Good morning,
Happy Day After Thanksgiving, everyone. Now that you’ve digested your (hopefully) heaping helpings of turkey, we can get back to digesting some MLB hot stove rumors.
The latest scuttlebutt comes from the New York Post’s Jon Heyman — so, you know, make of that what you will — who writes that the Orioles have shown interest in some of the biggest-name free agents, including Kyle Schwarber, Framber Valdez, Tatsuya Imai, and Dylan Cease (before he signed with the Blue Jays). Heyman’s (paywalled) post can be found here, or you can check out MLB Trade Rumors’ summation of his Orioles-related tidbits.
These rumors aren’t much to get worked up about. It makes sense for the Orioles to be “interested” in pretty much every top free agent. Every team should be. It doesn’t mean the Orioles are interested in paying any of those players what they’re asking for. It definitely doesn’t mean they should be considered the favorites or even serious contenders to sign most of them.
Of course, I’d be delighted if the O’s actually were heavily involved in the bidding for the aforementioned players. Valdez, the best starting pitcher on the market, would be a gigantic upgrade to the rotation, and likely so would Imai, even if there’s a bit more uncertainty in his profile as an untested MLBer.
And Schwarber? Well, that’s probably the least believable of all, but would arguably be the most exciting addition. Sure, he’s exclusively a DH at this point in his career, which would scuttle the Orioles’ plans to have Samuel Basallo and Adley Rutschman get at-bats at that spot when not catching, not to mention Coby Mayo and/or Ryan Mountcastle starting there when not playing first base. But I think I’d be OK with that, considering that Schwarber is many times the hitter that any of those guys are. He hit 56 home runs this year, people! He was the NL MVP runner-up to a once-in-a-lifetime player. The dude just mashes dingers and does it better than almost anyone else, and he’d transform the Orioles lineup. If that means you have to discard Mountcastle or trade Mayo or give Rutschman fewer at-bats, so be it. If you truly have a shot at signing Schwarber, you find a way to make room for him.
But like I said, the reports of the Orioles’ “interest” in Schwarber almost certainly mean nothing. Same with Valdez and Imai. I’m just going to keep assuming the O’s won’t sign any top-shelf free agent until proven otherwise.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! One blink-and-you-missed-him 2025 Oriole has a birthday today: Cooper Hummel turns 31. Hummel played a grand total of two innings for the Birds. Other former Orioles born on Nov. 28 are right-hander Yefry Ramírez (32) and Bethesda-born outfielder Jim Fuller (75).
On this date in 1973, O’s outfielder Al Bumbry was voted AL Rookie of the Year after posting an outstanding .337/.398/.500 line with a league-leading 11 triples in 110 games. “The Bee” beat out a crowded field in which six rookies received first-place votes, including his Orioles teammate, Rich Coggins.
