An Orioles Offseason Plan For Samuel Basallo: How To Reconnect With The Prized Youngster

The Orioles better have a plan for 22-year-old catcher Samuel Basallo next season.

It needs to be comprehensive and holistic, and they need to be willing to inconvenience some other people if need be in order to maximize the development of this slugger long-term. It will require old-school people skills in conveying the plan to this player and the others impacted by it (disgustingly lacking in this org) and it will take conviction and being willing to make some roster-flexibility compromises to put in an infrastructure that hopefully allows this former mega-prospect to grow and develop in a way that Adley Rutschman stopped doing once he became an All Star (then years of regression and a trade followed).

It has to be part of the overarching checklist of things this organization must accomplish to build a product for 2027 in which the pieces actually fit and compliment each other. Not every offseason goal is adding or subtracting to a roster (I mean if these owners gave half a damn they’d be hiring someone like Buck Showalter to be the team president).

Basallo, one of the first major international signing forays made by failed baseball exec Mike Elias, is still one of the few players he identified from early in the never-ending rebuild who could provide major spoils. But him going from the most prodigious slugging under-22 catcher in MLB history – while playing through what was obviously a long and nagging shoulder issue to someone who couldn’t post a .460 OPS in the second half, is dire.

The organization needs to get real about how to reach this young man, how to try to keep him healthy and focused (addressing some real red flags) through the entirety of the 2027 season catching enough to keep that in his profile, but cultivating a loud left-handed bat above all else.

As always, we have a plan to help them get there:

Set A Catching Goal Early

Sure, things can ebb and flow, but they need to know, now, what a magic number might be. We thinking 80 games behind the dish? Or closer to 60?

Whatever it is there should be some idea of how that might play out through a season. The more Basallo knows ahead of time the better; you can’t map out 162 games ahead of time and the staff will fluctuate and injuries will occur. But if you do at least have a soft commitment in mind then you can probably aim to spread that workload around evenly and create a situation where he’s not catching 11 innings in a day game after a night; such an unserious franchise under Elias’s watch.

Along those lines …

Commit To Three Catchers

Sep 8, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics catcher Jonah Heim (15) fields and throws the ball to first base for an out against Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto (not pictured) during the fourth inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If you go into the offseason planning to have three on your roster as a prerequisite it will make the rest of this flow a lot easier. Just accept that reality and if that means you really need to think about switch hitter like Jonah Heim in the mix, so be it. When you think about the duds and AAAA guys who have clogged up this bench over the years, this isn’t impossible. Elias has never built a solid bench that made sense.

Yeah, you probably need another Blaze Alexander type to make this happen and no, you probably can’t have Pete Alonso, Coby Mayo, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Tyler O’Neill all as some variation of the same RH-power corner guy on your roster next season and still field a real MLB roster that includes three catchers at the same time. So, yeah, there is work to be done and hard decisions to be made. (All the more reason Elias shouda been fired long ago).

Long Talk With Pete Alonso

Sep 23, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso (25) celebrates a home run during the sixth inning with Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson (2) at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Jamie LeBlanc-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Amazing first season in Baltimore, Polar Bear. You did your part while Elias and pocket dugout skipper Craig Albernaz threw up all over themselves for five months. But, look bro, you will be 32 next year, we want to get as close to a strong five years out of this contract as possible, and we can’t have you clogging up first base for 160 games with the way these young players stack up and their limited defensive flexibility.

Basallo could be a whiz at first base and took right to it as far back as Low-A Delmarva where I watched some of his very first full-season games. They need to keep working on that part of his toolkit as well and a way to keep the bat in the lineup. It’s something Mayo needs to do more than just one or twice a month as well.

Alby Takes A Road Trip

Sep 2, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Baltimore Orioles manager Craig Albernaz (55) and Baltimore Orioles pitcher Rico Garcia (50) talk during the game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Send this faux manager to the Dominican this summer to apologize for calling this kid out the way he did and holding him to a different standard than everyone else. Have these two forge some sort of bond, with Albernaz a former catcher and make an effort to treat these guys as human beings and not baseball widget. Mike, we all know you are a super fraud and you and this baseball charlatan are disliked around here for very good reason, but at least pretend like you care about these guys as human beings and make an effort to build some bridges.

You’ve wasted enough of our time and money and torpedoed enough careers. Show this kid you are capable of something move.

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