Good morning, Camden Chatters, and Merry Christmas to all who celebrate.

For Orioles fans, it feels like Christmas has come early. For the first offseason in what feels like forever, the O’s have acted aggressively and decisively — and spent a boatload of money — to improve their team. Pete Alonso, of course, was the biggest gift of all, signing by far the largest free agent contract of the Mike Elias era. But the Orioles have doled out a bunch of other presents, too, from outfielder Taylor Ward to new closer Ryan Helsley to starting pitcher Shane Baz. They even brought back setup man Andrew Kittredge, who we’ll call more of a stocking stuffer.

Don’t expect to find any other presents under the tree from the Orioles today. Christmas Day is usually a quiet one for MLB transactions. Baseball executives have families too, you know.

But once the holiday season is over, the O’s figure to be right back at work trying to fill the remaining holes on their roster. If they’re going to make a play for Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai, they’ll need to do it soon; his posting period ends Jan. 2. If not Imai, maybe Elias will have another starting pitcher to gift to Orioles fans before winter is over.

’Tis the season to feel optimistic about the Orioles. Hopefully this feeling lasts through the spring and beyond.

The answer: better. Much better.

This is the second straight offseason the O’s have tried to address their problems against lefties. Let’s hope this year’s solutions turn out better than Tyler O’Neill and Gary Sánchez.

MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis has some encouraging words about O’s prospect Nate George (and some less-than-encouraging words about Enrique Bradfield Jr.).

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Four ex-Orioles were born on Christmas, including a 2025 Oriole, catcher Alex Jackson (30). Jackson was the sixth catcher the O’s used this year and turned out to be be one of the best, posting a .763 OPS and five homers in 36 games. The Orioles traded him to the Twins last month. Also born on this date were infielder Tom O’Malley (65) and the late right-handers Charlie Beamon (b. 1934, d. 2016) and Mike Blyzka (b. 1928, d. 2004).

The Orioles have never made a roster move on Christmas Day, because of course they haven’t. Enjoy your day, everyone!