{"id":458936,"date":"2025-12-03T14:41:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T14:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/458936\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T14:41:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T14:41:11","slug":"are-the-orioles-up-for-a-ryan-ohearn-reunion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/458936\/","title":{"rendered":"Are the Orioles up for a Ryan O\u2019Hearn reunion?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On his last night as an Oriole, about ten players pulled up chairs<\/a> around Ryan O\u2019Hearn\u2019s locker at Camden Yards. They all knew what was coming: the trade deadline was hours away, and their teammate was about to be dealt. So they sat, talked shop, and said their goodbyes to a player who\u2019d become a leader in the clubhouse. It was a fitting sendoff for the onetime Kansas City castoff who\u2019d resurrected his career in Baltimore, becoming not just an All-Star but a clubhouse pillar.<\/p>\n

Now, as the Orioles head into the winter with two right-handed hitters penciled in at first base\/DH in Ryan Mountcastle and Coby Mayo, neither of too-reliable output, a proven left-hitting first baseman who can consistently hit right-handed pitching wouldn\u2019t be such a bad thing.<\/p>\n

And with Ryan O\u2019Hearn hitting free agency this winter after his best offensive season yet\u2014a .281\/.366\/.437 slash line with 17 home runs and 63 RBIs between Baltimore and San Diego\u2014the Orioles should strongly consider bringing \u201cBrohearn\u201d back home.<\/p>\n

The Orioles\u2019 first base\/DH situation heading into 2026 is complicated. The front office, somewhat surprisingly, tendered a contract to Mountcastle despite his injury-plagued 2025 season (a .250 BA\/.653 OPS in just 89 games). Mayo showed improvement in the second half after O\u2019Hearn\u2019s trade, but he\u2019s still striking out at gaudy rates and hit just .199 against right-handed pitching. Also in the mix is Samuel Basallo, the 20-year-old lefty slugger who is taking turns at catcher, first base, and DH after signing a shocking (well, for this team, which doesn\u2019t often do long-term extensions) eight-year, $67 million deal in August.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Hearn has several positives to his name here. He hits righties well\u2014to the tune of .294\/.384\/.490 this season, production that ranked among the best in baseball\u2014which would make him a good complement to Mountcastle or Mayo.<\/p>\n

His peripheral data is good (and has been ever since he signed with Baltimore, which famously revamped his offensive approach<\/a>). Last season, O\u2019Hearn put the ball in play with authority, ranking in the top 15% of all hitters in sweet-spot<\/a> contact off the bat. Compared to his swing-happy days in Kansas City, his approach at the plate is much better, too. As an Oriole, O\u2019Hearn cut his strikeout rates in half (from 28% in 2021 with KC to 14% in 2024), and doubled his walk rate (from 5.1% in 2021 to 10.7% in 2025).<\/p>\n

O\u2019Hearn would also bring consistency and experience to a position where the O\u2019s are somewhat lacking in it. That\u2019s something the 20-year-old Basallo, however promising, can\u2019t guarantee. In fact, the Orioles roster as a whole is looking pretty short on veteran presence ever since Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander, and O\u2019Hearn himself were shipped off and pitchers like Kyle Gibson and Charlie Morton hung up their cleats.<\/p>\n

And signing O\u2019Hearn doesn\u2019t block anyone\u2019s development. Mayo can continue getting at-bats against left-handed pitching while learning from a veteran who\u2019s been through the grind. If the Orioles decide to trade Mountcastle (as many expect), O\u2019Hearn provides the immediate stability the roster needs. And if Basallo\u2019s bat forces him into more playing time, having O\u2019Hearn\u2019s flexible defensive profile (he\u2019s not a great outfielder, but he can play the corners) helps maximize lineup options.<\/p>\n

Finally, there\u2019s something to be said for organizational familiarity. O\u2019Hearn has spoken<\/a> openly about how the Orioles believed in him when no one else did, how getting everyday at-bats for the first time in his career allowed him to refine his approach, and how comfortable he became in the organization. That goes beyond his on-field performance. When he was traded, interim manager Tony Mansolino<\/a> didn\u2019t mince words about what the team was losing. \u201c[W]e loved the man. He helped this team get into the playoffs and was a leader in the clubhouse, a guy so loved and well-liked among the Americans, the Latins, the old guys, the young guys.\u201d Cedric Mullins called O\u2019Hearn<\/a> \u201ca big voice in the clubhouse\u201d and added, \u201cYeah, he\u2019s going to be missed, 100 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n

OK, that\u2019s the statistical and sentimental case for O\u2019Hearn. But we know that this front office isn\u2019t particularly sentimental. The financial case for O\u2019Hearn is that, despite his All-Star performance in 2025, it looks like the 32-year-old slugger isn\u2019t likely to command a massive contract, with projections<\/a> suggesting<\/a> he\u2019ll land somewhere in the two-to-three-year range at around $12 million annually.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a reasonable sum for a player who provides quality at-bats, plus-plus discipline, and the versatility to play first base, DH, and corner outfield positions. And compared to Ryan Mountcastle, who\u2019s projected to earn $7.8 million in arbitration but missed significant time with injuries, the difference isn\u2019t that great\u2014and O\u2019Hearn has actually proven he can produce at an elite level in this exact role.<\/p>\n

Ryan O\u2019Hearn\u2019s story is one of baseball\u2019s most satisfying redemption arcs. After years of struggling to stick with Kansas City, he was traded to Baltimore for cash considerations, designated for assignment within days, and had to work his way back through Triple-A Norfolk. Instead of fading away, he became one of the American League\u2019s toughest outs. That story deserves to continue in Baltimore. The fit is obvious, the price is reasonable, and the track record speaks for itself. Bring back Brohearn!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On his last night as an Oriole, about ten players pulled up chairs around Ryan O\u2019Hearn\u2019s locker at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2374],"tags":[143,47,38868,2538,5,4,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-458936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baltimore-orioles","8":"tag-baltimore","9":"tag-baltimore-orioles","10":"tag-baltimore-orioles-commentary-analysis","11":"tag-baltimoreorioles","12":"tag-baseball","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-orioles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115656162843089140","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}