O'Neill and Sánchez deals official (plus other notes)

The Orioles announced the signings in free agency of outfielder Tyler O’Neill and catcher Gary Sánchez earlier today. Physicals were passed and contracts inked.

O’Neill received a three-year deal for $49.5 million and Sánchez received a one-year deal for $8 million.

The 40-man roster has 39 players, leaving room if the Orioles want to make a selection in Wednesday afternoon’s Rule 5 draft that wraps up the Winter Meetings.

“Pretty clearly two profiles we had been seeking going into the offseason,” executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias said during his media scrum at the Hilton Anatole Hotel. “They both bring tremendous amounts of right-handed power. They’re good against both sides, righty and lefty pitching, but extremely productive, Tyler in particular, against left-handed pitching. That's something that you look at the composition of the rest of our team was a relative weakness. We have a lot of left-handed hitters, particularly in the outfield.”

O’Neill replaces Anthony Santander, who remains on the free-agent market and reportedly is attracting interest from other teams in the division.

“Very soft spot for me, somebody I care about a lot,” manager Brandon Hyde said earlier today at his media scrum.

“He's gone through a lot for the last six years. Watch a guy grow from this young player with a lot of tools to put himself in this position. So proud of him honestly. Put himself in this position to get to free agency, to get a big deal, to have people … There's a lot of teams that would love to have Anthony Santander. To put himself in that position, very, very proud of him.”

Elias indicated that O’Neill will be a regular presence in the lineup. He won’t be exposed to a platoon.

“We’ll see him in all three positions,” Elias said. “But I think you’ll see him in left and right. What the ratio ends up being, I don’t know.

“We need more than three outfielders, and now I think we’ve got a really strong outfield mix.”

O’Neill went on the injured list three times this season and has exceeded 100 games only twice in his career.

“I think the injuries that he has had have been minor,” Elias said. “They’re things that have blown over. Hopefully we can keep him healthy. We're not asking him to play 162 games. We’ll take good care of him. We’ll have DH at-bats available for him. We’ll have days, maybe we’re facing a tough righty where he’s not going to be in the lineup. It's somebody that brings a lot of talent to our roster.

"We're not asking for the moon from him. It's somebody that we want to have a nice, long relationship with and we'll do our best to work with him and keep him healthy with his strength and conditioning and training routines."

Elias also told the assembled media that he could bring in another outfielder. Unsaid is whether it would be a minor league deal to increase depth.

“I definitely think we have room for more,” he said. “We’re going to keep in touch with the market and see where it all falls, but obviously this was a really big piece for the outfield.”

* The Nationals won the draft lottery and received the first overall pick for the third time in club history. They had a 10.2 percent odds of finishing first.

Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser announced the picks on MLB Network.

Ethan Holliday, the younger brother of Orioles infielder Jackson Holliday, is regarded as the No. 1 prospect.

"It'll make for easy flights,” Cowser said on MLB Network.

The Nationals are followed in the top 10 by the Angels, the Mariners, the Rockies, the Cardinals, the Pirates, the Marlins, the Blue Jays, the Reds and the White Sox. The Rockies and Marlins had the best odds.

The Orioles have the 19^th selection.

* The Yankees reportedly have an agreement with left-hander Max Fried on an eight-year, $218 million contract. ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first with the news.

Teams in search of an ace can pivot to Corbin Burnes and further complicate the Orioles’ attempts to land a No. 1 starter.

Another starter linked to the Orioles has come off the board, with Robert Murray of FanSided first reporting that Nathan Eovaldi and the Rangers are in agreement on a contract. Passan says it’s a three-year deal for $75 million.

“I remain confident that we’re going to do the best we can to make the decision that’s the best decision for the Orioles, not just for 2025, but for the long run,” said assistant general manager Sig Mejdal. “And if that is a No. 1 starter, wonderful. If it’s some other combination of players, that’s great, too.”

* Cowser told reporters that he should be ready for spring training after undergoing surgery on his broken left hand.

The injury occurred when Cowser was hit by a pitch while swinging at it in Game 2 of the Wild Card series.