Orioles Pete Alonso rates $155 million contract

The Baltimore Orioles they are clearly pushing their chips. After reports surfaced that they made a $150 million offer to Kyle Schwarberwho returned to the Philadelphia Phillies, the Orioles stunned MLB with the signing Pete Alonso.

Alonso signs a five-year, $155 million deal to join the Orioles in a huge upset during the MLB Winter Meetings.

The The Mets seemed hesitant to pay Alonso big moneywhich opened the way for teams like the Orioles and Boston Red Sox, but he decided to come to Baltimore in a massive AL East move.

While $155 million is a ton of money, Spotrac aspired some comparisons with agreement.

‘1B Pete Alonso has agreed to a 5-year, $155M free agent deal with the Baltimore #Orioles . The $31M API makes him the 2nd highest $1B average salary in baseball (Vlad Jr., $35.7M) and keeps the 31-year-old through the 2030 season. Alonso declined a $24M option with the #Mets for 2026.

So how did the Orioles do with this deal?

Orioles Grade for Pete Alonso Contract: A-

Yes, the Orioles made a run at Schwarber, who turns 33 in March 2026. The Phillies slugger is a star and would bring a huge bat to the lineup.

But instead, they land Alonso for just a little more money. Alonso just turned 31 on December 7, so he will be two years younger than Schwarber when the season starts.

Alonso also had a .272 batting average with 38 home runs and 126 RBI, so he’s probably a better overall hitter than Schwarber.

And the Orioles already had a loaded lineup, so adding Alonso could give them MLB’s best Jeff Passon wrote after the agreement it was published.

“The Baltimore Orioles’ lineup may have the best lineup in baseball. Whatever order Craig Albernaz chooses, he has Gunnar Henderson, Pete Alonso, Jordan Westburg, Taylor Ward, Adley Ruchman, Jackson Holliday, Sam Bassall, Dylan Beavers and Colton Causer. A wrecking crew.’

The Orioles’ busy offseason continues

The The Orioles acquired Taylor Ward in an early offseason trade withwith the Los Angeles Angels, and now they hit it big with the Alonso deal. They too closer Ryan Helsley added on a $28 million contract, so they’re spending a lot of money.

This offseason, it looked like Baltimore needed to score big to stay in the race with the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the AL East, and this deal could do just that. MLB.com’s Jake Reel also added that this deal includes a partial no-trade clauseand it will be interesting to see what the final terms of the contract will look like.

Joel Sherman then added that there are without delay or giving up in the deal, so Alonso will be in Baltimore for the next five tears barring a trade.

The only reason for the A- is because of Alonso’s age, but that was the expected money he should have received from some team in free agency. Passan predicted in May that Alonso would command more than $100 million in free agency, and that’s what happened this time.

The Orioles haven’t made a splash in free agency like this since signing Chris Davis to a seven-year, $161 million contract in 2016.

At the end of the day, this is a home run deal for the Orioles and also a big win for Alonso.