December eleventh: Alonso’s signing is now official. Catcher Maverick Handley has been designated for project as a corresponding 40-man roster transfer.
December tenth: The Orioles missed out on Kyle Schwarber yesterday however are getting their large bat at present, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan experiences that they’re finalizing a five-year, $155MM take care of longtime Mets first baseman Pete Alonso. The settlement is in place with solely a bodily but to be accomplished, Joel Sherman of the New York Publish provides. There aren’t any deferrals or opt-outs within the contract, per MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo. Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner provides that Alonso receives a restricted no-trade clause. Alonso is represented by the Boras Company.
It’s the second main defection from the Mets in as many days. Edwin Diaz spurned Queens for a three-year, $69MM take care of the Dodgers simply yesterday. Alonso now heads to the Orioles, with whom he met in individual at this week’s Winter Conferences (that are being held in Orlando, not all that removed from Alonso’s Tampa-area house).
Though bolstering the rotation has been the apparent purpose for Baltimore all offseason, the O’s have additionally been in pursuit of a significant improve to the lineup. They supplied Kyle Schwarber the identical five-year, $150MM phrases to which he agreed in his return to the Phillies and have now pushed incrementally additional to provide Alonso a record-setting common annual worth for a primary baseman over that very same five-year time period.
Alonso, who turned 31 over the weekend, famously rejected a reported seven-year, $158MM extension supply from the Mets again in 2023. He drew a good bit of criticism for that call, notably when his market didn’t develop as hoped throughout final offseason’s preliminary foray into free company. Alonso wound up returning to the Mets on a two-year, $54MM deal that was frontloaded with a $30MM wage in 2025 and allowed him to choose again into free company this winter.
Between that $30MM, the $20.5MM he earned in his last season of arbitration eligibility and the newly promised $155MM from the Orioles, Alonso will find yourself with $205.5MM over the identical seven years that may’ve been lined beneath the extension supply he turned down.
In Alonso, the Orioles are including one of many steadiest energy hitters on the planet. He’s slugged at the least 34 house runs in each 162-game season since his 2019 debut, plus one other 16 round-trippers within the shortened 2020 marketing campaign. Courting again to 2019, Schwarber (268) and Aaron Decide (285) are the one gamers with extra house runs than Alonso’s 264.
Regular as his energy output has been, Alonso wanted a “rebound” marketing campaign of kinds so as to get this kind of long-term deal. Whereas his market final offseason was certainly weighed down by a qualifying supply — gamers can solely obtain one QO of their profession, in order that wasn’t a problem this time round — Alonso had slugged a career-low 34 house runs with a rise in strikeouts and a downturn in his batted-ball metrics. His .240/.329/.459 output in 2024 was extra good than elite.
The 2025 marketing campaign introduced enhancements throughout the board. Alonso belted 38 homers and 41 doubles (up from 31 the 12 months prior) whereas slashing .272/.347/.524 (141 wRC+). He lopped two share factors off his strikeout price, reducing it to a roughly common 22.8%, and noticed monumental upticks in his common exit velocity (93.5 mph in ’25, 89.8 mph in ’24), barrel price (18.9% vs. 13.2%) and hard-hit price (54.4% vs. 46.4%). Alonso struggled by means of a poor month of July, however because the Mets had been preventing for his or her postseason lives (and finally falling brief), Alonso put the workforce’s offense on his again alongside fellow stars Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor. From Aug. 1 onward, the “Polar Bear” raked at a .297/.339/.584 clip (153 wRC+) with 16 house runs and 15 doubles in 239 plate appearances.
Regardless of that Herculean end to the season, Alonso acquired tepid curiosity from the one membership he’s ever identified. The Mets had been reportedly reluctant to transcend three years of their talks with Alonso, and the New York Publish’s Joel Sherman reported within the aftermath of at present’s settlement that they by no means made a proper supply as soon as it grew to become clear the place Alonso’s market was headed. That’s certainly some extent of frustration for almost all of Mets followers but in addition shouldn’t come as a significant shock; if the Mets had been going to decide to Alonso long-term beneath president of baseball operations David Stearns and proprietor Steve Cohen, that doubtless would have occurred final winter. The Mets had been solely comfy with a short-term deal then and clearly didn’t change that considering this time round.
Alonso is the second 30-homer slugger acquired by Baltimore president of baseball operations Mike Elias this winter. The O’s additionally picked up outfielder Taylor Ward (36 homers in 2025) in a commerce sending gifted however oft-injured righty Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels. The additions of Alonso and Ward ought to each add an inflow of right-handed energy to a workforce that hit simply .231/.297/.364 towards left-handed pitching in 2025 and in addition create myriad commerce prospects for Elias and his employees.
It’s possible that the Orioles merely add a outstanding beginning pitcher by way of free company as their main technique of addressing the rotation, however their newly acquired thumpers open the area for extra creativity. Alonso’s addition might make it simpler to commerce younger nook infielder Coby Mayo, whereas plugging Ward right into a nook outfield spot makes certainly one of Dylan Beavers or Colton Cowser simpler to incorporate in a commerce for pitching assist. Baltimore’s choice to tender a contract to Ryan Mountcastle, a defensively restricted right-handed slugger coming off a poor season, now appears to be like like all of the extra of a head-scratcher, although. The O’s might attempt to discover a taker keen to purchase low on him or, alternatively, hope that he can bounce again and be a part of the answer between first base and designated hitter.
Payroll-wise, there was all the time clear runway so as to add a significant contract to the books. The Orioles have spent the higher a part of the previous decade in a rebuild and thus haven’t been handing out multi-year offers fairly often. The one gamers assured something past the upcoming 2026 season are Tyler O’Neill, Ryan Helsley and Samuel Basallo. O’Neill and Helsley are solely signed by means of 2027, and Helsley can choose out of his contract following the 2026 season. (O’Neill’s $16.5MM wage in 2027 is all however immovable after his ugly 2025 displaying.) Basallo’s eight-year, $67MM extension has simply an $8.375MM common annual worth. His wage will sit at simply $1MM in every of the following three seasons and received’t high $10MM till 2031, at which level Alonso’s contract could have already wrapped up.
Alonso provides $31MM per 12 months to the ledger — assuming a fair distribution of his $155MM — however the remainder of the books are so clear that it shouldn’t impede the Orioles from future additions of be aware and/or extensions for outstanding younger gamers. RosterResource now tasks them for a payroll slightly below $148MM in 2026, however the 2027 books solely have $62.5MM in assured cash ($48.5MM if Helsley turns down his participant choice). By 2028, Alonso and Basallo are the one gamers assured something.
Alonso’s contract turns into the second-largest in Orioles historical past, trailing solely the seven-year, $161MM contract given to first baseman Chris Davis beneath a previous possession and entrance workplace regime. That contract was laden with deferrals, too, which significantly weighed down the online current worth.
When contemplating that wrinkle, the funding in Alonso may be thought of essentially the most important expenditure in franchise historical past — nevertheless it’s additionally simply certainly one of a number of steps the Orioles will take this winter. Elias continues to be angling to improve his workforce’s rotation, and the O’s might nonetheless use assist in the bullpen. This might very nicely find yourself being considered because the signature transfer of the offseason — if not your entire Elias period so far — however the O’s aren’t more likely to coast from right here to spring coaching. There’s extra on the horizon.
