Join the dugout. Sign up here for Orioles updates in your inbox.

The Orioles declined to exercise the $7.5 million team option for first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, who was one of the team’s first-round picks in 2015. It marks the end (for now, at least, as there is an outside chance of a free agency return) for one of the brightest pieces of Baltimore’s darkest days this decade.

Additionally, the Orioles released outfielder Heston Kjerstad after he cleared outright waivers. It concludes a challenging period in Baltimore for the former No. 2 overall pick in 2020. Kjerstad’s professional career was delayed due to myocarditis. He didn’t receive much extended opportunity in the majors, and he struggled to perform in the cameo appearances, before he was outrighted and granted his release, sources said.

Most of the moves leading up to Monday’s deadline for contract options shed salary for Baltimore.

Advertise with us

Luis Robert Jr., an Oriole for about a month, is also becoming a free agent. The Orioles declined the outfielder’s $20 million team option Saturday, instead opting to buy out his contract for $2 million. And right-hander Zach Eflin, who is recovering from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery, had his mutual option of $25 million declined Friday. He is also owed a $2 million buyout.

Most of these moves come as little surprise. For instance, right-hander Ryan Helsley opted into his $14 million player option for 2027 last week. He was limited to 15 1/3 innings due to injuries and did not make an appearance after June. He recorded eight saves with a 4.11 ERA.

He is expected to be ready for spring training, however, and he’ll slot in as a back-end bullpen arm alongside right-hander Félix Bautista.

The decision to decline the contract options for Mountcastle, Robert and Eflin don’t guarantee their time with the Orioles is done. They can still re-sign with Baltimore for a different contract value. Eflin, for instance, could seek a two-year deal that allows him to use most of 2027 rehabbing his elbow surgery.

Robert played only three games for the Orioles before a hamstring injury ended his season. He arrived late in the year in an attempt to bolster the Orioles’ slim postseason chances. Instead, his injury issues followed him from the New York Mets.

Advertise with us

Mountcastle’s time in Baltimore may have come to an inauspicious ending. He played eight games in 2026 because he broke a bone in his foot and then suffered an oblique strain at the onset of a rehab assignment.

In Mountcastle’s case, there will always be a bit of a what-if around his time here. In 2021, Mountcastle hit a career-high 33 home runs. He did it with a career-high 38.7% pull rate. But ahead of the 2022 season, the Orioles moved the left-field wall at Camden Yards deeper, away from home plate.

Mountcastle’s pull-side power profile took a hit because of it. He is estimated to have lost five expected home runs in 2022, according to Statcast’s analysis of launch angles and exit velocities. Mountcastle lost another five combined homers between 2023 and 2025.