassitt’s velocity has ticked down slightly as he has gotten into his mid-30s. His sinker averaged 91.6 mph last season, narrowly a career low. That’s still not far off the 92-93 mph range in which he had worked throughout his career. The sinker is Bassitt’s primary offering, but Statcast identified eight distinct pitches that he used at least occasionally during his final season in Toronto. He mostly works with a sinker, cutter and curveball and generally does well to limit hard contact.

The biggest concern may be Bassitt’s issues against left-handed hitters. While he held them in check earlier in his career, Bassitt has seen his platoon splits widen over the past few seasons. Since the start of 2023, lefties have gotten to him at a .284/.360/.483 clip in more than 1200 plate appearances. He has held same-handed opponents to a punchless .224/.286/.323 line in a similar number of at-bats over that stretch.

Bassitt is coming off a three-year, $63MM contract with the division rival Blue Jays. He provided Toronto with 541 1/3 innings of 3.89 ERA ball during the regular season. Bassitt only once missed a start, as a minor bout of back inflammation sent him to the injured list last September. He missed the Division Series win over the Yankees but returned for the AL Championship Series. Bassitt pitched out of relief and emerged as one of John Schneider’s most trusted leverage arms in October. He fired 8 2/3 innings of one-run ball with 10 strikeouts during Toronto’s pennant run.

One year after helping the Jays go worst to first in the AL East, Bassitt will hope to accomplish the same feat with Baltimore. The Orioles have had a big offseason after stumbling to a 75-87 showing. They signedPete Alonso (a former teammate of Bassitt’s in New York) to a monster five-year, $155MM deal. The O’s swapped oft-injured starterGrayson Rodriguez for another righty power bat, Taylor Ward, while dealing four prospects and a draft choice to the Rays forShane Baz. They signed Ryan Helsley to a two-year deal to replace injured closer Félix Bautista and reunited with Zach Eflin on a $10MM contract.

The Orioles again shied away from the top of the free agent starting pitching market, preferring to make a splash in the middle of the lineup. They’ll hope to unlock another gear from Baz, a former top prospect who has shown flashes but been inconsistent over his first couple seasons.Trevor Rogers will look to build off last year’s fantastic final few months, while Kyle Bradish has a chance to be an upper mid-rotation starter now that he’s recovered from Tommy John surgery.

Bassitt slots behind Rogers, Bradish and Baz as locks to open the year in Craig Albernaz’s rotation. Eflin will be assured of the fifth starter role as long as he’s fully recovered from last August’s back surgery. He’s expected to be a full participant in Spring Training, so that should be the case. That could pushDean Kremer and/orTyler Wellsback to Triple-A Norfolk to open the season. Both pitchers still have an option remaining, though they’re each approaching the five-year service cutoff at which they’d earn the right to refuse any minor league assignments. Wells needs another 40 days on an MLB roster to get there, while Kremer is 60 days away.

The O’s could use Wells in long relief and start the year with Kremer rounding out a six-man rotation if they want both pitchers in the majors. A rotation surplus usually works itself out before long. TheBraves,Blue Jays andTigers have all announced significant injury losses within the first two days of camp. Even if all of Baltimore’s starters are currently healthy, they’d be fortunate if that’s the case by Opening Day.

Bassitt may not be the top-of-the-rotation type that O’s fans had coveted, but he’s a sensible pickup for a team that’ll keep an eye on Bradish’s and Eflin’s innings after lost seasons. MLBTR had predicted a two-year, $38MM contract at the beginning of the offseason. Baltimore was able to avoid committing that second season in an offseason whenMerrill Kelly commanded $20MM annually over two years from the Diamondbacks at the same age.

The O’s payroll projection climbs to $166MM, as calculated byRosterResource. Despite the handful of significant offseason pickups, they’re only about $6MM above where they opened last season. This will probably wrap their significant offseason dealings, but they shouldn’t have an issue taking on some money midseason if they’re positioned to buy. Bassitt’s removal from the market leavesZac Gallen,Lucas Giolito and Max Scherzer as the best free agents available for teams still looking to add.

Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the agreement and terms. Image courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images.

Feb. 12: Holliday had successful surgery today to address his fractured hamate bone, according to multiple reports, including fromMatt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun. The second baseman is expected to be sidelined several weeks beyond Opening Day.

Feb. 11:Orioles second basemanJackson Holliday will open the 2026 season on the injured list after suffering a fractured hamate bone in his right hand during live batting practice on Feb. 6, president of baseball operations Mike Elias announced to the team’s beat this morning (link via Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner). He’ll likely miss the first several weeks of the season.

Elias also added that infielderJordan Westburg suffered an oblique injury three weeks ago while training but is only expected to miss the first few games of Grapefruit League play (via MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko). The team isn’t concerned about his Opening Day status at this juncture. RightyColin Selby, meanwhile, is dealing with inflammation in his right shoulder and is expected to open the season on the injured list (per Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun).

The Holliday injury is the most notable of the bunch. The former No. 1 pick and top prospect had been in line to open the season at second base after hitting .242/.314/.375 with 17 homers and 17 steals in his age-21 season with the O’s last year. Second base will now presumably fall to some combination of trade acquisitionBlaze Alexander and utilitymanJeremiah Jackson. Alternatively, Baltimore could play Westburg at second base and giveCoby Mayo some run at third base to begin the season.

Many fans on social media were quick to jump to the conclusion that the Holliday injury was a driving factor behind Baltimore’s acquisition of Alexander in last week’s trade with the Diamondbacks. However, the timing was a matter of happenstance; Holliday actually suffered the fracture in his hand/wrist the day after the Alexander trade was completed. Perhaps there was some modest concern about Westburg’s oblique at the time, but Holliday’s injury didn’t have any impact on that swap.

Hamate fractures are relatively common. StarsFrancisco Lindor andCorbin Carroll are currently in similar boats at the moment. The resulting surgery typically sidelines players for anywhere from four to eight weeks. Hand injuries of this nature can often have a lingering impact on a player’s power output even after he’s cleared to return to the field, though every case is unique unto itself, of course. Assuming Holliday indeed hits the injured list, this will the first major league IL placement of his young career.

As for Selby, there’s less certainty on his outlook at the moment. The Orioles acquired him from the Royals in a July 2024 swap sending cash back to Kansas City. He spent the rest of that year and the majority of the 2025 season in Triple-A, but the 28-year-old righty was effective in 14 big league frames in 2025. Those 14 innings came over the life of 11 appearances and saw Selby hold opponents to five runs (3.21 ERA) on 16 hits and just two walks with 14 strikeouts. Selby also tossed 25 2/3 innings of 2.45 ERA ball at the Triple-A level, fanning 31.5% of his opponents there.

Selby’s IL placement opens up some space in the team’s Opening Day bullpen competition, which could create an easier path for leftyGrant Wolfram, rightyYaramil Hiraldo or out-of-options right-handerRico Garcia. Right-handerChayce McDermott, too, could find himself in that mix. He’s been a starter in the past, but Elias said today that the 27-year-old righty will be used as a reliever in the upcoming season (via Kostka). RightyTyler Wells, meanwhile, will build up as a starter. There’s currently no clear rotation opening for him, but stretching out in camp will create some insurance for rotation injuries. Wells could open the season in a long relief role in the ’pen or in the rotation with Triple-A Norfolk; he still has two minor league option years remaining.

Longtime major league catcherJacob Stallings has taken on a new role in the Pirates’ baseball operations department, Stallingstells Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Specifics surrounding his job are still being ironed out, but for now the plan will be for Stallings to be in Pittsburgh around once a month to consult with the front office and spend time visiting minor league affiliates throughout the year to work on the development of the organization’s young catchers.

Stallings tells Mackey that he played through notable back pain last season and knew as the year wore on that he was likely to retire following the 2025 campaign. The veteran backstop adds that playing forSkip Schumaker with the 2023 Marlins helped him to realize the type of impact a coach/manager whose playing career has just ended could have on players throughout the organization. Time will tell whether Stallings sticks in baseball operations or takes on more of a player development or even coaching role moving forward, but he’s jumping right back into the game following what appears to be the final season of his playing career.

Stallings, 36, opened the 2025 season on the Rockies’ roster. He’d re-signed on a one-year deal after hitting .263/.357/.453 as Colorado’s primary backstop the season prior. Things didn’t go nearly as well in ’25. Stallings hit just .143/.217/.179 in 93 plate appearances before being cut loose in Denver. He briefly latched on with the Orioles when they were hit with a litany of catcher injuries but appeared in only 14 games before being passed through waivers and electing free agency.

All told, Stallings appeared in parts of 10 major league seasons. The former seventh-round pick suited up for 577 games between the Pirates, Marlins, Rockies and Orioles, tallying 1922 plate appearances and batting .232/.311/.340 (77 wRC+). While Stallings was rarely a big threat with the bat, he for several years ranked as one of the game’s premier defenders behind the plate. He won a Gold Glove with the Pirates in 2021 and nabbed 21% of runners who attempted to steal against him in his career. That mark was weighed down by some low percentages later in his career, but from 2019-20 Stallings thwarted 36.2% of the runners who took off during his watch.

Stallings accrued more than seven years of major league service time and took home about $12MM in his playing career. He’ll now have a say in helping to guide the next generation of Pirates catchers and could use that opportunity as a launching point into any number of other career paths within the sport.

Readers — Pirates fans in particular — will want to check out Stallings’ interview with Mackey in full for quotes on his experiences mentoring younger catchers as a player, his relationship with Schumaker, some of the strengths he sees in new Pittsburgh skipperDon Kelly, and more.

Left-handerKeegan Akin lost his arbitration hearing against the Orioles, perMark Feinsand of MLB.com. He will earn $2.975MM in 2026. Akin filed at $3.375MM but will earn $400K less than that figure in his final trip through arbitration. Akin is a client of All Bases Covered Sports Management.

The 30-year-old (31 in April) has thrown 368 innings for the Orioles since debuting in 2020. He spent his first two seasons in 2020-21 as a swingman before converting to a full-time reliever in 2022. He had a 3.20 ERA in 81 2/3 innings that year and stood out with a 49.3% groundball rate and just a 6.1% walk rate. He struggled mightily in 2023, posting a 6.85 ERA in 23 1/3 innings and missing most of the season with a lower back injury. He had his best season in 2024. Akin had a 3.32 ERA in 78 2/3 innings that year while posting career-best strikeout and walk numbers (24.9% K-BB rate).

This is the first instance of a team winning an arbitration hearing this offseason. Players had been 5-for-5 before Akin’s defeat. The left-hander is in his final year of arbitration. He made $825K in his first trip through the process, then $1.475MM last season. Akin and the Orioles were able to come to an agreement before heading to an arbitration hearing the first two times.

Akin stepped into the closer’s role over the final two months of the 2025 campaign afterFelix Bautista went down with a shoulder injury andSeranthony Dominguez was shipped to Toronto at the trade deadline. The lefty picked up eight saves across August and September, though he also blew three opportunities. Akin’s handedness and middling velocity don’t make him an obvious closer candidate, but he entered the offseason as the potential favorite for the role. Baltimore then added a pair of backend arms inRyan Helsley andAndrew Kittredge, all but guaranteeing Akin will slide back into a role geared toward the 7th and 8th innings.

Last season saw Akin make a pair of pitch arsenal adjustments. He bumped his changeup usage to a career-high 19.9%. The pitch held opponents to a measly .103 batting average. It was his most effective offering in terms of Run Value (+6). Akin also tweaked the movement of his fastball, adding two inches of horizontal break and more than an inch of vertical drop. That tweak did not go so well, as hitters slugged .566 against Akin’s heater. It generated a negative Run Value for the first time in his career.

The Orioles announced they’ve outrighted infielder/outfielder Weston Wilson after he was designated for assignment over the weekend. Baltimore also confirmed they lost third basemanBryan Ramos to the Cardinals via waivers, a move that wasreported earlier this afternoon. Their 40-man roster count sits at 39, as Wilson’s DFA had already removed him from the tally.

Wilson actually lost his roster spot when Baltimore traded for Ramos, sending cash considerations to the White Sox. They quickly waived Ramos as well, so it seems they were hoping to stash both players at Triple-A Norfolk. That’s par for the course for Baltimore, the league’s most aggressive team at working the waiver wire. Wilson himself was claimed from Philadelphia at the end of January.

The 31-year-old Wilson has played parts of three MLB seasons, all with the Phillies. He has played in 100 games and taken 245 trips to the plate, hitting .242/.328/.428 with nine home runs. That’s slightly above-average production, but Philadelphia used the right-handed hitter in favorable situations. Nearly 60% of his career plate appearances have come against left-handed pitching. Wilson has taken nearly 1700 trips to the dish over five seasons in Triple-A, where he’s a .247/.339/.462 hitter.

This is Wilson’s first career outright assignment. He doesn’t have three years of service time, meaning he’ll have to accept. He’ll certainly get a non-roster invite to Spring Training when camps open next week and will try to play his way back onto the roster. A heavily right-handed bench isn’t doing him many favors, especially after the O’sacquired out-of-options infielderBlaze Alexander from Arizona yesterday.

The Cardinals have claimed infielderBryan Ramos off waivers from the Orioles, reportsFrancys Romero of BeisbolFR. There wasn’t any previous indication that Ramos had been designated for assignment but it seems the O’s tried to quietly sneak him through waivers. Their 40-man count will drop to 39. The Cards have had an open 40-man spot since tradingBrendan Donovan to the Mariners earlier this week and don’t need to make a corresponding move.

Ramos had spent his entire professional career with the White Sox until getting designated for assignment last week. The Sox then flipped him to the Orioles for cash. It might seem odd that Baltimore sent out cash to get Ramos and then put him on waivers a few days later, but there’s logic at play.

Most teams currently have full 40-man rosters but the60-day injured list opens up next week, which creates some extra flexibility for fringe roster moves. Getting a player through waivers is therefore easier now than it will be next week. Baltimore also bolstered their infield after getting Ramos by acquiringBlaze Alexander from the Diamondbacks yesterday.

Ramos is out of options is was going to have a tough time cracking Baltimore’s roster. He would have been a better fit as a non-roster guy, providing some minor league depth. The Cardinals have swooped in and prevented that from happening for the O’s.

For St. Louis, they had an open roster spot and also have a more open infield. They have traded awayNolan Arenado,Willson Contreras and Donovan this winter. They currently project to haveMasyn Winn at short andAlec Burleson at first, with guys likeNolan Gorman,JJ Wetherholt,Thomas Saggese,José Fermín and others in line for playing time at second and third base.

Ramos has only been a third baseman in his big league career, with some minor league time at first and second base. He was once a notable prospect but is coming off a few down years. He has hit .198/.244/.333 in 120 big league appearances and also has a .228/.314/.392 slash in the minors over the past two years.

As mentioned, Ramos is out of options. Even though St. Louis has some open playing time in their infield, they will probably try to get Ramos through waivers at some point. He has less than three years of service time and doesn’t have a previous career outright, so he wouldn’t have the right to elect free agency if he were to clear waivers.

Photo courtesy of Jesse Johnson, Imagn Images

Framber Valdez came off the boardlast night on a three-year, $115MM deal (with deferrals) to pair with Tarik Skubal at the top of Detroit’s rotation. Reporting in the wake of that agreement shed some light on the lefty’s market before he committed to the Tigers.

The Orioles had been frequently connected to Valdez throughout the offseason. They’d certainly benefit from adding a top-of-the-rotation arm alongsideTrevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish. Baltimore president of baseball operations Mike Elias has ties to Valdez from his days in the Houston front office.Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner andJon Heyman of The New York Post each suggest that the O’s are still in the rotation market and remain engaged onZac Gallen, who is arguably the best unsigned free agent.

Like Valdez, Gallen rejected a qualifying offer and is tied to draft compensation. Baltimore would forfeit their third-round pick (#82 overall) if they signed him. Chris Bassitt, Lucas Giolito, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer are other possibilities if the O’s balk at Gallen’s asking price. None of those pitchers would require a draft penalty. The O’s have a projected luxury tax number of $189MM, as calculated byRosterResource. That’s about $10MM north of where they ended the ’25 season.

Although Baltimore was an obvious fit for Valdez, there were a couple more surprising entrants into the market as his free agency lingered. The Pirates reportedly made a push this week, whileESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports that the Twins were also involved. Minnesota also reportedlyjumped into the mix onFreddy Peralta before the Brewers traded him to the Mets.

It’s not known if they were ever serious threats to land each pitcher or simply doing their diligence on available impact arms. A Valdez signing would have been a shock. Ownership has reduced spending. The team and president of baseball operations Derek Falvey parted ways just last week in a curiously timed decision. Minnesota scuttled any plans for a rebuild after onboarding a few minority investors to alleviate some of the franchise’s debts. At the same time, they’ve only made modest additions (most notablyVictor Caratini, Josh Bell andTaylor Rogers) to a team that lost the second-most games in the American League and decimated the bullpen with a massive deadline sale.

There’s no indication that the Yankees were involved on Valdez at the end, but they apparently also had some amount of interest earlier in the winter.Jon Heyman of The New York Post writes that the Yanks reviewed the pitcher’s medicals but dropped a potential pursuit after they re-signed Cody Bellinger to a five-year, $162MM deal. That vaulted their competitive balance tax figure around $330MM, and a second splash for Valdez seemed out of their financial zone. The Yankees acquired talented but oft-injured leftyRyan Weathers in a trade with Miami. Beyond that, it seems they’ll rely mostly on their internal arms to hold down the rotation untilCarlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole return.

The Orioles have acquired infielderBlaze Alexander from the Diamondbacks, according to announcements from both clubs. Right-handerKade Strowd is going to the Diamondbacks along with a couple of minor leaguers: right-handerWellington Aracena and infielderJosé Mejia. The trade is 40-man neutral, as Alexander and Strowd are the only guys with roster spots here.

Alexander, 27 in June, has appeared in the past two big league seasons for the Snakes. He has stepped to the plate 451 times with a .237/.322/.366 line. That’s a bit under league average, translating to a 95 wRC+, and has come with a high strikeout rate of 29.9%. He has shown some versatility by lining up at the three infield positions to the left of first base as well as some time in the outfield.

Though Alexander has been a somewhat useful utility player for Arizona, it was going to be harder for him to hold a roster spot going forward since he has exhausted his final option season. The Diamondbacks have been somewhat proactive in clearing out their fringe roster players this offseason. They traded another out-of-options player last month when they flippedJake McCarthy to the Rockies.

Arizona hasNolan Arenado at third,Geraldo Perdomo at shortstop andKetel Marte at second. Without Alexander, they have guys likeTim Tawa andJordan Lawlar in the mix for multi-positional bench jobs, thoughJohn Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM says the club will now turn to free agency to replace Alexander with someone else who can play second and/or third base.

The Orioles are seemingly more willing to hold Alexander as a multi-positional bench piece. They project to haveJordan Westburg at third,Gunnar Henderson at short andJackson Holliday at the keystone. Prior to this deal, their top infield depth options were guys likeJeremiah Jackson andBryan Ramos. Ramos is a fringe roster guy who was just scooped up in a DFA trade for cash considerations. Jackson has just 48 games of big league experience and still has options.

Alexander presumably jumps to being the club’s top bench option and will likely be used in a platoon capacity. A right-handed batter, he has a .269/.365/.434 line and 125 wRC+ against lefties in his career thus far. Baltimore projects to have a number of lefties getting regular playing time, including Henderson, Holliday,Dylan Beavers,Colton Cowser andSamuel Basallo. With Alexander’s split and defensive versatility, he should help the O’s shield those guys from tough lefties.

Though he’s out of options, his service clock is just a bit over one year. That means he’s still two years from qualifying for arbitration and could be controlled for five full seasons before reaching free agency, if he continues to hang onto a roster spot.

To make that complementary addition to their position player group, the O’s are parting with a major league arm. Strowd, 28, made his big league debut with the Orioles last year. He tossed 26 1/3 innings over 25 relief appearances, allowing just 1.71 earned runs per nine. He averaged around 96 miles per hour with his four-seamer and sinker but mostly threw a low-90s cutter while also featuring a curveball and a sweeper.

His 12.4% walk rate was definitely on the high side but his 22.9% strikeout rate was decent and he got grounders on a huge 56.7% of balls in play. There was surely some good luck in that ERA, as his .227 batting average on balls in play allowed and 83.9% strand rate were both to the fortunate side but his 3.40 FIP and 4.02 SIERA suggest he could have managed decent results even with more neutral luck.

The bullpen was a disaster for Arizona in 2025. Their relief groups was supposed to be headlined byA.J. Puk andJustin Martínez but both required major elbow surgeries last year and various other pitchers got hurt as well. The result was that the club’s relievers had a collective 4.82 ERA, ahead of just the Angels, Rockies and Nationals.

However, addressing the bullpen with a big splash wasn’t going to be likely due to the club scaling back payroll. General manager Mike Hazenadmitted last month that he was basically deciding between re-signingMerrill Kelly for the rotation or spending that money on a reliever. He opted for Kelly, meaning the club would be going cheap on the bullpen.

Since Strowd just debuted last year, he has only 74 days of big league service time. He is still at least three years away from qualifying for arbitration and also has a couple of options, meaning he doesn’t even need to be guaranteed a permanent big league roster spot. Baltimore made a couple of notable bullpen upgrades this winter by signingRyan Helsley and acquiringAndrew Kittredge. They seemingly feel they have enough relief depth to part with Strowd for Alexander.

The O’s are also dipping into their farm system a bit. Aracena, 21, was just acquired in July when the O’s flippedGregory Soto to the Mets. He pitched 92 innings last year, at Single-A and High-A, split between starting and relieving. He had a 2.25 ERA, 30.3% strikeout rate and 46.5% ground ball rate but a huge 13.6% walk rate.Baseball America recently ranked him Baltimore’s #23 prospect. He had triple-digit heat but clearly needs to rein it in a bit more. That lack of control might push him to the bullpen in the future but he hasn’t yet reached Double-A, so his future is still up in the air. Mejia, 20, is even more of a long-term play. He’s younger and has just two games of experience in full-season ball.

Steve Gilbert of MLB.com first reported that Alexander was going to Baltimore for Strowd and a couple of minor leaguers. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic provided the identities of those minor leaguers. Photos courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Allan Henry, Rafael Suanes, Imagn Images