Audacious as it was for owner David Rubenstein to draw the parallels between signing slugger Pete Alonso and the transformational acquisition of Frank Robinson that led to the Orioles’ 1966 World Series win, it came after an assertion from Mike Elias that was just as bold.

“I think, when you look at Pete in the middle of the lineup that we have, we have arguably the best batting lineup in Major League Baseball right now,” the team’s president of baseball operations said.

If Rubenstein is right, it will be because Elias is. Amid the many layers of implications that signing Alonso for five years and $155 million has on the Orioles — their perception locally and around the game, the way this ownership group under Rubenstein and Michael Arougheti and Elias’ front office operate, and their evolution as an organization after the letdown that was 2025 — is what matters on the field, which is Elias’ point.

Validating that will begin March 27 and end six months later, with October a further proving ground if they get that far. Every assumption involved in declaring the Orioles’ lineup one of the best in baseball can be challenged individually. None, to me, is flimsy enough to beggar belief.

Sitting here in December, it feels like he might be right.

Alonso’s addition has a lot to do with that, as does the trade for outfielder Taylor Ward last month. FanGraphs’ DepthCharts projection, one of the first published, has Alonso worth 3.0 wins above replacement with 37 home runs and an .830 OPS. Ward is forecast to be worth 2.4 WAR with 27 home runs and a .765 OPS.

Projections are just that, but they’re informed by what a player has done in the past. Alonso’s past is unassailable. In his seven major league seasons, he’s played at least 93% of his team’s games, hit at least 34 home runs in each 162-game season, been at least 20% above league average in terms of offensive production, and gotten on base at a strong clip.

Practically, having him hit in the middle of the lineup will do a bunch of things. All that thump will make a difference for a team whose 2025 home run leaders, Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday, had just one more (17) than Alonso did in the 60-game 2020 pandemic season.

So will his ability to diversify the left-right balance of the lineup and move others into lower-pressure spots in the order. Having Ward and Alonso in the heart of the order to help protect Henderson from other teams bringing in a lefty late in the game will be a benefit of its own, though manager Craig Albernaz will have plenty of lineup iterations to choose from.

Alonso and Ward are, to this point in the offseason, the most significant additions any club has made to its lineup. The Phillies re-signed slugger Kyle Schwarber, and the Mets and Rangers swapped Brandon Nimmo and Marcus Semien. And, considering the Orioles’ projected batting WAR (29.1) is just a few ticks behind the Yankees (29.7) and Dodgers (29.4), the additions bring the Orioles from the middle of the pack to the top tier on that front.

But all that is built on a mostly bullish perspective on what Alonso and Ward are joining. The Orioles’ lineup was a top-five group in 2024, even with its second-half swoon, and was nowhere near that in 2025.

Henderson played the full season but, even with a .787 OPS, wasn’t the power hitter he was in 2024. Holliday made it the full season, too, and had a .690 OPS. Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser, Tyler O’Neill and Ryan Mountcastle underperformed, missed significant time with injury or both.

All, however, are projected to be at least two-win players in this particular forecast, and along with Dylan Beavers and Samuel Basallo are expected to be above-average offensive performers. Other than the Orioles, only the Yankees project to have seven two-win hitters.

For that to be true in Baltimore, that means Henderson and Rutschman regain their power strokes, Westburg is his healthy and productive self, Cowser can handle center field and lock in to an approach that works for him and Holliday takes a meaningful step forward.

Perhaps a full season of O’Neill could make up for any of those homegrown players falling short, but it’s hard to count on that or any kind of production from the promising pair of Basallo and Beavers as they’re challenged in their first full major league season.

Part of the reason Elias and his front office made the lineup additions they did was, despite their belief in the talent and potential of all these players they drafted and developed into superstars, last season can’t be ignored. Elias’ proclamation means it can’t be overindexed, either.

To believe 2025 was a hiccup rather than a new reality is to believe any combination of the following: that Albernaz and his staff, including hitting coach Dustin Lind, will help get those players back on track; that having Alonso to lend advice and lead by example with his consistency and durability will impact the homegrown Orioles; that it was bad luck and health more than a deterioration of skills that made the team’s offense so disappointing in 2025; or that, as Alonso’s agent Scott Boras indicated, the commitment demonstrated by signing Alonso gives the team’s young players “pride and confidence” to compete better.

Elias and company probably feel strongly about those, at least the first three. I think I do, too.

And, relevant to the moment, Alonso does, too. That’s why he’s here. He credited the pitch the Orioles gave as detailed and thorough, both in how they saw the team evolving and how they saw it now. One aspect he shared stood out.

“They did a ton of examples where they say, ‘Hey, with your contribution, this is what we look like,’” Alonso said.

Based on all this, I imagine it looked pretty appealing. Best-in-the-league appealing? For now, sure. This is the Orioles’ moment.

If that’s still the case in two months after the rest of the hitters on the free agent and trade markets find homes, and if Elias’ motivation to add to the rotation is commensurate with what he did in the lineup, then maybe Rubenstein will be proven right, too.