Good morning, Camden Chatters.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s salary arbitration season, everyone. Try to contain your excitement. Yesterday the Orioles agreed to terms on 2026 salaries for nine of their 11 arbitration-eligible players. The pay bumps for the players ranged from the modest (Tyler Wells\u2019s $375,000 raise) to the dramatic (a nearly $8 million raise for Gunnar Henderson). For the full details, check out Mark Brown\u2019s roundup of the 2026 contract settlements<\/a>.<\/p>\n All of the agreements are straight one-year deals, with the exception of Ryan Mountcastle, who agreed to a one-year deal with a 2027 team option. Mountcastle was slated to be eligible for free agency after this season. It\u2019s curious that the O\u2019s gave an option to Mountcastle of all people, considering he doesn\u2019t seem to be a particularly good fit on the Orioles\u2019 roster right now. But, as Mark wrote, perhaps the 2027 option could make Mountcastle a slightly more intriguing trade chip. If another team is convinced they can rejuvenate his career, they might like having the opportunity to lock him in for 2027 if he has a strong 2026 campaign.<\/p>\n Only two players, Keegan Akin and Kyle Bradish, didn\u2019t reach an agreement with the Orioles yesterday. That could mean the O\u2019s intend to go to arbitration hearings with each of them. The Birds are just $400,000 short on Akin\u2019s requested salary (Akin filed at $3.375 million, the O\u2019s at $2.975 million) and are about $700,000 apart with Bradish (who filed at $3.55 million to the Orioles\u2019 $2.875). With that fiddly amount of money, I feel like it wouldn\u2019t break the bank for the O\u2019s to reach an agreement with the duo, but I\u2019m not an accountant.<\/p>\n With the arbitration business (mostly) taken care of, the Orioles have a bit more clarity on their 2026 payroll as they continue to pursue some roster additions. Do the Birds have one more big-money contract left in them this offseason for the likes of Framber Valdez or Ranger Su\u00e1rez? We can only continue to wait and see.<\/p>\n Will the 2026 Orioles be good enough defensively? – BaltimoreBaseball.com<\/a><\/p>\n I swear I didn\u2019t see this post before I shared my own worries about the Orioles\u2019 defense<\/a> yesterday. Steve Cockey is similarly unimpressed about the Birds\u2019 defensive capabilities.<\/p>\n Kyle Bradish made a strong return last year, but what about the innings? – Steve Melewski<\/a><\/p>\n Bradish may well be on an innings count this year after his abbreviated 2025 stint. All the more reason to sign Valdez or Su\u00e1rez, I\u2019d say.<\/p>\n Top-200 Hitters 2026 Fantasy Rankings – FanGraphs<\/a><\/p>\n I don\u2019t care about fantasy baseball, but since this article uses a Gunnar Henderson photo, it caught my attention. Gunnar is listed as one of the 13 \u201cFive-Category Studs\u201d who have \u201cno flaws in their game.\u201d Not too shabby!<\/p>\n