Gibson was learning to love life at home until Orioles’ offer came along

SARASOTA—Kyle Gibson was happy at home in Missouri, spending time with his wife, Elizabeth, and four young children. He’d pitched last season for the St. Louis Cardinals and hoped that they’d pick up his 2025 option. They didn’t, and for the third consecutive year, he was a free agent.

He watched the free-agent market heat up, and after every starting pitcher signed, he hoped he’d get another chance.

“I’ve got to be next,” he’d joke with his agent. “It was all jokes because I was pretty content with where I was. I knew that if the right opportunity came up, I’d have a decision to take it or not. If opportunities didn’t come up, and you told me I had to stay home with my kids and wife, ‘OK, that wasn’t going to be a big deal. That was going to be a lot of fun, too.”

Gibson was not convinced that at 37, a career with five teams, 112 wins, an All-Star appearance and pitching in a World Series was over, but he was fine if it was.

A little more than two weeks ago, Gibson heard from the Orioles.

“I was pretty excited. This is a place that was pretty special for my family in 2023,” Gibson said.

After that, he didn’t hear from the team for a few days, but last week he heard from them again when his family had the flu.

“We were able to get something together, something that makes sense and figure out a buildup and here we are,” Gibson said.

He did have some second thoughts after accepting a reported one-year deal at $5.25 million with $1.525 million in performance bonuses.

“Leaving them Thursday night was pretty tough,” he said. “Playing at home last year, I got a little spoiled, driving to the field every day and tucking the kids in and taking them to school. We tried to find an opportunity that was more in the Midwest, if that was possible. Those just didn’t come up.”

Gibson led the Orioles in wins (15), a career high, and innings (192) in 2023. After an 8-8 record and 4.24 ERA with St. Louis, the only offers he was getting initially were minor league deals. He and his wife had talked about the Orioles’ experience about a week before executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias called.

“This was a place that we really enjoyed,” Gibson said. “We know the clubhouse really well and it was one of the places that we thought, ‘If there’s somewhere to play after playing in St. Louis, this is one of those places that would be pretty special and fun to be a part of.”

The Orioles are missing starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez, who’s out with right elbow discomfort, an injury they’re hoping will be short term but could be longer. They’re also without Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells, who had season-ending right elbow surgeries last June, and might return for the second half.

They’re also without potential reinforcements Chayce McDermott (right lat/teres strain) and Trevor Rogers (dislocated left knee).

Gibson brings even more experience to a rotation that also includes 41-year-old Charlie Morton, 35-year-old Tomoyuki Sugano, soon-to-be 31-year-old Zach Eflin, 29-year-old Dean Kremer and either 35-year-old Albert Suárez or 24-year-old Cade Povich, the only left-hander.

“Everyone that I’ve talked to — I mean, guys were talking about Kyle to me when I first got here,” Morton said. “They were like, ‘Oh yeah, Kyle was this guy in the clubhouse. Gibby was one of the best guys I’ve been around. A great teammate.’”

Gibson has pitched four bullpen sessions of 50-to-70 pitches but isn’t close to being ready. He said he won’t need a six-week spring training.

“I’m probably ahead of schedule where I normally would be coming into spring because of those bullpens,” Gibson said. “I do have the ability to speed it up an outing here and there because of where I’m showing up.”

Gibson has played with most of the current Orioles.

“Hopefully, I can still fit in with these guys. I know I’m two years older now, so hopefully they don’t hold that against me.”

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.