The Orioles aren't messing around. Kyle Bradish and the club agreed to a five-year, $90 million extension that buys out three years of what would've been free agency, turning a guy who was a Cy Young dark horse just a couple seasons ago into a Baltimore lifer.
Jeff Passan broke the deal first, framing it as Baltimore locking up its best starter.
Right-hander Kyle Bradish and the Baltimore Orioles are in agreement on a five-year, $90 million contract extension, a source tells ESPN. Orioles lock up their best starter and buy out three years of free agency.
This isn't a random flier. Back in 2023, Bradish finished 4th in AL Cy Young voting, posting a 2.83 ERA and 168 strikeouts across 168 1/3 innings — the kind of season that made him look like the front-of-rotation piece a young, cost-controlled Orioles team desperately needed. Then his elbow blew out. Bradish had UCL reconstruction with an internal brace in mid-2024 and missed almost all of 2025 rehabbing.
He didn't come back timid, either. Over 6 starts down the stretch last season, Bradish ran a 2.53 ERA with 47 strikeouts against just 10 walks in 32 innings — exactly the kind of small-sample dominance that gets a front office to stop hedging and start writing checks.
Ken Rosenthal confirmed the terms shortly after Passan's initial report.
Source confirms: Deal is for five years, $90M. First with money: @JeffPassan
The money math checks out for both sides. $90 million over 5 years is a real bet on a guy who's still working his way back from major elbow surgery and may carry some kind of innings limit early in the deal — but it's team-friendly relative to what a healthy ace regains on the open market, and it buys Baltimore 3 extra years of control it otherwise wouldn't have had.
For an Orioles rotation that's been searching for a reliable top-of-the-rotation arm to pair with its wave of position-player talent, keeping Bradish off the free agent board matters as much as the innings he actually throws. Mark Feinsand and Jon Heyman both confirmed the same terms within minutes of Passan's report, and the club itself announced the deal was done.
Jon Heyman noted the Orioles made it official, announcing the deal was done.
Kyle Bradish has $90M, 5-year deal with Orioles. Team announced a deal was done.
The obvious question now is health, not talent. Bradish flashed ace stuff before the injury and again in his brief return, so the ceiling was never in doubt. What Baltimore is really paying for is 5 years of certainty in a rotation that can't afford another gap at the top — and betting that the version of Bradish who nearly won a Cy Young shows back up more often than not.