While much of the Orioles lineup is going to remained unchanged going into 2026, Mike Elias has been clear about two areas he is seeking improvement: outfield depth and right-handed hitting. Harrison Bader would tick both of those boxes, although he comes with plenty of risk.

Bader had to settle for a one-year deal (with a mutual option) last offseason to join the Twins. After hitting .258/.339/.439 with 12 home runs and 13 doubles in Minnesota, he was one of the many players they dealt at the deadline. He joined the Phillies, an organization that fit him like a glove, and was even better. Over the final two months of the season he slashed .305/.361/.463 with five home runs and 11 doubles.

The 31-year-old grades out well on defense too. A Gold Glove winner in 2021, he spent time at all three outfield positions in 2025, but most of his innings came in center field. Across the entire season he was worth seven outs above average, including four outs above average in center. His game includes well above average arm strength and sprint speed that puts him in the top 15 percent of MLB.

Bader spent significant time in left field last year as well, a first in his career. Things went well there too. He was worth three outs above average in that role for the Twins. So if the Orioles would want to flip him and Colton Cowser on occasion, that would be a viable option.

A less quantitative contribution that Bader could make to the Orioles is a varied background that has seen him spend time with the Cardinals, Yankees, Reds, and Mets in addition to the Twins and Phillies last year. The guy has been in a lot of clubhouses, and he has played in the postseason six different times. At the very least, he shouldn’t have any trouble adapting to new environments and understands what winning looks and feels like. That feels valuable for a club that has been experiencing some growing pains in recent years.

Now, let’s talk about why there could be some trepidation about signing Bader.

You can’t exactly count on him to repeat his 2025 production. His 117 OPS+ last season was the highest of his career. In the prior three seasons his OPS+ was 86, 69, and 85. His glove has enabled him to maintain a positive WAR year to year, but the bat is less reliable.

There was also a bit of good luck in Bader’s 2025. While he posted a .277 batting average, his expected bating average was only .223. It’s a similar gap between his .449 slugging and .364 expected slugging, and his .346 wOBA and .295 xwOBA. Much of this is generated from his .359 BABIP in 2025, well above his .300 career BABIP. It’s unlikely he gets a similar bump moving forward.

If you’re looking for a lefty killer, that isn’t exactly Bader’s game, or at least it hasn’t been recently. Last season he OPS’ed .845 against righties, but only .689 against southpaws. He OPS’d .681 against right-handed pitching in 2024, .612 versus lefties. Over his entire career he is OPS’ing .760 against lefties, but that has been trending down.

On top of that, there have been some injury concerns for Bader throughout his career. He has managed to stay healthy in each of the last two seasons, but from 2020 through 2023, he never played in more than 103 major league games in a season.

This is not to say that the Orioles shouldn’t consider Bader at all. He still answers a lot of questions for them. It could just be a matter of price.

The good news is that Bader does not come with a qualifying offer attached. As someone traded in-season, he was ineligible for the QO. So, he only costs whatever the contract ends up being.

It seems like that cost is going to be relatively modest. MLB Trade Rumors pegs his potential contract at two years, $26 million. FanGraphs has him right in the same ballpark, receiving a two-year deal worth $24-30 million.

That is a cost that the Orioles can easily absorb in the outfield if they want to. Colton Cowser and Dylan Beavers are pre-arbitration. Leody Tavares is only going to make $2 million in 2025. Tyler O’Neill will rake in $16.5 million per year through 2027. So, it’s not unreasonable to sign a defensive whiz with offensive upside to lock down one of your outfield spots day to day.

Elias has made it clear that the Orioles are prepared to spend this winter.https://www.mlb.com/news/orioles-buyers-2025-26-offseason.

“We’re trying to win, and this ownership group is willing to dip into the red considerably in order to do that,” Elias said. “It doesn’t mean we want to do it in a propagate way that haunts us. But in the short term, we recognize we’ve got a core that could use some supplementation and that wants to win and bounce back from what happened last year.”

The signing of Bader does not feel like the most optimal used of ~$13 million per year, but it does answer one of the Orioles more glaring questions this winter in terms of outfield depth, and he comes with an intriguing background that could help a young team mature.

Maybe he isn’t “Plan A” for the Orioles in center field, but Bader is a viable backup if a bigger swing doesn’t pan out. That will be fine if the rest of the lineup bounces back and Elias is able to fill in the rotation and bullpen adequately.