Between Christmas and New Years, the Orioles brought back one of their disappointing 2025 starting pitchers, Zach Eflin. Even so, a lot has turned over since last Opening Day and there's enough for someone to maybe feel optimistic about the group, even Mark, though he'll regret writing this later.

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Even if you were imagining the Orioles trading for a pitcher, it probably wasn't Shane Baz. Mike Elias surrendered four prospects, including two of his recent high draft picks, to bring in the one-time top pitching prospect who's never been both healthy and good in MLB. Mark tries to get his head around this surprise and what it means for the rotation.

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The Orioles signed a big-time free agent! Mark is still in disbelief about landing Pete Alonso, and still impressed about Alonso's introductory press conference. This episode is all Polar Bear, all the time, breaking down why he was an essential addition, what it probably means for the roster, and what it hopefully shows about Elias's commitment to adding to the rotation.

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The baseball world is gathered for the winter meetings over the next few days. Mark cautions everyone not to flip out over thin rumors before moving on into a preview of the state of affairs heading into the meetings. Plus, in the mailbag, some questions about the back of the starting rotation and whether the Orioles can address it with familiar faces.

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The Orioles capped a busy November with Mike Elias signing (pending a physical) Ryan Helsley to be the team's closer next year. The 2022-24 version of Helsley was exciting. Mark, being who he is, doesn't feel the unbridled optimism, but it could work out. He goes on to assess the rest of the bullpen.

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Big baseball deals don't usually happen in November, but Mike Elias showed that sometimes they can when he dropped in the surprise trade of Grayson Rodriguez for Angels outfielder Taylor Ward. Days later, Mark is still full of contradictory thoughts about the trade, which he tries to hammer into something like sense in this episode.

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If it was entirely up to Mark, the Orioles would get a big-ticket free agent (or trade) pitcher this offseason and a back-end guy as well. In this episode, he goes through some of the likely candidates for the #4 or #5 addition they also need to make. Also, in the mailbag, a question about the season ticket changes gets Mark ranting again.

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The Orioles shuffled a lot on the roster fringes, on the coaching staff, and in the front office since last time. Mark runs down all of the changes before looking to the essential goals of this coming offseason, particularly the need to get a top starting pitcher. In short, it's scary to have to count on this year's free agent crop to produce an ace.

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New Orioles manager Craig Albernaz is getting introduced today and Mark is feeling good about the vibes, though of course what ends up happening is what really matters. Can he and his new staff correct what went wrong this year? In the mailbag, a listener has his eyes on Twins starter Pablo López.

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NOTE FROM MARK: This episode was recorded prior to the breaking news of the Orioles choosing their next manager. We'll talk about it next time. Sorry!

The Orioles did not have any Gold Glove or Silver Slugger finalists in the 2025 season. That's not all because of the infield, but the group certainly didn't help, with Gunnar Henderson's power outage, Adley Rutschman's multiple injuries, Jackson Holliday's baserunning problems, and more. Mark runs through the grim details as he wraps the position review series.

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