The Baltimore Orioles have had a horrendous season to date. They didn’t properly address their starting pitching needs and have fallen to 52-63 on the season. They are in last place in the AL East and 15 1/2 games out of first. By all accounts, their postseason chances are dead, and they are buried beneath the rest of their AL East rivals.

Earlier this week, one of their rivals, the Boston Red Sox gave former top prospect Roman Anthony an eight-year, $130 million contract extension. We have in recent years seen teams lock up their young players early in their careers.

But with Boston having done it, now would be a good time for the Orioles to do that and at least do something productive in what has been a down year.

Mike Elias should take notes on Roman Anthony extension

General Manager Mike Elias would be wise to approach at least one of the Orioles young stars and give them a long-term contract extension. Baltimore has three players they could choose from to do this as of now, but they could eventually do it for all three years down the road.

Jackson Holliday, Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg are the obvious candidates to receive an extension from Elias and the Orioles. All three have proven themselves to be fantastic young players with incredibly bright futures. Henderson was even on the cover of MLB The Show 25 along with Paul Skenes and Elly De La Cruz.

The Orioles typically don’t spend big, but if they want to keep their young core together and contend in future seasons, now would be the time to start that process. This will of course force them to step out of their comfort zone on spending, but it is necessary in this case because of the players they have at their disposal that could help them bounce back in 2026.

We’ll see what they decide to do, but it would be wise for Baltimore to at least be considering this. There’s nothing wrong with locking up young players while they are in their primes.