O's tender contract to Mountcastle ahead of deadline

BALTIMORE -- For months (and particularly the past few weeks), the speculation grew surrounding Ryan Mountcastle’s future in Baltimore -- whether he’d have one or whether the Orioles’ longest-tenured player would be the odd man out in a logjam at first base.

After Friday’s 5 p.m. ET non-tender deadline passed, Mountcastle remained on the O’s roster, as the 28-year-old could be returning for the 2026 season.

Baltimore tendered contracts to 10 of its arbitration-eligible players ahead of the deadline. That included Mountcastle, who is entering his final year of arbitration eligibility and has spent his entire six-year MLB career with the Orioles after being drafted by the team in 2015.

However, the O’s non-tendered right-hander Albert Suárez -- making the 36-year-old right-hander a free agent -- and traded catcher Alex Jackson to the Twins in exchange for Minor League infielder Payton Eeles.

The Orioles also agreed to terms with right-hander Félix Bautista to avoid arbitration. The 30-year-old will make $2.25 million in 2026, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.

The latest flurry of activity came only three days after the O’s made a stunning trade, sending right-hander Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels in exchange for outfielder Taylor Ward late Tuesday night.

President of baseball operations Mike Elias held a Zoom call with the media on Friday evening to dive into all of the front office’s recent decision-making.

Why was Mountcastle tendered?

Elias remains confident in Mountcastle despite the dip in power production and injury troubles over the past few years. His home run totals have gone down every year since his 33-homer rookie campaign in 2021, and he’s been limited to 328 games over the past three seasons, including only 89 in ‘25 (when he hit .250 with seven homers and a .653 OPS).

“Ryan still showed flashes of his ability,” Elias said. “We think he’s a great hitter and that’s why we tendered him and we’re bringing him back, and he’s a big part of our picture right now.”

But how will Mountcastle get playing time in this complicated picture?

Mountcastle and Coby Mayo are both right-handed hitting first basemen, while lefty-hitting Samuel Basallo is set to get some time at first. Basallo will also get starts at designated hitter and is the No. 2 catcher to Adley Rutschman, who will often be at DH when Basallo is behind the plate.

Ward will play a lot of left field. But Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Beavers and Heston Kjerstad are all in the corner-outfield/DH mix as well, with Colton Cowser likely to play mostly center.

The roster may get tighter, too, because Baltimore is still open to carrying a third catcher after trading Jackson, as Rutschman and Basallo could be in the same lineup quite frequently.

“We’ll figure it out, and it’s a good problem to have,” Elias said. “As we lived through last year [with injuries], you have to worry about depth, too. So this is something that will sort itself out. I think the main thing is we don’t want to discard a good hitter if we don’t have to and we want to keep our talent, and these guys are all really promising bats.”

Does the acquisition of Ward complete the search for impact bats?

The short answer: No. Elias said the Orioles may target even more offense.

“We very well might. And that’s something that we’re working on,” Elias said. “I can’t guarantee that that’s going to happen. But we are definitely still pursuing upgrades to the lineup.”

Why was Rodriguez traded?

Elias acknowledged the major difference in contract status between Ward (entering his final year) and Rodriguez (who has four years of team control). Elias also noted the frustration from all sides that Rodriguez’s time in Baltimore was marred by injuries and didn’t go as anybody had hoped.

But the O’s saw an opportunity to acquire a power-hitting right-handed outfielder (an archetype sparse in this free-agent market) and Elias felt it was a good move to make, even if that meant parting with Rodriguez.

“We look at this stuff, we talk about it, we look at the market, we look at our needs, we look at our strategic priorities, and we look at our talent evaluation,” Elias said. “This is one that I felt -- and a lot of us felt and we felt -- was going to benefit the organization.”

The need for starting pitching has to be even more pressing following the departures of Rodriguez and Suárez, right?

Correct. The Orioles planned on being aggressive in the pitching market, with their sights on at least one frontline starter and additional depth. That continues to be the case.

“I've been pretty clear and direct. We're trying to find -- whether it's top or front or top half of the rotation, all of those buckets,” Elias said. “We're trying, and there are guys out there and we are in pursuit of every one of them.”