3 of 6 largest contracts in O's history have been signed since August

BALTIMORE -- Well, Baltimore, look what happened again -- more money has been spent by the Orioles, who signed right-hander Shane Baz to a five-year, $68 million extension on Friday.

The ownership team -- a group that president of baseball operations Mike Elias touted as “well equipped” and robust with “support and resources” for the better part of two years -- keeps proving its commitment to the future. This is exactly what was expected after private equity billionaire David Rubenstein purchased the club in March 2024. At this point, the ink on a contract is barely dry before another deal is being signed.

It didn’t happen immediately. The O’s took some larger swings in the first year-plus under Rubenstein’s ownership and were unsuccessful. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, and Elias continued to say the funds were there to make bigger signings.

Want to know what’s most impressive? Three of the six largest contracts in the history of the Orioles -- a franchise that came here in 1954 -- have been signed in the past 217 days.

The list looks quite different than it did early last summer:

1. Chris Davis: Seven years, $216 million in January 2016
2. Pete Alonso: Five years, $155 million in December 2025
3. Adam Jones: Six years, $85.5 million in May 2012
4. Miguel Tejada: Six years, $72 million in December 2003
5. Shane Baz: Five years, $68 million in March 2026
6. Samuel Basallo: Eight years, $67 million in August 2025

Each of the three most recent deals among those has been significant in its own way.

Basallo’s eight-year extension was signed nine days after his 21st birthday and five days after his MLB debut. It’s the longest deal that has been handed out by the O’s, who got their top prospect (MLB Pipeline’s No. 8 overall) under contract long term before his play could potentially elevate his cost.

The impact of the Alonso deal is obvious. Look no further than the standing ovation he received prior to his first at-bat during Opening Day on Thursday. The Polar Bear is the superstar leader the Orioles had been missing, and Baltimore is quickly embracing him with open arms.

Baz’s agreement is interesting because the 26-year-old right-hander hasn’t even appeared in a regular-season game for the O’s yet. He came over in a trade with the Rays on Dec. 19, had a strong showing in Spring Training and has a huge ceiling.

“Shane Baz's upside is a Cy Young Award winner,” manager Craig Albernaz said at the beginning of spring.

Oh, right, there’s also that -- Baz is a pitcher. In fact, he just became the highest-paid pitcher in Orioles history. And he’s a starting pitcher, a position the Orioles have struggled to solidify for much of this century, essentially since Mike Mussina’s 10-year tenure with the team ended when he signed with the Yankees after the 2000 season.

Previous regimes in Baltimore couldn’t develop pitching, despite plenty of attempts. Top starting prospects never quite panned out. Some never reached the Majors (Matt Hobgood). Some didn’t have success until moving to the bullpen (Zack Britton, Brian Matusz). Others fared better after leaving the organization (Jake Arrieta, Dylan Bundy, Kevin Gausman).

More recently, the O’s have ended up trading former top pitching prospects. DL Hall went to the Brewers as part of the return for Corbin Burnes (Baltimore’s one-year ace in 2024, who then signed with Arizona). Grayson Rodriguez couldn’t stay healthy and was then traded to the Angels for outfielder Taylor Ward on Nov. 19.

Now, the Orioles have one of their stronger, deeper rotations in recent memory. And Baz -- the first starting pitcher to sign a multi-year deal with the team that buys out at least one year of free agency since Elias took over the baseball operations department in November 2018 -- isn't the only extension candidate on the staff.

Trevor Rogers has become one of the best starters in the American League over the past year. The 28-year-old left-hander, who tossed seven scoreless innings on Opening Day, is in the final year of his contract.

Kyle Bradish has been one of the AL’s top starters since 2023, when healthy (as he is now). The 29-year-old righty recorded a 2.78 ERA in 44 starts over the past three seasons. He has two more years of arbitration.

Pitching prospects such as Luis De León (O’s No. 4 per MLB Pipeline), Trey Gibson (No. 5) and Nestor German (No. 12) aren’t too far from the big leagues. If they quickly have success upon reaching the Majors, perhaps Baltimore will want to lock up one (or multiple) of them long term.

Those types of deals are now feasible. Those types of thoughts are now logical.

The Orioles just keep on spending, and they may not stop anytime soon.