The Orioles have signed right-hander Kyle Bradish to a five-year extension, the team announced. The agreement will keep the righty under contract through 2031. Bradish is a client of All Bases Covered Sports Management. The deal is worth $90MM, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN.
Bradish had two years of team control remaining. He won $3.55MM in arbitration this past offseason. The extension covers his final two years of arbitration, plus three seasons of free agency. It’s the second long-term deal for a Baltimore righty this season. Shane Baz inked a five-year extension during the first week of the regular season.
“Keeping players of Kyle’s caliber in an Orioles uniform is an important part of our long-term vision,” Orioles owner David Rubenstein said in a statement. “We are grateful to Kyle for his commitment to our organization and to Baltimore.”
Bradish will earn $10MM next season, with his salary steadily ticking up from there. He’ll make $13MM, $17MM, $22MM, and $28MM in the subsequent years of the contract. Ryan Ripken of the Ryan Ripken Show was first to report the yearly breakdown.
The 29-year-old Bradish has put together a 3.61 ERA across 19 starts this season. His xERA and xFIP are both under 4.00, though his SIERA is at 4.28. Bradish hasn’t shown the massive strikeout ability he had the past two years. His walk rate also sits at a career-worst 11.0%.
The big key this season has been availability. Bradish dealt with elbow issues in 2024 that ultimately ended in surgery. He made it back for a half-dozen starts at the end of last year. After totaling 72 1/3 innings over the past two seasons, Bradish is already up to 107 1/3 frames this year. Health permitting, he has a solid chance to set a new career high in workload, topping the 168 2/3 innings he threw in 2023.
The Angels took Bradish in the fourth round of the 2018 draft. After one season in L.A.’s system, he was dealt to Baltimore as part of a package for righty Dylan Bundy. The other pitchers in the swap (Isaac Mattson, Kyle Brnovich, Zach Peek) didn’t pan out for the Orioles, but Bradish’s contributions make the deal a clear win for Baltimore. Bundy was solid in the shortened 2020 season, then posted an ERA over 6.00 in 2021 and left the Angels via free agency.
Rubenstein took over as majority owner heading into the 2024 season. Baltimore ran payrolls around $65MM in the final few years under the previous regime. That number jumped to $103MM in 2024, per RosterResource. Our Payroll Tracker tool has the Orioles spending $165,079,097 last season. The club is just under $172MM for this year’s payroll. The increased spending isn’t limited to the pitching side. First baseman Pete Alonso‘s five-year, $155MM deal this offseason was the second-most expensive contract in franchise history (h/t Jake Rill of MLB.com). Bradish’s contract is now the club’s priciest pitcher agreement, topping Baz’s mark.
“This extension reflects the continued dedication of our ownership group, led by David Rubenstein, to build and sustain a team that our fans and Baltimore can be proud of,” Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias said in a statement.
Baltimore now has Bradish and Baz locked in at the top of the rotation for the rest of the decade. Dean Kremer has another season of team control. Brandon Young won’t reach arbitration until 2029. The club still has some work to do to fill out the rotation with Trevor Rogers heading to free agency, but the core group is in place.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images