Tony Mansolino just made Orioles' next extension choice painfully obvious

While the Baltimore Orioles have done a good job bringing in young offensive talent into the organization, what fans haven't seen is the team lock up any of that talent or building a sustainable pitching staff. Cade Povich and Grayson Rodriguez are both pre-arbitration players, but both come with long-term questions. Kyle Bradish's rehab is going well so far, and he is under team control through 2028, but we still don't know how he will bounce back under a regular workload. However, Orioles manager Tony Mansolino may have given a hint as to what the organization should do next with his comments about Trevor Rogers.

At the time, the trade for Rogers at last year's deadline was maligned before starting to shift more in Baltimore's favor these days. After his first four starts with the Orioles in 2024 left a lot to be desired and ended with him being optioned to the minors, Rogers' return in late May has gone better than anyone could have hoped, with a minuscule 1.41 ERA in 12 starts this season.

With Rogers performing so well, Mansolino's comments after his latest gem against the Red Sox in describing Rogers' return when he said, "Nobody knew this was going to come. What he’s doing right now is ace-type” carry a lot of weight. It may be a signal that Rogers needs to be locked up on an extension before he gets too expensive.

With his crazy run in 2025, the Orioles have to try and lock up Trevor Rogers

Calls for the Orioles to lock up their talent, including Rogers, are not new. Mike Elias has expressed a willingness to talk about long-term deals for guys like Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday in the past, although the presence of Scott Boras in those talks certainly complicates things on that front. The Boras hurdle does not exist with Rogers (he is represented by PSI Sports), and that could present an opportunity.

As good as Rogers has been, the amount of leverage he has to hold out for big money isn't particularly high at the moment. He only managed one good season during his time with the Marlins, and he dealt with multiple injuries later in his career. Rogers certainly deserves to get paid well, but his track record currently shouldn't price him outside of the Orioles' comfort zone.

That could change, however. If Rogers finishes the 2025 season strong and pitches well again next season when he is about to hit free agency, all bets are off. He would almost instantly become one of the more exciting pending free agents, and the odds he would pass up a generational payday would plummet to near zero, and he would hang the Orioles out to dry.

With as many issues as Baltimore has had in their rotation, it is time to try something different and take a bit of a risk. In this case, it means making a real bet on Rogers. As much as the team gave up to trade for him, locking Rogers up on an extension is the next logical step now that it has apparently worked out.

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