If December was defined by the Orioles’ bold new efforts to win baseball’s offseason — signing closer Ryan Helsley and slugger Pete Alonso, then trading for right-hander Shane Baz — January has been defined by those far more familiar with flexing their financial muscle.

Last week’s additions of Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette by the Dodgers and Mets, respectively, set off plenty of consternation around the league about the biggest spenders widening the gap.

I don’t plan to be a part of that. I do, however, have plenty of thoughts on what it means, from labor implications and the Orioles’ potential to benefit from these types of deals to an interesting side note as the Orioles’ small media empire dissolves.

A lockout is looming

Knowing MLB’s collective bargaining agreement with the players expires in December, and with owners like Orioles control person David Rubenstein calling for a salary cap, the Dodgers adding Tucker on a four-year, $240 million deal didn’t help matters. It brought their estimated 2026 payroll to $429 million and total committed money to a staggering $2.11 billion.

The Mets pivoting to Bichette, who signed for three years and $126 million to bring their projected payroll to $326 million, was further fuel to the salary cap fire.

There were plenty of winters when these deals would come through and the Orioles, spendthrifts as they were, would be held up as polar opposites with no major free agent commitments or long-term salary on the books. At least we’re past that.

But these deals feel a lot more like finishing touches than the foundation of a labor dispute. The framework has been in place for a long time, and the Dodgers not adding Tucker to a roster that won the last two World Series wouldn’t have changed that.

That the Dodgers are likely favorites for a third straight championship is unfortunate for those who, like myself, don’t have much time for the argument that some teams being able to spend more than others for one reason or another isn’t fair. Every team has the opportunity to spend as much money as it wants to, and can do that in pursuit of winning, which is the most important part of this to me.

I can’t blame these owners for pursuing championships, literally, at all costs. I guess I can’t blame their peers who want to stop them, either. I just feel strongly that, until they change the rules of the business, there’s nothing wrong with any of it.

Not all TV deals are disasters

The details of the Dodgers’ unique television deal — which through the terms of the club’s bankruptcy settlement from 2011 is not fully subject to MLB’s revenue-sharing agreement and thus allows them to keep more of their media revenue than other clubs — made the rounds again this week. Alongside the revenues they’ve generated from the presence of Shohei Ohtani (and their owners’ massive wealth), they explain why they can spend the way they do.

Seeing that genuine bit of media rights fortune highlighted in the same week the Nationals left MASN to end a saga I have rolled my eyes at for quite a while felt meaningful. There was certainly a world where owning the Nationals’ media rights and a television network along with it was an absolute boon for the Orioles, making it more than worth the infringement into their local rights territory. I don’t know how much revenue the Orioles generated from it over the last two decades, but I know how many headaches the setup caused.

I’m sure, given the choice, MLB and anyone even tangentially involved with the game would much rather the Nationals-MASN dispute be the one that persists rather than the loophole that lets the Dodgers keep so much of their TV money.

Somehow, all of this can help the Orioles

There have been some solid long-term deals this winter, for Dylan Cease (seven years, $210 million in Toronto), plus Alonso, Kyle Schwarber and Alex Bregman. More are likely to come.

Tucker and Bichette taking massive salaries on shorter-term deals that include opt-outs shows those deals aren’t for everyone. And it feels like the Orioles can benefit from that.

Remember, they offered Corbin Burnes a sky-high average annual value on a four-year, $180 million deal to return to Baltimore last year. He ultimately signed in Arizona, where he makes his offseason home, for six years and $210 million.

It’s different with pitchers than hitters, given the injury risk, but it seems as if Tucker and Bichette (plus Bregman last year) are demonstrating players are willing to sign for higher salaries and shorter terms if the megadeals they expect don’t materialize. For an Orioles team with money to spend and a preference not to be committed too heavily to a player’s declining years, this could be a positive trend.

This can help in free agency in future years as they seek to fill holes on their roster, and even as they look to keep their homegrown stars. Not everyone gets the massive long-term deal they seek. And, if precedent is there for players to secure a significant short-term reward, there are worse places to do it than the one they spent their entire career in.