Baltimore Orioles Spend Big in The Wrong Place
The Baltimore Orioles just signed Pete Alonso to a massive contract. It’s good that they’re not sitting idly by, but the money should have gone elsewhere. The offense was fine in 2025; that wasn’t their problem. They needed pitching badly, and now they can’t really afford any.
Baltimore Orioles drop $155 million on Pete Alonso, but why?
The Baltimore Orioles were not good in 2025. After a surprise resurgence in 2022, a 100-win division title in 2023, and a playoff berth in 2024, the arrow seemed to be pointing up. Instead, the Orioles crashed and burned badly this year, and they didn’t even come close to the playoffs.
With a young team that was clearly very good, it’s not all that surprising that the Orioles wanted to spend and improve their team. They signed Pete Alonso to a five-year, $150 million deal, matching that which the Philadelphia Phillies gave Kyle Schwarber.
But the offense wasn’t the biggest problem. The unit led by Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman was disappointing, but they ranked 11th in home runs and 13th in stolen bases. The offense wasn’t great, but it was better than the pitching staff.
The Orioles had the fifth-worst team ERA, the fourth-worst team WHIP, and the fourth-worst opponent average. Those numbers, and more, screamed for help in free agency.
There were options, too. They could’ve added Dylan Cease like the rival Toronto Blue Jays did. They could’ve signed any one of these pitchers:
- Michael King
- Framber Valdez
- Ranger Suarez
- Chris Bassitt
- Merrill Kelly
- Nick Martinez
There are still options there, but are the Orioles a team that’s going to spend big on one marquee free agent and not stop there? It doesn’t seem likely. Now, Alonso will help them on the offensive end. He’s a premier hitter at first base, something they decidedly did not have.
However, this is where things get interesting. The O’s just extended catcher Samuel Basallo. The expectation is that once he’s an MLB regular, he’ll play a lot of first base.
He will also split time with Rutschman behind the plate, but first base seems to be his eventual home. Alonso will be manning that spot for five years, though. Or he’ll end up as a DH, since Alonso isn’t a good defender, but that means the Orioles just spent $150 million on a DH. That is what the Phillies did, but Schwarber’s a much better hitter than Alonso.
It’s not terribly ideal, no matter which way you slice it, but it is encouraging that the Orioles are willing to spend. This core can be a playoff team. They literally made it two years in a row before the pitching staff’s upheaval led to a really disappointing season, so perhaps they’re just trying to add talent.
The offseason is far from over, and there’s still plenty of talent available, especially in the pitching rotation, but this feels like the one big move the Orioles are going to make, and it’s not going to be enough to turn the tide in the vaunted AL East. There were three playoff teams, including the AL champ, from the division last year, and Baltimore still figures to be behind those three.
On the flip side, this continues an utterly disastrous offseason for the New York Mets. They’ve now lost Alonso, a fan favorite and a really good hitter behind Juan Soto in the lineup, and Edwin Diaz. Diaz signed with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers after the Mets added Devin Williams, who just struggled in his one season with the New York Yankees.
After signing Soto, things have gone downhill. The Mets missed the playoffs last year, and now they’re losing key contributors left and right. It’s not a good time at Citi Field right now.
