Gunnar HendersonThe third full Major League season was another success, as the hitter hit .274/.349/.438 with 17 home runs over 651 plate appearances. It was almost the 2023 season that won Henderson AL Rookie of the Year honors – Henderson posted a 122 wRC+ and 4.7 fWAR that year, and a 120 wRC+ and 4.8 fWAR in 2025.
Last season’s numbers, however, were a step back from the 154 wRC+ and 7.9 fWAR Henderson delivered in 2024. Henderson missed most of Spring Training and the first week of the regular season recovering from an intercostal strain, but the shortstop revealed Thursday that he also spent about “three quarters of the year” facing an unprecedented shoulder interference.
In an interview on WBAL’s Orioles Hot Stove Show (hat tip to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com), Henderson said “I just couldn’t catch the plane and my body was adjusting, not feeling good, so that didn’t put me in the right position to use the ball the way I normally do..” Despite his solid production, Henderson “I couldn’t get where I wanted to get with my swing, but there’s no reason. I had to play with it and feel like I still had all those conditions and put in a good year. I’m looking forward to getting healthy this year and getting back to my normal self.”
The injury wasn’t bad enough to merit a trip to the disabled list, or even any time missed, as Henderson played in 154 of 155 games after being activated from the IL on April 4. With the Orioles fading from contention early in the season, the team certainly should have shut Henderson down or at least reduced his playing time if there was a real concern over his shoulder.
With Henderson now projecting a healthy 2026, the shoulder impingement could be dismissed as another footnote amid an injury-riddled season for the Orioles’ roster. Bringing back the 2024 version of Henderson would go a long way in helping the O’s get back into playoff contention after their disappointing 75-win campaign.
Being Framber Valdez in exchange there will be a big raise, and the potential for a big addition to the rotation remains as the Orioles are connected to the southpaw’s free agent market. This isn’t the first time Baltimore has looked to acquire Valdez, however, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon report that the lefty was part of a four-player trade package the Astros are ready to send to the O’s. Zack Britton at the 2017 trade deadline.
It was known at the time that the Britton trade was split at the last minute between the two sides, and the Orioles were said to have been ruled out due to medical concerns for the two players involved. Houston’s side of the deal was unknown until now, as Rosenthal/Sammon reports that the Astros were offering Valdez (then a predictable Double-A), JD Davis, Jason Martinagain Rogelio Armenteros for Britton, who was in the midst of an injury-shortened season but was arguably baseball’s closest when healthy.
While initial reports stated that the Orioles objected to the treatment of both pitchers (Armenteros and Valdez) in the trade request, Rosenthal/Sammon wrote that Baltimore’s issue was only with Armenteros. Former Orioles owner Peter Angelos became somewhat infamous for his warnings about the pitcher’s health, leading to several trades or free agent signings that were either renegotiated at the eleventh hour, or abandoned altogether.
Armenteros’ MLB career ended with five appearances for the Astros in 2019 and he missed the entire 2020 season due to surgery to remove bone from his pitching elbow. In this context, it’s hard to say the Orioles were wrong in their concerns, even though Arementeros ended up being the least accomplished of the four players Houston offered. Aside from Valdez, Davis became the most productive pitcher when the Astros traded him to the Mets in the 2018-19 offseason, and that breakout was more likely to happen in Baltimore than New York. Martin’s MLB career included 85 games with the Pirates and Rangers from 2019-2021, but Martin was one of four players the Astros sent to Pittsburgh. Gerrit Cole before the 2018 season.
The Astros went on to win the 2017 World Series without Britton, and Valdez ended up being part of the foundation of the team’s success over the past decade. While Houston’s front office (which included current Orioles president of baseball ops Mike Elias at the time) was really upset when the Orioles pulled the plug on the Britton trade, the team came out on top in the long run, and it’s another example of how you never know which prospect might end up being a key piece of a trade package.
In fairness to the O’s, there wasn’t much indication at the time that Valdez would turn into a top starter, and Valdez may not have developed as well as he did in Baltimore’s organization than in Houston. The 2017 season was the first of a five-game losing streak for the Orioles as they entered a rebuilding period under Elias, and it’s interesting to wonder how having Valdez (and Davis) might have changed the trajectory of that rebuild.
