Sixty years and one day after the Orioles traded for Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, they reached an agreement with slugger Pete Alonso. The comparison is not Robinson to Alonso — because that wouldn’t be fair to Alonso — but the Orioles’ willingness to make a bold move at a time when they needed to.
Robinson was the missing piece for an Orioles team that won two World Series and appeared in four between 1966 and 1971. They were the best team in baseball, and Robinson, who was considered an “old 30” by the Reds, led them there.
The 31-year-old Alonso, who has the third-most home runs (264) in the majors since he made his debut in 2019, was no longer valued by the Mets, who wouldn’t give him the long-term contract he was seeking. The Orioles’ deal is five years, $155 million, and he’ll come to Baltimore eager to prove that his former team made a mistake.
Robinson won the Triple Crown in his first season with the Orioles. Alonso won’t do that, but he gives the Orioles an everyday first baseman with prodigious power and a personality that should fit in well with his new teammates. He will have to change his jersey number, because Robinson’s No. 20 is retired.
Alonso’s presence in the lineup makes the Orioles look like a different team offensively and reduces the pressure on their young core players — Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday, Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser.
Although president of baseball operations Mike Elias had acquired outfielder Taylor Ward, who hit 36 home runs for the Angels this past season, it wasn’t until the news broke about the Alonso deal that the Orioles excited their fan base and impressed those who cover the sport.
Former Baltimore Sun columnist Ken Rosenthal had this to say: “That’s a team that is doing things. That’s a team that finished last last season and said ‘not good enough.’ And it’s also an ownership that while operating in a mid-market is stepping up and saying ‘it’s time, let’s go.’”
Before reaching an agreement with Alonso, it appeared that the Orioles were going to rely too much on bounce-back seasons from their core. Henderson, Rutschman, Holliday, Westburg and Cowser all struggled during the Orioles’ 87-loss, last-place season. With the exception of Holliday, each spent time on the injured list and none had the kind of success that was anticipated.
They didn’t get help from outfielder Tyler O’Neill, who visited the injured list three times and produced just nine home runs in his first season with the Orioles. Samuel Basallo, the 21-year-old catcher/first baseman with enormous potential, and 24-year-old outfielder Dylan Beavers provided the Orioles with a late-season spark and a promise of good things to come.
Adding Alonso to the lineup and the clubhouse shows that Elias and owner David Rubenstein are committed to winning now. Former Mets pitcher Ron Darling, who calls a number of the team’s games, was sorry to see Alonso go and said Oriole fans will fall in love with the slugger.
The next big move will be the signing or trading for a frontline starter with Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez and Edward Cabrera being linked to the Orioles. Darling has no doubt the Orioles will get that done, but he also said teams will need to win some 8-7 games in the American League East, and that the Orioles are now in position to do that.
The move to acquire Frank Robinson won’t be matched in Orioles history, but 60 years later, it’s heartening to see the Orioles are still willing to make moves that make a difference.
