Ken Rosenthal's words spark hope (and concern) for Orioles’ future

There’s not denying this year is a failure for the Baltimore Orioles. Even if it’s given them the time to evaluate some of the team’s young players along with providing the opportunity for some unheralded players the chance to have a breakout season, this year is going to end without postseason baseball being played at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. That may not have been the standard in years prior, but that’s the standard now, and anything short of that is a wasted season. 

But that doesn’t mean all hope is lost. The Orioles still have most of the core that helped lead them to postseason in back-to-back seasons, and they still have a plethora of young talent with plenty of team control. 

According to a new article from MLB insider Ken Rosenthal, those positives also come with some negatives. 

Ken Rosenthal seems to think that the Orioles could make a real run in 2026

In a new story for The Athletic (subscription required), Rosenthal highlighted four teams with losing records that could end up being postseason teams next year: The Diamondbacks, Orioles, Athletics and Pirates. 

Rosenthal’s story painted an interesting picture of how the Orioles season went (he highlighted the rotation’s 5.60 ERA through their first 55 games), while also providing an interesting insight into how next year could go. 

While the Orioles have the young talent that was mentioned above, a lot of that talent has regressed. Gunnar Henderson's OPS is down 100 points compared to last year. Adley Rutschman hit the injured list for the first time in his career. Felix Bautista suffered another season-ending pitching injury. 

But Rosenthal also thinks there could be good news on the horizon in the form of reinforcements and additions to the major league roster. 

“Elias did not trade any of the core young players when their values were higher, so he likely won’t be inclined to move any of them now. His more probable path will be to trade prospects for major-league help. He acquired 15 at the deadline, six of whom entered the team’s top 30, according to MLBPipeline,” Rosenthal wrote.

The biggest decision the Orioles have to make this offseason is about the future at catcher. Rutschman was the team’s franchise catcher (and honestly still is), but he has Samuel Basallo breathing down his neck, which is why it seems like we're bound to see his name floated in trade rumors in the offseason. 

Couple that with their need for a frontline ace and additional bullpen reinforcements because of Bautista’s injury, and it looks like there’s a good chance Baltimore’s roster looks a lot different next season. 

But that may not be a bad thing. Henderson should be better next year, as will Colton Cowser and Jordan Westburg, two other budding stars who had their seasons impacted by injury. And even if Jackson Holliday hasn’t taken the same kind of second year leap like Henderson did, he’s still on pace for a 20-20 season at just 21-years-old. 

There’s a lot that can happen across a 162-game major league season, but the Orioles seem to have a good foundation in place for next year that can help make the 2025 season seem like a bad dream. 

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