It’s a field of two, and last offseason doesn’t provide much competition. But even with a top free agent starter eluding the Orioles, this is by far the most impactful offseason the club has had since its financial circumstances changed in January 2024 and a group led by David Rubenstein and Michael Arougheti agreed to purchase the club from the Angelos family.

Now, there’s at least the hope of signing the top free agents, and that became a reality when Pete Alonso signed a five-year, $155 million deal to anchor the lineup and lead the club into its new era under manager Craig Albernaz.

Alonso remains an outlier not just in this offseason but in the club’s history. Many of the Orioles’ largest contracts, especially on the hitting side, have been extensions with players who have already been with the club, such as Chris Davis, Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and Mark Trumbo. Their top pitching acquisitions have been only after all other options were exhausted for both the player and the club.

If the team didn’t know it two years ago, they know it now: Money is only one component of attracting top free agent talent. And even if it means paying more than you want, the best way for a team in the Orioles’ position to spend what they have available is to pay their own players to forgo free agency and spend their careers here.

Of course, it isn’t that simple. There needs to be a willingness from both sides to make a deal, and a deal that works for both sides. There needs to be a reason the Orioles pay market value or more for future production when they can keep going year-to-year with the player, and there needs to be a reason the player forgoes the chance at free agency as it inches closer.

If money isn’t an issue, as we often hear these days, why walk around the winter meetings hoping someone will take it when those who understand best why they should play for the Orioles are in your clubhouse every day?

Nick Markakis had already extended with the Orioles when Adam Jones did in 2012, two cornerstones with the club who had been through lean years and wanted to see it through to success. Jones said last year when he joined the front office that the security of the deal and ability to represent the city appealed to him, not to mention the respect it earned him around the city.

By the time he agreed to an extension, he was more than familiar with the club, the ballpark and the region. That’s simply not the experience that visiting players get.

Trumbo had spent five seasons playing out west when the Orioles traded for him in December 2015, and said the annual trips into Baltimore simply didn’t give much of a feel for the city he’d call home for the 2016 season.

““You do see a lot of the ballpark, but you’re kind of in and out. It’s not nothing, but you get a general feel, a vibe,” he said. “Maybe you have a good series, maybe you don’t. But you don’t come away with a lot of information.”

Everything can change once you play somewhere, though. You can learn about the clubhouse, the team’s culture, the hitting environment and where players live — a far cry from just riding a bus west on Lombard Street and east on Pratt Street.

When signing time comes, Trumbo said the city and ballpark are among the top considerations, after the offers themselves.

“The other factors that go into it are your family,” he said. “For most free agents, they’re at an age where you most likely have a family. Some don’t but most do, and sometimes kids, multiple kids, and that’s a big deal — where are you going to live?”

Trumbo re-signed with the club on a three-year, $37.5 million deal after testing free agency; he liked hitting in Camden Yards, felt the dimensions allowed him to play the outfield and not hog the DH spot, and liked the culture of the club.

Alonso has said that he really sees the ball well at Camden Yards and can’t wait to hit here 81 games a year, so he’s not coming in completely blind. And for all of his appreciation for Albernaz’s energy and the club’s vision, they also made him the best offer and distinguished themselves from the rest of the league by doing so.

The Orioles can run that back next winter and many to follow with the handful of top players who haven’t been signed to long-term extensions. They can compete with the rest of the league to make the biggest offer and most convincing pitch, or they can use their money on the players who don’t need much convincing. (Just a lot of money.)

That more extensions haven’t happened yet is an obstacle: Adley Rutschman is two seasons from free agency, Gunnar Henderson and Kyle Bradish three, and Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser four. All are close enough that it’s worth waiting for free agency on their end. The preference of agent Scott Boras, who represents Henderson, Westburg and Jackson Holliday, is for his players to reach the open market.

Then again, he mentioned when Alonso — who is also his client —signed that his other Orioles clients called him after the deal.

“The minute it’s done, it has that immediate impact,” Boras said.

I asked Henderson how, if at all, the club’s offseason might have made him think about his own future here.

“They’ve done a great job this offseason,” he said. “Really happy that they’re starting to put some money into us, and everything — not only the players, but even the stadium. You see the renovations going on right now. So, it’s super good time for Orioles fans, and they should be excited.”

And you, Gunnar?

“Yea, I’m pumped up about it as well.”