The Baltimore Orioles have landed the big bat they’ve lacked in recent years, in the form of Pete Alonso, who is third in MLB in homers since his rookie season in 2019.
The O’s are committing $155 million over five years for the 31-year-old first baseman, who slashed .272/.347/.524 with 38 homers and 126 RBIs with the New York Mets in 2025.
Over his seven-year career, Alonso has averaged 42 homers and 114 RBIs, with a career slash line of .253/.341/.516.
Baltimore didn’t have a 20-homer guy in 2025, after letting Anthony Santander (44 homers in 2024) walk (Santander signed with Toronto, where he only had six homers in 2025), and seeing Gunnar Henderson, who had 28 homers in 2023 and 37 in 2024, endure a season-long power outage (just 17 homers in 2025).
The addition of Alonso would seem to make first baseman Coby Mayo (.217/.299/.388, 11 HR, 28 RBI in 85 games in 2025), DH Ryan Mountcastle (.250/.286/.367, 7 HR, 35 RBI in 89 games in 2025) and corner outfield prospect Dylan Beavers (.304/.420/.515, 18 HR, 51 RBI in 94 games at Triple-A Norfolk in 2025) expendable.
GM Mike Elias is reportedly looking to package some combination of those three in an effort to land a top-line starting pitcher, with word from the Winter Meetings being that Elias has been in talks with the Washington Nationals front office about left-hander MacKenzie Gore (5-15, 4.17 ERA/1.35 WHIP, 10.4K/9 in 2025).
Don’t be fooled by the standard counting numbers – his Fielding Independent Pitching (3.74) and Wins Above Replacement (2.9) ranked in the Top 25 among starters in 2025.
So much that, if I’m Paul Toboni, the president of baseball operations with the Nats, I’m not moving him – but Toboni seems set on tearing down a lot of what he inherited from Mike Rizzo and starting over, with word getting out that he is actively shopping not only Gore but also shortstop CJ Abrams (.257/.315/.433, 19 HR, 60 RBI, 31 SB in 2025), who has been good for 3.4 WAR per year over the past three years.
The Nationals, it feels, are about to become the Pittsburgh Pirates, forever in rebuild.
The O’s, with billionaire private-equity supervillain David Rubenstein needing a place to spend his money, on the flip side, seem to be on the verge of being one of the bigger spenders in MLB.
Video: Chris Graham on the O’s
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