Fresh off of arguably the best season of his MLB career, Ryan O’Hearn will stay with the Baltimore Orioles.
Baltimore picked up O’Hearn’s team option for next year, meaning the first baseman and outfielder will make $7.5 million in 2025, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
After spending his first five seasons in the majors with the Kansas City Royals, he came to the Orioles in a trade for cash considerations in January 2023. He played a career-high 142 games in 2024, hitting .264 with 15 home runs and a 122 OPS+.
Though O’Hearn appeared in all but 20 regular season games for Baltimore this year, manager Brandon Hyde used him primarily as a platoon hitter against right-handed pitching. O’Hearn compiled 450 plate appearances against righties compared to just 44 against lefties.
His splits tell the story. Though he hit for roughly the same average against right-handed and left-handed pitchers, he’s added significantly more value against righties. He hit for a .777 OPS against righties vs. just .605 against lefties. O’Hearn also hit all 15 of his home runs off of righties and had a .338 on-base percentage against them (.296 vs. LHP).
His career splits show an even starker difference. O’Hearn is a career .190 hitter off of lefties, who have allowed only five of his 62 career homers. He also has a career .555 OPS against southpaws with a .248 average on balls in play.
Ryan O’Hearn and Seranthony Dominguez among a flurry of Orioles player moves
O’Hearn and his $7.5 million option will make the most headlines, but the Orioles made several transactions on Monday as the team got its offseason housecleaning done.
In addition to the veteran platoon hitter, Baltimore also picked up Seranthony Dominguez’s $8 million club option and Cionel Perez’s $2.2 million option. Between the three of them, that means the Orioles have officially added almost an additional $18 million to their 2025 payroll. That still gives the Orioles plenty of room to play with. They ranked 22nd in baseball in team payroll last year and unless they go on a free agent spending spree, they should remain in the lower half in 2025.
Additionally, the Orioles declined their club option on Danny Coulombe. The veteran reliever, who pitched well in 33 appearances out of the bullpen this season, would have been due $4 million. The Orioles can still try to work out a deal with Coulombe, but starting at 5 p.m. ET, other teams will be able to negotiate with free agents. The lefty has thrown 81 innings for the Orioles over the last two seasons, compiling a 2.83 FIP and 0.951 WHIP.
