Next to a World Series title, Orioles fans had been waiting for a moment like last Thursday’s for a long time.
Specifically, Bird backers had been hoping that the club would lock up some of its prized young players for the foreseeable future.
Between pitcher Grayson Rodriguez, and position players Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday, Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser, surely the front office would make some move to sign one of all of the players if not for the rest of their careers, certainly into their baseball dotage.
Well, in the words of the great philosopher Gomer Pyle, the surprise, surprise was on just about everyone when the young player who drew the long contract extension was none of the above, but rather budding catching prospect Samuel Basallo.
Just four games into his major league career, the 21-year-old Basallo was given an eight-year, $67 million contract which will keep him under team control until his 30th birthday.
Basallo’s signing marked the first time the Orioles brass had taken such a step since Adam Jones inked a six-year, $85.5 million extension early into the 2012 season.
It’s a stunning leap of faith for a club that has been breathtakingly and, in some corners, maddeningly conservative in its approach to acquiring and keeping players.
Under general manager Mike Elias’ seven-year reign, the Orioles have largely eschewed bringing in big name free agents.
Elias has opted instead to hold on to home-grown youngsters, keeping the payroll to a minimum. The Birds opened the season with a nearly $160 million ledger, placing them smack dab in the middle of the 30 major league teams.
It’s a significant upgrade from recent years, but the fourth-highest in the American League East, which, in fairness, has big spending teams like the Yankees and Red Sox.
The hope, among many fans, was that the Orioles would already have done for Henderson, Holliday and Rutschman what they just did for Basallo, to get budding stars under long term contracts at relatively inexpensive prices, or at least inexpensive by baseball standards.
That hope may not have been realistic with Holliday and Henderson, who are represented by agent Scott Boras. His long-standing approach has been to encourage his clients to pass up short term dollars for the big money in free agency.
It remains to be seen now whether the club will try to lock up Rutschman, who can be a free agent in two more years. Both he and Basallo are natural catchers.
One of them could conceivably be moved to first base or designated hitter, though it might make more sense to trade Rutschman,
The 27-year-old who is out with a left oblique injury has seen his offensive numbers take a bit of a downturn in recent seasons. But Rutschman remains one of the best defensive catchers in the game and would have significant value to another team if the Orioles think they can’t keep him.
The 2025 season is a lost cause in Birdland, but the signing of Samuel Basallo ensures that things will be interesting around these parts for years to come.
And that’s how I see it for this week. You can reach us via email with your questions and comments at Sports at Large at gmail.com. And follow me on BlueSky, Threads and X at Sports at Large.
Until next week, for all of us here and for producer Lisa Morgan, I’m Milton Kent. Thanks for listening and enjoy the games.
