Gunnar Henderson will be one of the highest-paid arbitration-eligible Orioles in his first year of the process.
Hello, friends.
There are now 77 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day. Much closer than that, WBC-participating pitchers and catchers will report to spring training in one month and one day. That’s both a lot of time and not very much time.
One thing that’s set on the baseball calendar today is the deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to either settle on their 2026 contracts or else file salary numbers for a possible arbitration hearing. All teams now employ a “file and trial” approach, which means they intend to go to a hearing if they get to the point of exchanging numbers. However, teams including the Orioles have frequently made exceptions to this rule any time they can negotiate a team contract option for the following season.
The Orioles have 11 players who are eligible for arbitration with unsettled contracts heading into this day. The eleven players are, in descending order based on estimated 2026 salary: Taylor Ward, Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle, Trevor Rogers, Dean Kremer, Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz, Tyler Wells, Keegan Akin, and Yennier Cano. For Ward, Mountcastle, Rogers, and Akin, this is the final year of arbitration before hitting free agency.
Other than this, the only Orioles news to relay is some shuffling at the fringes of the 40-man roster. The team announced yesterday that they have claimed infielder Marco Luciano, a onetime top 10-20 prospect in the game, off of waivers from the Pirates. Luciano, 24, flopped after debuting young with the Giants and has batted just .217/.286/.304 across parts of two seasons. He did not appear at the MLB level in 2025 and has been on waivers twice in the last month. The Orioles may not keep Luciano for long, but you can at least imagine a roster spot for a utility infielder, a role he might be able to play.
In turn, the Orioles designated Jhonkensy Noel for assignment. Noel himself arrived on waivers earlier this week. The Orioles were not interested in doing much with him, which wasn’t terribly surprising to discover, since he’s out of options and didn’t have any clear path to the roster. Noel will go through waivers again before his DFA limbo ends. Maybe he’ll go unclaimed, since the six teams with worse 2025 records than the Orioles already passed on him once this week.
Elsewhere in baseball, there was movement in the starting pitching trade market. The Marlins traded pitcher Edward Cabrera, thought to be an Orioles target by some commentators earlier in the offseason, to the Cubs. Chicago sent three prospects back to Miami: Outfielder Owen Caissie, and infielders Cristian Hernandez and Edgardo De Leon.
Is there any impact for the Orioles here? Maybe, if the Cubs will now be out on the free agents who remain. If that’s the case, that leaves one fewer team to bid against for their services. If the Cubs weren’t actually looking to sign one of those guys, then it probably doesn’t make much of a difference.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
Orioles co-owner Michael Arougheti says he’s ‘all in’ on Baltimore, other takeaways from panel with top team officials (The Baltimore Banner)
Several people said a variety of things in a room full of wealthy people.
Kyle Bradish made a strong return last year, but what about the innings? (Steve on Baseball)
Steve Melewski checks in with a reminder to not get too aggressive in projecting Kyle Bradish for a full season worth of innings, since he’s not had a full season to pitch since 2023.
Orioles roster projection: How many more pitchers are needed? (The Baltimore Sun)
The seeming need at the top of the rotation gets a lot of attention, but I also think that getting one more reliever who can credibly cover a setup role would be ideal.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Nothing of particular note has happened with the Orioles on January 8. Maybe today will be the day that changes.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2018 infielder Breyvic Valera, 1993 infielder Paul Carey, 1991 one-gamer Shane Turner, 1958-60 outfielder Willie Tasby, and 1958-61 outfielder Jim Busby.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: poet Ivan Gundulić (1589), author Wilkie Collins (1824), comedian Soupy Sales (1926), musician Elvis Presley (1935), physicist Stephen Hawking (1942), singer-songwriter David Bowie (1947), and baseball Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter (1953).
On this day in history…
In 871, a Wessex army led by its king Aethelred defeated Danish Vikings invading from East Anglia in the Battle of Ashdown. No one is sure today where Ashdown is. Aethelred’s younger brother Alfred eventually unified the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
In 1790, President George Washington delivered the first State of the Union address in front of Congress, then located in New York City.
In 1815, future president Andrew Jackson led an American garrison to victory in the Battle of New Orleans. The battle took place two weeks after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war, but word had not yet reached from Ghent to New Orleans.
In 1975, Ms. Ella T. Grasso was sworn in as governor of Connecticut. She was the first woman to serve as governor of a state without having succeeded her husband.
A random Orioles trivia question
I received a random book of Orioles trivia for Christmas. I’ll ask a question in this space each time I do Bird Droppings until I forget. Here’s today’s question:
Who threw the first no-hitter in Orioles history?
The little book has multiple choice answers, but that would be too easy for people like us. Last time, I asked about the 2005 home run leader, which was Melvin Mora, with 27.
**
And that’s the way it is in Birdland on January 8. Have a safe Thursday.
Category: General Sports
