ORLANDO, Fla. — A day after being spurned by free-agent Kyle Schwarber, the Baltimore Orioles pivoted to first baseman Pete Alonso, showing off the kind of aggressiveness and financial commitment their fan base has long been waiting for.
Their five-year, $155 million pact with Alonso is easily the biggest one doled out under president of baseball operations Mike Elias, who has spent months reiterating that the front office’s process would be different this winter. That, coupled with ownership’s public insistence that there’s money to be spent, has already made for a busy offseason.
The Orioles signed outfielder Leodys Taveras and reliever Ryan Helsley. They traded for Taylor Ward, who, along with Alonso, gives Baltimore two right-handed power bats that combined for 74 home runs last season.
Alonso’s presence gives Elias room to trade from a glut of first baseman/corner outfielders — Ryan Mountcastle, Coby Mayo, Colton Cowser — perhaps for a starter, with the team having rumored interest in both Washington’s MacKenzie Gore and Miami’s Edward Cabrera. League sources believe the team still has funds available for starting pitchers on the free agent market, too.
Alonso, 31, feels like the kind of player the Orioles would have missed out on in other years, with the team unwilling or unable to go for that fifth year or a few extra million. His signing is, of all the offseason moves so far, the most significant indication that the organization is operating like a team ready to spend big in its win-now window.
Panned last year for failing to address their offseason needs before missing the playoffs, the Orioles have long wanted a veteran with some star power to add to a clubhouse of primarily young, homegrown hitters.
Alonso perfectly fills that void. Loved by Mets fans for his eccentric personality and big swings, Alonso was as consistent a bat as the Mets had, turning in his best season since a 2019 rookie campaign that earned him NL Rookie of the Year. Alonso lowered his strikeouts and increased his power, hitting .272/.347/.524 with 38 homers and 126 RBIs. He’s been incredibly durable, playing in all 162 games in each of the past two seasons and in 152 or more in every full season since he reached the big leagues.
A Tampa resident, Alonso drove from his house to meet with teams on Tuesday at the Winter Meetings in Orlando. A day later, the O’s had their man. That timeline isn’t one Baltimore fans are particularly used to. Perhaps they should get there.
The Ward deal was aggressive, sending Grayson Rodriguez — a young, controllable starting pitcher — to the Angels for a hitter who will be a free agent next year. Angels general manager Perry Minasian said on Monday that some GMs prefer to check in rather than make deals in November. Elias was.
The Orioles are swinging early in the count, and they’re swinging big. The only deal bigger than Alonso’s in team history was Chris Davis’ seven-year, $161 million contract in 2016, a deal fans would rather forget (Davis retired in 2021, but the club will pay him deferred money through 2037). Alonso has minimal deferrals and a partial no-trade clause, league sources confirmed.
Of course, there are risks. Alonso, who turned 31 on Sunday, has been criticized for his defense and base running, typically the first things to go as players age into their 30s. There’s always a question about bat speed as a player ages.
Schwarber, who went back to the Philadelphia Phillies on a five-year, $150 million deal that Baltimore matched but did not exceed, has a bat speed in the 98th percentile, so losing two ticks over the course of his deal would still leave him in a very good spot. Alonso is at the 91st percentile, so natural decline means he might not remain elite, but he shouldn’t be a liability.
That’s a debate for another day. Who knows where this Baltimore team will be in four or five years? If they raise a flag, no one will care about Alonso’s 2030 money.
The Orioles shocked the baseball world by going from 52 wins in 2021 to 101 two seasons later, and then again with a 75-win campaign last season that cost manager Brandon Hyde his job after 43 games (15-28). Baltimore hasn’t won a playoff game since 2014.
Fans who sat through Elias’ rebuild, which started in 2019, and thought 2023’s AL East title would be the start of a new era in Oriole baseball are understandably upset.
By all accounts, the front office recognizes that restlessness. The offseason isn’t over, but Alonso’s signing underscores Baltimore’s seriousness to correct course. It sends a message to other free agents that the O’s are indeed committed to spending enough to win, that a historically cautious front office can take some calculated risk.
Of course, none of this will matter if they don’t address the very issue that sank them last season: starting pitching. However, if what they’ve done in the offseason’s first six weeks is any indication, the Orioles are ready to be bold.
