There’s no question that a sense of dread followed the Baltimore Orioles during the 2025 season, quickly earning the reputation of being one of the league’s most disappointing teams. Injuries and regression made watching Orioles games a miserable experience, but one of the lone bright spots was the breakout campaign of Ryan O’Hearn.

O’Hearn thrived during his time in Baltimore, slashing .281/.366/.437 in 361 plate appearances with the Orioles while earning his first career All-Star selection. With 17 home runs with the Orioles, and the team assured of being sellers at the MLB trade deadline, the 32-year-old first baseman was a lock to be traded.

Former Orioles slugger Ryan O’Hearn’s rumored landing spots look downright bleak

The Orioles moved O’Hearn to the San Diego Padres, and the veteran enjoyed a playoff run to close out the season. O’Hearn is now set to become a free agent, and one would think that he is in line for a healthy contract.

The Athletic’s Jim Bowden is not of that belief, believing he is only in line for a two-year deal worth $24MM. Bowden also doesn’t believe there will be a strong market for O’Hearn, listing the Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins, and Tampa Bay Rays as the logical fits.

At the center of Bowden’s pessimism regarding O’Hearn is the fact that his power numbers dipped after the trade to the Padres.

He’s not wrong, as O’Hearn’s slugging percentage fell nearly 100 points, but the former general manager seems to be glossing over the fact that the Padres play their home games at one of the most pitcher-friendly parks in all of baseball. With that in mind, it doesn’t seem likely that teams would hold O’Hearn’s power regression during the last two months of the season against him.

O’Hearn should also benefit from it being a weak class of free-agent hitters. Kyle Tucker, Kyle Schwarber, and Alex Bregman lead the class, but there is a whole bunch of meh after that. For teams in need of an offensive upgrade but not wanting to pay top dollar, O’Hearn is an obvious answer.