“It’s a special place and it’s one of the best jobs in the country, because of the kind of young men we have, because it still is, truly, a developmental program,” Newberry said.
The Orioles were firmly in the mix for designated hitter Kyle Schwarber, a source said, although multiple outlets reported that Schwarber opted to return to Philadelphia on a five-year, $150 million deal.
The largest item on Baltimore’s to-do list remains acquiring starting pitching, and the winter meetings may lead to a critical breakthrough as the baseball world descends on Central Florida.
“I think we’ll have a good bullpen, and hopefully we’ll keep adding and make our team a little stronger," Helsley said. "We’re in a tough division, so it’s going to be a lot of fun this year with a lot of tight games."
“I think it’s going to hopefully make the rest of the lineup better,” Elias said. “He [Ward] really fit us, and there weren’t a lot of big power right-handed guys on the market this year.”
The full group of players tendered contracts at Friday’s deadline: Mountcastle, left-hander Keegan Akin, right-hander Kyle Bradish, shortstop Gunnar Henderson, right-hander Yennier Cano, right-hander Dean Kremer, left-hander Trevor Rogers, catcher Adley Rutschman, outfielder Taylor Ward, right-hander Tyler Wells and right-hander Felix Bautista.