What The Ideal Orioles Infield Would Look Like In 2027: Signings, Trades And Demotions

You can never really dream big when it comes to Orioles offseason plans.

Everything must be couched with the parameters of what feckless private equity billionaires would really be willing to spend, and what over-entrusted baseball failure Mike Elias thinks will make him look good to those guys and what he thinks makes him potentially look smart. It’s always about trying to win his way – The Elias Way - and not just take the urgent measures needed to improve his product and give the fans a roster with pieces that actually fit and compliment one another and they can get behind.

It really does take some of the buzz out of the hot stove before it even gets cranked up. And the mere fact that Elias is still in charge, and we are firing the Oriole Bird but keeping Elias’s No. 1 overpaid sidekick – Sig Mejdal – in this front office, and owner David Rubenstein couldn’t be bothered to attend the press conference where Elias and angry puppet skipper Craig Albernaz got to gloat about keeping their jobs tells you just how checked out he is and how little winning really matters to him despite whatever he might scrawl in the books he writes.

So with all of that said, and within the construct of how Elias operates, here’s what I’d like to see the infield look like next year:

First Base

Pete Alonso: 100-120 games

Samuel Basallo and Coby Mayo: 40-60 Games between them

Alonso was great in the field this year and mashing 40 homers as he heads to his mid-30s is great. It was also wasted in a lost season in which not only was the team non-competitive, but Mayo and Basallo didn’t get enough innings and plate appearances at first. The more Alonso DHs the better it is for his longevity and having him squat on first base for 150 games makes less and less sense the deeper into the contract we get

Second Base

Sep 28, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; Baltimore Orioles third baseman Jordan Westburg (11) throws out New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger (not pictured) after fielding a ground ball during the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Jordan Westburg: As much as his body will allow

Blaze Alexander: Most of the rest

I’m done playing silly games up the middle and fielding middle infielders who are overmatched by their positions. So, yeah, you don’t see last year’s primary 2B here because it’s time to trade Jackson Holliday and give him a fresh start and take on somebody else’s fallen prospect for him or whatever. Cannot run it back with him at second and I think even Elias realizes that.

Shortstop

Joey Ortiz: 150 Games

Alexander: The rest

You don’t see Gunnar Henderson here, nor should you, but you do see another short stop Elias drafted in 2019. Henderson is not a shortstop, he’s a third baseman, and two years from free agency he’s gone at some point in 2027. I’d prefer to do it early on so Elias knows exactly what holes he needs to fill and I’d do it early enough (there is a one-for-one Henderson blockbuster that makes total sense to me).

Henderson will likely only make $10.5M in arbitration next year so honestly you could make this Joey Ortiz trade with the Brewers and tell him he’s moving to third. But I’m cutting the cord now, even “selling low” on him doesn’t mean it will get better in 2027 and Elias is totally overmatched trying to make in-season moves. You risk major injury. He’s never signing here, it’s been a vicious downward spiral. Move him.

I know the Brewers love Ortiz's glove, but Cooper Pratt looks like a stud and they are overloaded with bigtime infield prospects who are not that far away and Caleb Durbin looked like a really interesting, scrappy glove for them in 2025 and he was shipped out after one year. They are alwyas moving utility pieces.

Ortiz, part of Baltimore's package to land Corbin Burnes, is a whiz with the glove - elite, elite. plenty athletic and they need a lefty bat somewhere in this infield mix (especially if Henderson and/or Holliday go) and he is fresh only playing about 500 innings a year at short at the Brewers move him around.

Third Base

Alexander: 100 Games?

Mayo, Christian Encarnacion-Strand: The rest

CES is a bigtime Elias favorite now, although I’m still not exactly how he fits, even if Holliday and Henderson are gone and Westburg is moved to second to try to keep him healthy. Especially if they keep Tyler O’Neill and his right-handed bat and bloated salary.

I’m okay with a rotation here, although the fact all of these guys have right-handed bats is a concern. If Mayo’s defense was a smidge better I’d say go ahead and move Alexander to the corner outfield, and maybe that happens regardless, if Elias can't get what he wants for Henderson/Holliday.

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