It’s been nearly 10 years since the Orioles handed out their largest contract, a seven-year, $161 million deal to Chris Davis, who had just led the major leagues in home runs for the second time in three years.
The extension was popular with fans, who’d been smarting over the departures of Nelson Cruz, Nick Markakis and Andrew Miller in the span of just a few days in December 2014.
What wasn’t known was how poorly Davis would perform.
In 2016, Davis hit 38 home runs and drove in 84 runs, but his batting average slipped to .221 and he struck out 219 times, the fourth most in a single season.
Things continued to go south until Davis retired from the Orioles on August 12th, 2021, 11 months after his final game.
The Orioles are still paying on that contract. Davis will receive $3.5 million annually from 2026-2032 and $1.4 million annually from 2033 to 2037.
That deal was consummated nearly three years before Mike Elias began running the Orioles’ baseball operations. In his seven years in Baltimore, Elias hasn’t negotiated a contract remotely close to that.
Will that change this offseason?
Elias didn’t sign a free agent to a multi-year contract until Tyler O’Neill last December. O’Neill, who could have opted out of the final two years of his $49.5 million deal, was a frequent visitor to the injured list and hit only .199 and nine home runs. He didn’t opt out.
Elias did sign 21-year-old Samuel Basallo to a surprising extension in August. The catcher/first baseman, who had been in the major leagues just five days. was given an eight-year contract with a 2034 option. The deal is worth $67 million.
Fans would like to see extensions for infielders Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg, but they aren’t likely to settle for below-market deals.
The Orioles bought out Basallo’s six years of club control plus his first two years of free agency. If the 2034 option is exercised, Basallo will be paid $18 million, and if it isn’t, he gets a $7 million buyout.
Basallo received a $5 million signing bonus, but his salaries for 2026, 2027 and 2028, his pre-arbitration years, are just $1 million annually. Not until those two years of free agency, 2033 and 2034, when he’ll be paid $15 million a year, does the big money get paid out.
This week Oriole fans were paying attention to control owner David Rubenstein’s comments at Craig Albernaz’s introductory press conference.
Rubenstein reiterated his previous declaration that the Orioles had the resources to spend.
“We don’t have particular financial constraints. We have an investor group that’s pretty deep-pocketed, and so we’re able to do what we need to do. And so we will do that. Mike has a lot of authority to go out and find the best players that we can get.”
The Orioles’ payroll has risen from one of the lowest in baseball to middle-of-the-pack under Rubenstein. At the end of the season, the Orioles had a $160.4 million payroll, 17th in baseball.
Kittredge Contract details
Not only did O’Neill forego his opt-out this week, adding $16.5 million to the 2026 payroll, but reliever Andrew Kittredge and his $9 million option for 2026 were added after his reacquisition from the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.
According to Cot’s Contracts, Kittredge gets $50,000 each for 35, 40, 45, 50 and 55 appearances and $50,000 each for 35, 40, 45, 50 and 55 games finished, potentially adding another $500,000 to his salary.
Even with his knee surgery delaying his first Orioles game until May 21st, Kittredge still appeared in 54 games in 2025.
Kittredge also has a $50,000 bonus if he wins the Reliever of the Year and another $50,000 if he’s a finalist plus additional bonuses for World Series or League Championship Series MVP. He also gets $50,000 for an All-Star Game invitation or Gold Glove.
He also gets a hotel suite on the road.
Front office changes: Matt Blood, who came to the Orioles in 2019 as director of player development, has been promoted to vice president of staff development. Blood had been serving as vice president of player development and domestic scouting since October 2023.
Brendan Fournie, who was senior director of baseball strategy and operations, will now be an assistant general manager. Among his duties will be salary arbitration, economics and advanced scouting.
Fournie joins Sig Mejdal and Eve Rosenbaum as assistant general managers.
Will Robertson, who was a minor league player in the organization in 2018 and 2019, will be vice president of domestic scouting. Last December, he was promoted to director of pro personnel.
Chad Tatum (domestic scouting), Hendrik Herz (draft operations) and Kevin Carter (pro scouting) were also promoted to assistant directors.
These changes were first reported by MASNSports.com and confirmed by an industry source.
Notes: Three Oriole minor leaguers, each of whom had major league experience, have filed for free agency. They’re catcher Jakson Reetz, infielder Liván Soto and right-hander Thaddeus Ward.
Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.