PLAYER REVIEW: MACKENZIE GORE
Age on Opening Day 2026: 27
How acquired: Traded with CJ Abrams, James Wood, Robert Hassell III, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit from Padres for Juan Soto and Josh Bell, August 2022
MLB service time: 4 years
2025 salary: $2.89 million
I’m going to continue taking my turn asking questions, knowing that the correct answer is unattainable this early in the offseason.
It’s also another chance to veer away from the constant chatter about a new manager, which is lacking anything concrete beyond reports that Yankees third base coach Luis Rojas interviewed for the job.
Here are two more.
Who’s the center fielder on Opening Day?
This is a new question because Cedric Mullins spent parts of eight seasons with the Orioles and played center in 791 games.
PLAYER REVIEW: DREW MILLAS
Age on Opening Day 2026: 28
How acquired: Traded with Richard Guasch and Seth Shuman from Athletics for Yan Gomes and Josh Harrison, July 2021
MLB service time: 178 days
2025 salary: $760,000
Questions linger for the Orioles beyond their managerial search and whether they hire a general manager this winter.
Should they have matched the Dodgers’ 10-year, $700 million offer for Shohei Ohtani?
OK, maybe not that one.
Here are three randomly chosen inquiries, with many more to come.
How will the Orioles jam their starters into a five-man rotation?
Joe Flacco, age 40, outdueled 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers Thursday night in Cincinnati. The Blue Jays’ Max Scherzer, at age 41 and making the 500th start of his career, earned the win in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series in Seattle.
My mailbag is 17, old enough to drive but not to drink. The fluctuating weight is normal. You fill it and I try to empty it.
Here’s my latest attempt. No editing, no disclaimers about editing. You ask, I answer, and we have the latest sequel to the beloved 2008 original.
Also, and this is important, my mailbag stretches singles into doubles and your mailbag stretches the truth.
Your thoughts on Albert Pujols as the manager? I am starting to warm to the idea. Keep Robinson Chirinos as bench coach.
I’m lukewarm to the idea of Pujols as manager, but maybe that’s just my personality. I also think it isn’t happening. Pujols has managed in the Dominican Republic, so he isn’t entirely new to the job. However, if major league experience isn’t important, the Orioles could just bring back Tony Mansolino, who has the advantage of his previous interim status and familiarity with the organization. Or they could hire Ryan Flaherty, who’s worked in a variety of roles, including Cubs bench coach. He’s also a big analytics guy. The Orioles are making it tough to project what they’ll do because their requirements are so broad. Experience is “overwhelmingly usually a big positive,’ as Mike Elias described it, and will carry a lot of weight. But it’s not a requisite for success. I don’t know if anyone constitutes a sure thing in his business, but other candidates would qualify more than a first-timer, which makes someone like Pujols a gamble to a team that must win.
PLAYER REVIEW: PAUL DeJONG
Age on Opening Day 2026: 32
How acquired: Signed as free agent, February 2025
MLB service time: 8 years, 57 days
2025 salary: $1 million
PLAYER REVIEW: NASIM NUNEZ
Age on Opening Day 2026: 25
How acquired: Selected in 2023 Rule 5 Draft
MLB service time: 1 year, 89 days
2025 salary: $760,000
We’ve reached the point in the offseason when we still don’t know who’s playing in the World Series, we don’t know who’s managing the Orioles and we don’t know how far along they’ve gotten in the interview process beyond a couple of reports linking them to Luis Rojas and Albert Pujols.
Rojas had an interview. Pujols might get an interview.
Ryan Flaherty might be among the favorites or he might not.
Here are a few facts from the 2025 season, on another slow day, that we do know:
* The Orioles posted a .235 average this year, 24th in the majors, compared to .255 in 2023 and .250 in 2024 – seasons that concluded with a division title and the first Wild Card, respectively.
PLAYER REVIEW: BRADY HOUSE
Age on Opening Day 2026: 22
How acquired: First round pick, 2021 Draft
MLB service time: 107 days
2025 salary: $760,000
A last-place season isn’t going to bring many rewards. Heartaches, yes, but not rewards.
The Rawlings Gold Glove finalists were announced yesterday and the Orioles suffered another shutout.
Third baseman Ramón Urías was the last Orioles winner in 2022, which ended a six-year drought. Eighteen different players have earned a total of 72 awards since its creation in 1957.
First baseman Ryan Mountcastle and left fielder Colton Cowser were American League finalists last year. Mountcastle was a repeat finalist but went 0-for-2.
Catcher Adley Rutschman and left fielder Austin Hays also were finalists in 2023. Center fielder Cedric Mullins was a finalist in 2022 and right fielder Anthony Santander in 2020.
Jacob Young gets a second crack at becoming only the third Gold Glove Award winner in Nationals history.
Young was named a finalist for the award this morning, one of three competing to be honored as the best defensive center fielder in the National League. He’s joined by the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong and the Cardinals’ Victor Scott II.
The winner will be announced Nov. 3.
It’s the second straight year Young has been named a Gold Glove finalist. Though he seemed to have a stronger statistical case for the award in 2024, he ultimately lost out to the Rockies’ Brenton Doyle.
Young’s case this season isn’t quite as concrete. He was one of only three regular major league position players with a 1.000 fielding percentage. But he ranked second to Crow-Armstrong in FanGraphs’ overall Defensive Rating (17.7 to 12.3) and Defensive Runs Saved (15 to 13). And he ranked third to both Crow-Armstrong and Scott in Statcast’s Outs Above Average (24 to 16 to 14) and Runs Prevented (22 to 14 to 13).
For the second consecutive season, Washington Nationals outfielder Jacob Young was named one of three finalists for the Rawlings Gold Glove award in center field on Tuesday.
Young, 26, led National League center fielders and was one of only three players in all of Major League Baseball with a 1.000 fielding percentage in 2025. He ranked second among National League center fielders in defensive rating (12.4) and defensive runs saved (13), according to FanGraphs.com, and third in outs above average (14) and runs prevented (13), according to MLB Statcast. He accumulated these numbers while playing in only 112 games (901.1 innings).
For the second year in a row, Young had the quickest reaction time (feet covered in the first 1.5 seconds of opportunity) in all of Major League Baseball at 4.6 feet. Young earned three Electric Plays of the Week from Major League Baseball for his catches on July 2 vs. Detroit (9th inning home run robbery), July 23 vs. Cincinnati (home run robbery) and Sept. 21 at New York Mets (acrobatic, off-the-foot catch at the wall).
Young looks to become the first Nationals outfielder and third Nationals player (2005-pres.) overall to win a Gold Glove, joining Ryan Zimmerman (3B, 2009) and Adam LaRoche (1B, 2012).
Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 2, on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. ET.
PLAYER REVIEW: CJ ABRAMS
Age on Opening Day 2026: 25
How acquired: Traded with James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit from Padres for Juan Soto and Josh Bell, August 2022
MLB service time: 3 years, 130 days
2025 salary: $780,600
No matter what roster moves are completed in the offseason, the Orioles won’t go far unless their core group makes the necessary strides. You heard it before and will again. Help must come from within.
Theories are floated on why some players regressed, whether it’s the individuals or the messaging. The problem is much harder to fix without knowing the answer.
There could be more than one.
Asked at his season-ending press conference how much of a priority he’s placing on offensive improvement, president of baseball operations/general manager Mike Elias said, “When you have a season that misses the mark by this much, there’s a lot on the list of what went wrong. But certainly, that was amongst the most, I don’t know if I want to say ‘surprising,’ but kind of fundamental, that a lot of our core drafted players that have formed the spine of not only this winning team the last few years, but the rebuild leading into it, most of them were hurt or had down years or stagnating in some form or fashion, and it’s definitely concerning to watch it happen and concerning to watch it happen to a lot of them simultaneously.”
“We have talked a lot with them individually about it. I think all of us in the org, there’s a lot of soul searching and looking in the mirror individually what could each of us have done better to get a better result for the team, and that definitely applies to those guys. We’ve talked about it. We’re formulating plans. And we’re going to do everything that we can to kind of have them bounce back and get back on track.
PLAYER REVIEW: LUIS GARCIA JR.
Age on Opening Day 2026: 25
How acquired: Signed as international free agent, July 2016
MLB service time: 4 years, 142 days
2025 salary: $4.5 million
Orioles 22-year-old minor league left-hander Luis De León pitched at three levels of the farm system this year, was selected for the Arizona Fall League and didn’t miss a beat.
De León, the 21st-ranked prospect in the organization per MLB Pipeline, allowed an unearned run and one hit in four innings in his first AFL start with the Peoria Javelinas. He also struck out seven batters.
De León climbed from Class A Delmarva to High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Chesapeake, making three starts with the Baysox and allowing only three earned runs and striking out 24 in 16 innings. Overall, he posted a 3.30 ERA in 20 games this year, struck out 107 in 87 1/3 innings and didn’t surrender a home run.
A scout from outside the organization has watched De León multiple times, including the AFL start, and described him as “really exciting.”
“Really good (stuff),” he said. “Good fastball, a good slider, the changeup’s coming. Kind of gave him a chance at being a bottom-of-the-rotation type arm with upside. I think he’s gonna have to develop a fourth pitch, but he’s only 22.”
PLAYER REVIEW: JOSH BELL
Age on Opening Day 2026: 33
How acquired: Signed as free agent, January 2025
MLB service time: 9 years, 53 days
2025 salary: $6 million
The Orioles will need to show improvement in many areas next season, the only way to pull themselves out of the division cellar. It isn’t just pitching and it isn’t just hitting. It isn’t just the constant injuries that forced almost daily roster moves.
The 70 different players used were one short of the major league record set this year by the Braves, who started former Oriole Charlie Morton in their final regular season game. The 41 pitchers came within one of the American League record shared by the 2021 Orioles and 2019 Mariners. The 34 position players tied the franchise record set in 1955.
Even the seven catchers were unprecedented.
Everywhere you looked, the Orioles were doing something unusual. And it isn’t bragging rights when it happens for the wrong reasons.
Here’s another one:
Ramón Urías appeared in 506 games with the Orioles over parts of six seasons. He played every position in the infield. Both of his managers praised his versatility and those stretches when he seemed like the only hot hitter in the lineup.
The trade deadline got him, too. Though under team control through 2026, Urías was dealt to the Astros for Class A pitcher Twine Palmer.
The roster priorities begin with pitching, both the rotation and bullpen, but the Orioles probably will check on infielders who can replicate Urías’ glove work. Jorge Mateo has a $5.5 million option in his contract that they could decline. Luis Vázquez has a great defensive reputation at shortstop but is 9-for-62 in the majors. His biggest contribution came on the mound with four scoreless relief appearances over 4 1/3 innings.
Jeremiah Jackson was head and shoulders above the other two, which got his foot in the door for 2026. He batted .276/.328/.447 with 10 doubles, two triples, five home runs and 21 RBIs in 48 games, but he doesn’t really fit the utility profile because his starts came at third base and in right field. He’s also made starts at shortstop and second base and in left and center field in the minors, but the Orioles don’t envision that kind of movement from him.
If the Orioles can’t make room on the roster for Jackson and a super-utility player, they could bank of the versatility of other infielders for coverage. Interim manager Tony Mansolino didn’t think that Jackson had to play shortstop in order to break camp with the team. They have backups, including Jackson Holliday, who handled the position while Gunnar Henderson was on the injured list.
PLAYER REVIEW: KEIBERT RUIZ
Age on Opening Day 2026: 27
How acquired: Traded with Josiah Gray, Donovan Casey and Gerardo Carrillo from Dodgers for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner, July 2021
MLB service time: 4 years, 64 days
2025 salary: $6 million