The Baltimore Orioles are not taking last year's brutal season lightly. The Orioles are continuing to make moves so that they can get back to the form they had in the 2023 and '24 seasons when they were participants in the American League playoffs. The Orioles made headlines at the Winter meetings when they signed free agent slugger Pete Alonso away from the Mets to anchor the middle of their lineup.

They followed up that move by trading for right-handed pitcher Shane Baz from the Tampa Bay Rays. The Orioles sent outfielder Slater de Brun and catcher Caden Bodine — a pair of 2025 first-round selections — to the Rays. They also sent right-handed pitching prospct Michael Forret and outfielder Austin Overn in the deal along with a “Round A” draft selection.

The 26-year-old Baz established himself last year as he compiled a 10-12 records with a 4.87 earned run average while making 31 starts and pitching 166.1 innings. He struck out 176 batters and demonstrated solid command in a majority of his starts.

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Major league insider Ken Rosenthal believes the Orioles are not done making moves in the offseason. He believes the Orioles remain in the market for solid pitching and he believes the moves they have already made will give them a much better chance of competing in 2026.

Orioles have also supplemented with Taylor Ward

In addition to strengthening the lineup with Alonso's power bat, the Orioles also picked up Taylor Ward from the Los Angeles Angels. Ward is an underrated player who is coming off an extremely productive season. He bashed 36 home runs and drove in 103 runs while playing outfield for the Angels. He appeared in 157 games a season after posting in 156 games.

The Orioles should be quite a bit better on offense this year with the addition of those two bats, and picking up at least one more pitcher could make them quite a bit improved on the mound.