Baltimore landed Baz with a package headlined by recent first-round picks Slater de Brun And Caden Bodine. He’ll probably fall behind Kyle Bradish And Trevor Rogers as the club’s No. 3 starter. Baz posted an ERA of almost 5.00 in his final season with the Rays. Elias cited Tampa Bay’s home turf as the potential culprit. “We see a lot of underlying information in his stats and his performances this year suggest he has been unlucky. A lot of it was determined by the ballpark in which the Rays played.” Tampa Bay played its home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field this past season due to hurricane damage at Tropicana Field.
Baz had significant separation between home and away in 2025. He posted a 5.90 ERA in 16 home starts, compared to a 3.86 mark in 15 road appearances. Baz allowed ten more home runs at George M. Steinbrenner Field than outside the venue. Interestingly enough, Camden Yards ranked as a slightly better hitter’s park than George M. Steinbrenner Field last season, according to Statcast’s Park Factors.
The big key for Baz could be a right/left split in his new home. George M. Steinbrenner Field ranked third in Park Factor for right-handed hitters last season, while Camden Yards was 19th. The Orioles recently moved the left field fences after pushing them back, and they also lowered the huge ‘Walltimore’, although that side of the field was still tough on right bats. Baz has reverse splits, which has done much more damage to same-hand hitters this past season. Righties scored 55 points higher against Baz than lefties, while striking out much less often and walking slightly more often. Baz struck out lefties at a solid 28.2% rate, but struck out righties at an average clip of 21.7%.
The swing for Baz will help solidify Baltimore’s rotation, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be the last addition. Elias said that the front office “keep working hard” to further improve unity. Daan Kremer is locked into a starting spot, but the depth chart gets murky from there. Tyler Wells made it back after a lengthy injury absence, making four starts in September. Injuries have limited him to 37 innings the past two seasons. Young poor Cade Povich, Chayce McDermottAnd Brandon Young had chances in 2025, but none yielded significant results. Swingman Albert Suarez is back with the club on a minor league deal.
Baltimore’s busy offseason focused on the hitting squad, but the club was linked to him Michael King before returning to San Diego, along with current free agents Framber Valdez, Ranger SuarezAnd Tatsuya Imai. The Orioles are also associated with it Freddy Peralta, Edward CabreraAnd MacKenzie Gore on the trading market. Free agents like Valdez and Suarez are now a bit more intriguing for the Orioles after the Baz trade. Both pitchers turned down qualifying offers, so teams will have to give up their third-highest draft pick to sign them. If Jake Rill of MLB.com points out that before the Baz deal, Baltimore would have given up the No. 46 overall selection. Now that the team has sent their Competitive Balance Round A pick (33rd overall) to Tampa Bay, the penalty for signing a Valdez or a Suarez would be the 83rd pick, softening the blow of losing draft compensation.
The Orioles made one of the biggest splashes of the offseason when they entered Pete Alonso on a huge five-year deal. This step could possibly block Coby Mayoalthough Elias expressed optimism about finding at-bats for the former top prospect. “There is still a lot of playing time available for it [Mayo] in a team with Pete Alonso Now,” Elias said. “We have reps at first base, we have designated hitter reps and the exploration of other positions – whether it’s third or something in the corner outfield.”
Mayo was originally drafted as a third baseman. He spent plenty of time at both corners of the infield in the minors, although most of his big league experience came at first base. Mayo played in 70 games at first base last season, compared to just three games at the hot corner. The 24-year-old has never played in the outfield as a professional.
After being outmatched in his brief debut in 2024, Mayo continued to struggle through the first few months of last season. He turned it on in September, slashing .301/.393/.548 in 24 games to end the season. Nearly half of Mayo’s eleven home runs came in the final month of the campaign. The young slugger continued to strike at a near 30% rate but showed flashes of the power potential that helped him move up in Baltimore’s system. The Orioles did that Jordaan Westburg signed at third base and several young options in the outfield. The club could find part-time work for Mayo if they are determined to get him at-bats, but that would likely have to be in multiple positions.
Photo courtesy of Sergio Estrada, Imagn Images
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