Banner Steps Into a Mess of Baltimore's Own Making

Jared Banner was introduced as the Orioles' new general manager this week, arriving from the Cubs organization with nearly two decades of experience and, by his own account at his introductory news conference, a clear-eyed understanding that the fan base is frustrated. He said the organization is going to build a winner. That is the right thing to say. The situation he inherited is the right kind of difficult.

The final record was 79-82, fourth in the AL East, and the shape of the season tells the story more than the number does. Baltimore went 15-8 in July and looked, briefly, like a team that might matter. Then the deadline trades came — Adley Rutschman, the team's only All-Star, gone to Boston — and the injury cascade finished the job. Eight players ended the year on the 60-day IL, including Kyle Bradish, Ryan Helsley, Keegan Akin, and Ryan Mountcastle. The rotation that was supposed to anchor a contender spent most of September held together with Shane Baz and Trevor Rogers and whatever Brandon Young had left.

What Banner actually has to work with is thinner than the record suggests. Pete Alonso and Samuel Basallo give him legitimate offensive pieces. Jackson Holliday is young enough to grow into something. The Arizona Fall League prospects drew positive notices this month, and the 2026 draft class — two athletic outfielders with speed — adds something to the pipeline. That is a foundation, not a roster.

The pressure Banner is walking into is real. This organization went 91-71 in 2024 and is now two years into a slide that cost them their best player at the deadline. He knows that. The question for the offseason is whether he can stabilize the rotation health situation — Bradish is under a five-year extension but missed most of this year — and find a way to replace what Rutschman meant to the lineup. My read is that the catcher position is the most urgent structural problem on the roster, and it is the one Banner cannot paper over with depth moves.