MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
If it’s two weeks before Christmas then baseball’s Winter Meetings are underway; and so they currently are in Dallas, having started not with a bang, but with a sonic boom with the New York Mets’ signing of free-agent outfielder (if you want to call him that) Juan Soto to a record 15-year, $756 million contract.
Naturally, the Mets and Mets fans are delighted, while the Yankees and Yankees fans, not so much, as they believed Soto would stay in pinstripes for good. And while the Yankees offered what would have been a record contract, they still came up $4 million per and a free luxury-suite short over a 16-year offer.
Soto is a true and beautiful hitter, which is good for the Mets, because he’s going to be a designated hitter for most of the 15 years, provided, of course, he doesn’t opt out after five.
As for the Yankees, sure, they were probably upset they couldn’t keep Soto, but not that terribly upset because they have already begun to put a lot of that money to more practical and better use by signing free-agent lefty Max Fried to a record 8-year, $218 million deal. More to come from those jaspers in the Bronx …
Meanwhile, the Baltimore Orioles were early newsmakers as well, paying a combined $58 million to outfielder Tyler O’Neill and catcher Gary Sanchez.
O’Neill’s deal is for three years, $49.5 million and Sanchez is for one year, $8.5 million, but both could be gone sooner than that, as O’Neill has an opt-out after the first year; so if he has a good year, he’ll likely opt out. As for Sanchez, don’t be surprised to see the well-traveled vet traded during the season if and when top prospect Samuel Basallo is ready
The Orioles, who failed to win a playoff game in 2023 or 2024, and whose win total went down last season still have work to do. They’re still in the running for free-agent ace Corbin Burnes, but with the signing of O’Neill have likely parted ways with free-agent right fielder Anthony Santander.
While allowing the immensely popular Santander to walk brings about great sorrow, it seemed clear the Orioles were not going to offer the 30-year-old outfielder the kind of multi-year deal he earned last season with 44 home runs. The real sorrow will likely come during the season when Santander is hitting against the Orioles while playing for the Boston Red Sox, the Toronto Blue Jays or the Yankees.
With Burnes now the top free agent on the board, the Orioles are going to need a front-line starter whether they can re-sign him or not (free-agent Nathan Eovaldi, who made perfect sense for the O’s, signed with the Texas Rangers late Tuesday). O’Neill, who has battled injuries throughout his career, and Sanchez add much-needed right-handed balance. For now.
One way or another, general manager Mike Elias must secure an impact arm to strengthen the top of a rotation that is solid in the middle and in the back, another reliever and another productive bat given the O’s hitting woes after the All-Star break.
Prospects Heston Kjerstad and Coby Mayo have gotten their first taste of the big leagues, and as manager Brandon Hyde said on Monday, it’s time for the young players to step up and take their ownership of this team. While Kjerstad is an outfielder and Mayo a third baseman, either one could step in at first if Ryan Mountcastle is traded … provided, of course, either one of them can hit at the big-league level.
The big question is how much is the still-new ownership willing to spend? How much is hometown billionaire David Rubenstein and his band of fellow billionaires willing to pay not only to supplement but to secure a relatively inexpensive homegrown core?
There are whispers that the club and catcher Adley Rutschman are close to a long-term extension. We’ll see.
The 75-year-old Rubenstein is on record saying he wants to “speed up the effort to get a World Series.” They traded for Burnes last year, and O’Neill’s three-year contract is the first multi-year free-agent deal the club has given in Elias’ tenure as general manager, so there has been a start.
Re-signing Burnes or replacing Burnes and Santander are going to be expensive, but the Orioles finally have pockets deep enough to do it.
The feeling is with the Rubenstein group ready, willing and able, the Orioles could sign someone to a significant multi-year contract if Elias wants them to. While the Orioles are not going to abandon Elias’ organizational framework that has been so successful, it’s going to take the big money to “speed up the effort;” for, while they are winning, winning is not only fleeting, it’s expensive.
Ask the 2018 Washington Nationals, who had six players – Soto, Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon, Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer – whose next long-term contracts would combine for over $2 billion.
Only the Strasburg contract was signed with the Nationals – shortly before his career-ending injuries.
But also shortly after he won them a World Series.
Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @MikeBurkeMDT