Orioles Rumors

Albert Pujols Expected To Interview For Orioles’ Managerial Opening

By Charlie Wright | October 15, 2025 at 9:23pm CDT

The Angels aren’t the only team vying for Albert Pujols’ managerial services. Alden Gonzalez and Jeff Passan of ESPN reported the Orioles are expected to interview Pujols for their opening. Baltimore fired Brandon Hyde in May of this past season. Tony Mansolino took over on an interim basis, and he remains in the mix for the full-time gig.

The ESPN story comes less than a week after reports of Pujols closing in on the Los Angeles job. The Hall of Fame first baseman was regarded as the frontrunner for the position at the beginning of October, and follow-up stories have supported that notion, though there’s been no report of an official offer from the Angels. Gonzalez and Passan noted that Los Angeles is still the most likely landing spot for Pujols.

Baltimore dismissed Hyde after a 15-28 start. The team entered the season with plenty of fanfare after two consecutive postseason appearances, but fell well short of expectations. The Orioles did improve to 60-59 under Mansolino. Hyde had elevated the team from the basement of the American League to a contender in the challenging NL East. He earned AL Manager of the Year honors in 2023 after bringing home the club’s first division title since 2014.

Despite the poor 2025 campaign, there’s a lot to like about the Orioles’ outlook. The team is loaded with proven young talent, including Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday, Adley Rutschman, and Jordan Westburg. Fellow youngsters Colton Cowser, Samuel Basallo, and Coby Mayo have shown flashes in limited action. The pitching staff is a question mark, but Trevor Rogers broke out as an ace, and Kyle Bradish has shown considerable upside when healthy. The team should also have the flexibility to add in free agency. FanGraphs’ RosterResource tool estimates Baltimore’s payroll to be around $81MM for next season. That’s about half the amount they spent in 2025.

In addition to the enticing roster, a couple of St. Louis connections could make Baltimore a desirable landing spot for Pujols. As Gonzalez and Passan point out, Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias was a scout for the Cardinals during Pujols’ playing days. Pujols is still close to Cardinals teammate Matt Holliday, the father of Orioles infielder Jackson Holliday.

If Pujols does land a job with an MLB team, it’ll be his first in affiliated ball. He managed Leones del Escogido, a Dominican winter ball team, last offseason. Pujols has been tabbed to lead the Dominican Republic national team in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, though that would likely change if he earns a major-league position.

Orioles Interview Luis Rojas In Managerial Search

By Mark Polishuk and Anthony Franco | October 15, 2025 at 10:54am CDT

The Orioles have interviewed Yankees third base coach and former Mets manager Luis Rojas amidst their ongoing managerial search, according to SNY’s Andy Martino. Rojas is the first candidate known to have formally interviewed for the position. Baltimore interim skipper Tony Mansolino also remains in the running, while Jon Heyman of The New York Post suggested that former O’s infielder and current Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty could be in the mix.

Rojas, 44, has served as the Yankees’ third base coach for the last four seasons. Beginning his coaching career with the Nationals’ Dominican League team in 2006, he joined the Mets organization the following year and began a long stint as a coach and manager at various levels of the organization. A promotion to the big league staff as the Mets’ quality control coach came in 2019, and Rojas was then unexpectedly elevated to the top job in January 2020. Carlos Beltran had been hired as the Amazins’ manager just over two months earlier, yet after the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal broke, Beltran stepped down from the post before he’d ever managed a single regular-season game.

This sudden promotion for Rojas came right before the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, making for quite a trial by fire for the first-time skipper. The Mets finished with just a 26-34 record in Rojas’ first year, yet he was retained for a second year in 2021. New York was in first place for a big chunk of that season but collapsed down the stretch, going just 29-45 after the All-Star break to finish with a 77-85 record.

Rojas’ club option for 2022 wasn’t picked up by the Mets, and he then stayed in the Big Apple by joining the Yankees’ coaching staff in November 2021. Before heading to the Yankees, Rojas interviewed with the Padres about their managerial vacancy that autumn, and he also interviewed with the Marlins in 2022 before Skip Schumaker was hired.

With so few public candidates identified in Baltimore’s search, it isn’t yet clear if the team is primarily focused on people with big league managerial experience (like Rojas or Mansolino) or if the O’s are more partial to Flaherty or another first-timer being elevated to the job. Whomever the choice may be, they’ll face a challenge in trying to get the Orioles and their young core back on track after a very disappointing 2025 campaign. The Orioles followed up consecutive playoff appearances with a 75-87 setback this year, though Mansolino did post a 60-59 record after he took over from Brandon Hyde in May.

Ryan Flaherty Expected To Be In Mix For Orioles, Padres Managerial Searches

By Anthony Franco | October 13, 2025 at 11:03pm CDT

Mike Shildt’s decision to step down as San Diego’s manager opens an eighth vacancy around the game. Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty could be in the mix for at least a couple of those positions.

Joel Sherman of The New York Post listed Flaherty and Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla among those to keep an eye on as potential options to replace Shildt. Meanwhile, The Post’s Jon Heyman writes that Flaherty could be among the top choices for the Orioles position. (Heyman adds that Baltimore still hasn’t closed the door on giving the full-time job to Tony Mansolino, who held the role on an interim basis after Brandon Hyde was fired in May.)

Neither Flaherty nor Niebla is confirmed to have scheduled an interview. The Padres are surely in the very early stages of the process. Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Shildt informed the team he was stepping down on Saturday.

Flaherty has ties to both the Padres and Orioles. He spent the majority of his playing career with the O’s, appearing in six seasons between 2012-17. Even though neither owner David Rubenstein nor president of baseball operations Mike Elias were part of the organization at that time, Flaherty surely has some connections to the club.

He’s also a known commodity to the San Diego front office. The 39-year-old began his coaching career with the Padres and quickly worked his way up to bench coach. He and Shildt were the top internal candidates for the managerial job after the Friars parted ways with Bob Melvin two years ago. Flaherty interviewed but was granted permission to explore other opportunities once the Padres hired Shildt. He took the bench coach role under Craig Counsell in Chicago, a job he has held for the past two seasons.

Niebla, 53, has built a reputation as one of the sport’s top pitching coaches. He was an assistant in Cleveland until landing the pitching coach job with San Diego over the 2021-22 offseason. His hiring came a few days before the Padres tabbed Melvin, and he has held the role under a pair of managers. The Friars signed Niebla to a multi-year extension last offseason.

It’s not all that common for pitching coaches to jump into managerial roles. The bench coach position is typically more of a springboard to the top gig. Still, that’s not entirely unheard of — former Cincinnati manager Bryan Price was a pitching coach both before and after his managerial stint, as one example — and the Padres’ front office clearly values Niebla’s work with the pitching staff.

Chris Owings Announces Retirement

By AJ Eustace | October 13, 2025 at 10:04am CDT

Infielder Chris Owings announced his retirement on his Instagram page last week. He last played in affiliated ball in the Dodgers organization in 2024. Now, it appears the 11-year big-league veteran will hang up his spikes at the age of 34. “This game has given me more than I could’ve ever imagined,” said Owings, who went on to thank his family, coaches, and the various organizations of which he had been a part during his career.

Owings was drafted in the first round by the Diamondbacks in 2009, making his major-league debut four years later. He would spend six seasons with Arizona, playing a total of 575 games out in the desert and batting .250/.291/.378 with a 73 wRC+. During that time, he maxed out at 552 plate appearances in 147 games in 2015. The following year, he led the majors in triples (11) while batting .277/.315/.416 in 119 games and splitting time between shortstop and center field. After leaving the Diamondbacks following the 2018 season, he went on to spend brief major-league stints with the Royals, Red Sox, Rockies, Orioles, and Pirates, often acting as a utility player. His last big-league appearances came in 2023 with Pittsburgh. He signed a minor league pact with the Dodgers in February 2024 and played in 80 games at the Triple-A level before being released in July of that year.

In all, Owings played in 723 games and earned just over $11MM in his career. He batted .239/.286/.364 with 550 hits, 37 home runs, 220 RBI, and 79 stolen bases. He was also a serviceable defender, grading out as below-average in 2,105 1/3 innings at shortstop (-11 career DRS) but above average in 1,647 2/3 innings at the keystone (9 DRS). We at MLBTR congratulate Owings on a solid career and wish him the best in retirement.

Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images

Orioles’ Albert Suarez Expected To Avoid Surgery

By Steve Adams | October 10, 2025 at 12:05pm CDT

Orioles righty Albert Suarez’s season ended with an elbow injury, and the 36-year-old underwent an MRI earlier this week to determine whether there was any structural damage that would necessitate surgery. The team announced to its beat that Suarez has been diagnosed with a “mild” strain of the flexor tendon in his right forearm (via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). The expectation is that he’ll be cleared to begin a throwing program within the next several weeks.

It’s a sigh of relief for both Orioles and Suarez, who seems like he’ll avoid surgery barring any notable setbacks once he begins that throwing progression. A shoulder strain limited him to just 11 2/3 innings this season, but Suarez was an out-of-the-blue key contributor for the 2024 Orioles, tossing 133 2/3 innings with a 3.70 ERA between the rotation and bullpen. That marked his first big league action since 2017; Suarez spent the 2019-23 seasons pitching in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and in the Korea Baseball Organization — throwing quite well in each league.

Suarez’s success overseas piqued the Orioles’ interest enough to bring him aboard as a minor league signee at age 34 in the 2023-24 offseason. He’s since given the team a total of 145 1/3 innings with a 3.59 ERA, 19.4% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate. The Orioles figure to be on the hunt for ways to bolster a rotation that right now includes Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish and Dean Kremer at the very least. Righty Tyler Wells looked sharp in four late starts this season after returning from Tommy John surgery. Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez is in the mix, too, though he didn’t pitch in 2025 after undergoing an elbow debridement procedure. Right-hander Brandon Young and former top prospects Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott could factor into the rotation as well.

The top trio of Bradish (who, like Wells, returned from Tommy John surgery this season), the steadily reliable Kremer and the revitalized Rogers makes for a solid top three. Between Wells, Rodriguez, Povich, McDermott, Young and Suarez, the O’s have some decent depth, but most of that group has had some recent health concerns and/or struggles in the majors.

Suarez is the only one of that bunch who doesn’t have minor league options remaining, however, making him a strong favorite to open the 2026 season in a swing capacity — health permitting. Baltimore controls him for another three seasons, and he’ll be arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected a $900K salary for the right-hander.

Baltimore is expected to be active in both the free agent and trade markets this offseason. President of baseball operations Mike Elias told MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald in last week’s podcast appearance that the Orioles “don’t want to take that off the table, by any means” when asked about his club’s willingness to invest multiple years in a free agent starting pitcher.

MLBTR Podcast: Rockies’ Front Office Changes, Skip Schumaker, And ABS Talk

By Darragh McDonald | October 8, 2025 at 11:59pm CDT

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

The Rockies parting ways with general manager Bill Schmidt (1:45)
The Rangers hiring Skip Schumaker as manager (9:50)
The ABS challenge system coming to MLB for 2026 (15:20)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

Will the upcoming expiration of the CBA after 2026 lead teams to not spend money this winter? (24:10)
With some recent teams selling at the deadline and then making late surges, will it lead to changes in how teams approach future deadlines? (30:15)
Which free agent pitchers could sign one-year deals to be traded next summer? (35:15)
Who are realistic targets for the Orioles this offseason? (46:10)

Check out our past episodes!

Mike Elias On The State Of The Orioles – listen here
The Tigers And Astros Try To Hang On, And Brewers’ Rotation Issues – listen here
The Struggling Mets, Bryce Eldridge, And Trey Yesavage – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Orlando Ramirez, Imagn Images

Poll: Should The Orioles Stick With Tony Mansolino?

By Nick Deeds | October 7, 2025 at 6:47pm CDT

The Orioles saw their 2025 season more or less end before it started due to a brutal 15-32 record in their first 47 games. That start to the season saw manager Brandon Hyde get fired in mid May, while third base coach Tony Mansolino took over as the club’s interim manager. The Pirates decided to stick with Don Kelly long-term after he took over for Derek Shelton earlier this year. The Angels opted against keeping Ray Montgomery in the manager’s chair after he took up the mantle due to Ron Washington’s illness.

Mansolino has neither been extended nor dismissed, and Mike Elias remains in place as the club’s president of baseball operations, leaving no uncertainty in the front office to delay the club’s decision. Instead, Mansolino remains in limbo. Mansolino is set to be a candidate for the manager job in Baltimore, but he’s far from guaranteed to remain in the role and a wide-ranging search is expected. That makes some sense. With a young core that was in the playoffs in both 2023 and ’24, the Orioles are still in the middle of their contention window even despite this year’s disastrous 87-loss campaign. A quick turnaround is not only possible, but perhaps even expected given their collection of young hitting talent.

That could attract plenty of interesting candidates to the role, and the allure of hiring a big-name manager is obvious. After all, the Reds’ decision to hire Terry Francona last offseason got them to the playoffs in a 162-game season for the first time since 2013. The Rangers’ decision to hire Bruce Bochy a few years ago got the franchise its first ever World Series championship that same year. Joe Maddon’s second year as manager in Chicago ended the club’s infamous World Series drought. For a franchise like Baltimore that last won the World Series in 1983 and is still in the early years since emerging from a lengthy rebuilding period, it would be understandable if those success stories held some appeal.

Mansolino managed Baltimore to a 60-59 record after taking over for Hyde in spite of one of the weakest rotations in baseball, an offense that suffered from injuries and under-performance, and a sell-off at the trade deadline that shipped out valuable pieces like Ramon Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn. The Orioles had a 35-30 record under Mansolino through the day of the trade deadline, a 94-win pace that would actually represent an improvement not only over this season, but also the club’s 2024 record if maintained over a full season.

Of course, evaluating managerial performance is difficult to do from the outside of an organization. In a sample of just 65 games, it’s easy for one hot streak to change the perception of the stretch. Even Mansolino’s 119 games on the job can be looked at with something of an asterisk. After all, most teams would look a great deal better if you simply ignored their worst 43-game stretch of the year.

How do MLBTR readers think the Elias and the Orioles should approach their managerial vacancy? Did Mansolino do enough in his time managing the team this year to earn a longer opportunity, or should the team pivot to a fresh voice? Have your say in the poll below:

10 Players Elect Free Agency

By Anthony Franco | October 6, 2025 at 11:41pm CDT

Now that the season is over, we’ll start seeing several players choose to become minor league free agents. Major League free agents (i.e. players with six-plus years of big league service time) will hit the open market five days after the end of the World Series, but eligible minor leaguers can already start electing free agency.

To qualify, these players must have been all outrighted off their team’s 40-man rosters during the 2025 season without being added back. These players also must have multiple career outrights on their resume, and/or at least three years of Major League service time.

We’ll offer periodic updates over the coming weeks about many other players hitting the market in this fashion. These free agent decisions are all listed on the official MLB.com or MILB.com transactions pages, for further reference.

Catchers

David Bañuelos (Orioles)
Sandy León (Braves)
Ali Sánchez (Red Sox)

Infielder

Emmanuel Rivera (Orioles)

Outfielder

Joshua Palacios (White Sox)

Pitchers

Nabil Crismatt (Diamondbacks)
Angel Perdomo (Athletics)
Tayler Scott (Astros)
Wander Suero (Mets)
Bruce Zimmermann (Brewers)

Orioles Notes: Suarez, Mountcastle, Center Field

By Anthony Franco | October 6, 2025 at 9:26pm CDT

Orioles right-hander Albert Suárez is scheduled for an MRI tomorrow after suffering a season-ending elbow injury, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. That should determine whether the 35-year-old is in danger of any kind of surgery.

This was a lost year for Suárez, who’d been a surprisingly valuable part of the 2024 pitching staff. The journeyman started 24 of 32 appearances a season ago, working to a 3.70 ERA across 133 2/3 innings. Suárez began this year in long relief. He hurt his shoulder after one appearance and was diagnosed with a rotator cuff strain that cost him the next four months.

By the time Suárez returned in September, the Orioles were well out of contention. He made four appearances, working nine innings of two-run ball. Then came the elbow inflammation that knocked him out for the year and raises questions about his future. Suárez is eligible for arbitration for the first time in his career. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $900K salary. That’s more than reasonable if the Orioles expect him to be healthy next season, but any kind of serious injury could lead them to drop him from the 40-man roster.

Suárez is one of 14 Baltimore players who’ll be eligible for arbitration. Ryan Mountcastle has the highest projected salary of the group at $7.8MM. It’d be a surprise if the O’s bring him back for that amount after an injury-plagued season. Mountcastle suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain at the end of May. That kept him on the injured list beyond the trade deadline. He was healthy for the final six weeks and slashed .255/.293/.393 across 157 plate appearances. He struck out in nearly one third of his trips to the plate.

The 28-year-old had also struggled early in the season. He finished the year with a .250/.286/.367 line while hitting seven homers in 89 games. The Orioles used him as a part-time player down the stretch, giving everyday first base work to 23-year-old Coby Mayo. Even if neither Mayo nor rookie catcher/designated hitter Samuel Basallo had a good season, the O’s will probably look for a cheaper veteran bench bat to work behind those younger hitters.

Mountcastle acknowledged uncertainty about his future during the final weekend of the regular season (link via Rich Dubroff of Baltimore Baseball). The 2015 third-round pick noted that he “can’t control things that happen” with the team’s decision but praised the coaches and teammates with whom he’s worked over his decade in the organization. Baltimore will probably shop him in trade, but they could have a hard time finding interest at that arbitration salary. A non-tender seems likelier. That would send him to free agency and make him an interesting rebound candidate for clubs on a cheaper one-year deal.

Elsewhere in the lineup, the O’s have a question mark in center field. After Cedric Mullins was traded at the deadline, the Orioles played Colton Cowser up the middle. While his small-sample defensive grades were tolerable, his average speed makes him a better fit in right field over a full season. Cowser had a terrible second half at the plate, hitting .178/.263/.340 after the All-Star Break. He missed time with a concussion and played through broken ribs that he suffered in June.

The O’s don’t have a ton of in-house alternatives. Dylan Beavers played exclusively in the corner outfield as a rookie. He’s an above-average runner who has some center field experience in the minors, yet he played more right field coming up through the system. Former first-rounder Enrique Bradfield is a no-doubt center fielder who hit well in Double-A, but he batted .179 in 15 games after a late-season promotion to Triple-A Norfolk. He’ll probably begin the year in the minors.

Jake Rill of MLB.com suggested this morning that the O’s should look for an external upgrade, ideally one who hits from the right side. Cowser, Beavers, and Bradfield each hit left-handed. Harrison Bader fits that bill in free agency, but he should sign somewhere that offers everyday playing time on at least a strong two-year contract. They could add a fourth/fifth outfielder like Jose Siri on a cheap one-year deal or look for a glove-first complementary type on the trade market. Tyrone Taylor (Mets), Jacob Young (Nationals), Blake Perkins (Brewers) and Dane Myers (Marlins) are a few speculative glove-first possibilities who shouldn’t require a huge prospect return if the O’s go that route.

AL East Notes: ALDS, Rodriguez, Weaver, Orioles

By Mark Polishuk | October 5, 2025 at 7:02pm CDT

The Blue Jays hold a 2-0 lead in the ALDS after a 13-7 win over the Yankees today. Toronto has torched the Yankees for 23 runs over the two games, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3-for-5 with a grand slam) and Daulton Varsho (4-for-5 with two homers and two doubles) doing the most damage today with four RBI apiece. Max Fried was charged with seven earned runs over three-plus innings in a disastrous outing for the Yankees ace.

New York’s lineup came to life with seven late runs against Toronto’s bullpen, after Jays starter Trey Yesavage was nothing short of dominant. In just his fourth career outing in the majors, Yesavage allowed only a walk over 5 1/3 hitless innings, with 11 strikeouts — the most K’s from any Blue Jays pitcher in a postseason game. The decision to pull Yesavage after 78 pitches seemed to be based on a desire to keep Yesavage from facing Yankees batters a third time, and to potentially keep Yesavage fresh for usage later in the series. Of course, the Yankees can only hope that there will even be a “later in the series,” as the Jays are just one win away from advancing to the ALCS. Game 3 is on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

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