The Orioles are heading into an offseason with more questions than answers, and a lot of the focus lands on how the front office and roster will be reshaped before 2027.
One of the biggest decisions involves the baseball operations structure. Mike Elias said on Sept. 28 that he is working on “overall staffing to the baseball operations department,” and this time the idea of adding a new general manager feels more real than it did a year ago.
Last October, Elias kept both of his titles. Now, he has made it clear he wants fresh voices in the room, whether that means a GM or someone with a different title.
The rotation is another major issue, starting with Trevor Rogers. Over the past two seasons, the left-hander has been Baltimore’s best starter, putting up a 3.16 ERA in 48 starts.
He is set to reach free agency for the first time, and while there has been public mutual interest in a return, no deal is in place. Rogers could receive a qualifying offer, and that appears likely, but his comments after his final start on Sept. 25 suggested he is open to seeing what the market brings.
“It’s going to be fun talking through that with teams,” Rogers said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
If Rogers departs, the Orioles will need to replace him in a rotation that should be built around right-handers Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz and Brandon Young.
There’s also a crowded picture developing at third base. Jordan Westburg is expected back after missing the entire season following Tommy John surgery in May, though Elias recently said, “We don’t want to overly plan around him, just given that he’s still early in a Tommy John rehab,”. Westburg, who last played on Sept. 28, 2025, has been one of Baltimore’s best players when healthy and was an All-Star before the injury.
That creates a tricky fit if he is ready for Opening Day 2027 and Jackson Holliday remains at second base. It would leave fewer obvious places for Coby Mayo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, both of whom were productive in the second half of 2026.
Mayo finished with 24 home runs and a .759 OPS in 132 games, while Encarnacion-Strand posted 11 homers and an .838 OPS in 58 games. Mayo can also play first, but Pete Alonso is already the everyday starter there.
As Elias put it, “I think it gives us really good depth at that position now,” and then, “And then, you’ve got Jordan coming back, hopefully you feel pretty good about our options at third.”
Blaze Alexander adds another layer to that mix. He can play third, second or shortstop, but with Holliday at second and Gunnar Henderson at short, there may be more room for him in the outfield.
Alexander has only 17 outfield starts across his three-year, 228-game MLB career, but he has shown enough athleticism to handle the position. The Orioles may end up using him there more often next season, especially after he hit .303 with a .772 OPS in 93 games in his first year with the club.
Then there’s the bullpen, where Baltimore has two former All-Star closers in Félix Bautista and Ryan Helsley. Bautista remains the favorite to handle the ninth inning after returning from right shoulder surgery for two lower-leverage outings in late September. He has thrown very little over the last two seasons, missing all of 2024 after Tommy John surgery and appearing in only 37 games across the past two years, but his ceiling is still obvious when he’s healthy.
Helsley, meanwhile, signed a two-year, $28 million contract last offseason and then was limited to 17 appearances in 2026 because of injuries. He finished with a 4.11 ERA and eight saves. He can opt out of the deal this offseason, though that does not seem likely.
In Other News...
Mike Elias Keeps Giving Orioles Fans Another Reason To Hate The Rays
The Orioles front office has spent plenty of time chasing the Rays in the standings, but Tampa Bay keeps finding another way to make life harder in Baltimore. Mike Elias, now the clubs chief baseball executive, has become part of that dynamic after dealing away players who have since turned into useful pieces for the Rays, adding another layer to a rivalry that already leaves Orioles fans on edge.
Among the names in that mix are catcher Caden Bodine and closer Bryan Baker, both examples of ex-Oriole talent helping Tampa Bay stay in the conversation while Baltimore fights through its own roster and development issues. It is the kind of contrast that tends to sharpen the criticism around Elias, because every Rays success story seems to send the conversation back to what the Orioles gave up and why the gap between the two clubs still feels so familiar. [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Westburg Suddenly Feels Caught In Baltimore's Infield Squeeze
Jordan Westburgs lost 2026 season changed more than his own timetable. After Tommy John surgery kept him out entirely, the Orioles spent the year sorting out third base and second base without him, and now the club finds itself with a crowded infield picture that looks different from the one Westburg left behind. Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Coby Mayo, Jackson Holliday and Blaze Alexander have all helped fill those spots, giving Baltimore real options and a much less obvious path back for Westburg.
That has put the 25-year-old in an awkward position for a team that still values depth but also has to make the roster fit. The Orioles suddenly have more middle-infield and corner-infield answers than openings, and that kind of surplus tends to force hard choices. Westburgs name is now in the conversation not because of his performance on the field, but because Baltimore may have to decide whether keeping everyone is less realistic than dealing from a position of strength. [Read more 🡒]
Former Orioles Are Giving Birdland Plenty To Track This October
October has a familiar feel around Birdland this year, with a long list of former Orioles scattered across the Division Series and suddenly giving Baltimore fans a few extra teams to monitor. The group includes 13 ex-Orioles now playing key roles for clubs in both leagues, from the Padres and Dodgers to the Rays, Brewers and Indians, a reminder of how much roster turnover has passed through Camden Yards and how many old faces are still very much in the postseason mix.
For Orioles fans, the appeal is part nostalgia and part curiosity. Some of those players spent meaningful stretches in Baltimore before moving on, while others only had brief stops, but all of them now have a stake in October games with real consequences. Even with the Orioles not in the bracket themselves, the presence of so many familiar names gives this round an extra layer of intrigue as Birdland keeps one eye on its own future and another on what its former players do next. [Read more 🡒]