Orioles free agents who could end up in rival territory
Baltimore's upcoming free agent class does not include any true heavyweights, but there are a few useful players whose departure would sting — especially if they wind up as an opponent close to home.
RHP Tomoyuki Sugano
The Tomoyuki Sugano signing probably didn't pan out as well as Baltimore hoped, but he has been a solid back-end rotation cog for a team that needed much more from his $13 million contract slot. Sugano has 29 starts and 152.2 innings under his belt with a 4.54 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. His 0.3 fWAR slots him just above replacement level among starting pitchers.
Sugano won't pile up strikeouts, but he can pitch to contact and eat innings, with a varied pitch arsenal at his disposal. He also plans to pitch in 2026, although it's probably not with the Orioles for... reasons. Sugano is a 35-year-old rookie. He's on an accelerated competitive timeline in MLB and he won't want to stick around a losing situation unless there's a hearty contract on the table.
Baltimore would probably regret letting Sugano walk to a nearby rival like New York or Boston, which feels distinctly plausible, as his ceiling is higher than his numbers suggest. Sugano was putting up ace-like numbers for a solid stretch before the All-Star break.
RHP Zach Eflin
Injuries cut Zach Eflin's season in half and put his production in the gutter. He will finish the campaign with 14 starts and 71.1 innings, yielding a 5.93 ERA and 1.42 WHIP. It was ugly, but knowing Eflin's solid track record and immense talent at 31 years old, one has to imagine he'll still get a decent payday in free agency. We can expect a return to form on some level.
Of all the Orioles free agents, Eflin should be priority No. 1 to re-sign. Baltimore can't afford to lose many more bullets on the mound. That said, Elias is allergic to long-term contracts and Eflin's price might peak above Baltimore's comfort level given his abysmal output in 2025. So there's a better than even chance that he ends up in a new home. The ex-Rays ace has spent the last three years in the AL East, so him ending up somewhere in direct opposition to Baltimore's competitive goals is not difficult to imagine.
C Gary Sánchez
Injuries limited Gary Sánchez to 101 plate appearances this season. Barring a pointless late-season return to the lineup, he will finish with a .231 average and .715 OPS with a 99 wRC+. That puts him right around the league average offensively. It's hard to find league-average bats at catcher, so Sánchez will garner interest in free agency, even if he's a borderline disastrous defender behind home plate.
Baltimore doesn't really need to keep Sánchez around with Samuel Basallo on the come-up, but trade rumors keep circulating around the O's catchers (more on that in a second), so a strength can become a weakness in short order. Sánchez his historically very inconsistent, but he's enough of a slugging threat to catch on with a different contender and contribute with better health. Such an outcome may leave the Orioles wondering what could have been.