Could Orioles Salvage Nightmare Season by Extending Gunnar Henderson?

It's been a season to forget for the Baltimore Orioles, who have failed to capitalize on the momentum they generated in their 2023 and 2024 campaigns.

Having appeared in the MLB postseason in each of the last two years, the Orioles look like nearly a sure thing to miss out this season.

Doomed by a dreadful early start, Baltimore has played significantly better baseball of late, but still 10 games below .500 at 44-54 and 8.5 games back of the third and final American League Wild card spot, it looks like it will not be enough.

More News: Orioles Predicted to Trade Pair of Stars to Padres At Next Week's Trade Deadline

That means it's time for general manager Mike Elias to make some forward-looking moves ahead of the July 31 MLB trade deadline.

That usually means, and also will in this case, selling off veterans on expiring contracts for younger talent that could help the team in the years to come.

But for the Orioles, an opportunity exists to make a future-minded move that could also help salvage a miserable season in the minds of the fan base.

More News: Samuel Basallo Will Be Top Prospect To Watch for Orioles in Second Half

Matt Snyder of CBS Sports published a piece making three suggestions for what Baltimore should do over the next 10 days, and his third thought was to work to extend star shortstop Gunnar Henderson's contract.

"This is the Orioles' chance to pacify their fan base and prove this relatively new ownership group isn't just operating in similar fashion to the Angelos family," Snyder wrote. "It's always easier said than done and everyone is going to point out that Henderson's agent is Scott Boras, but Boras gets extensions for his players as long as he believes the offer is a fair one."

More News: Orioles Boss Shares What They Plan To Do Ahead of This Year's Trade Deadline

The Boras point is a strong one, but the other aspect for Henderson's camp would be that extending now would be to cash out at a lower point in his value.

Henderson has played well this year, but his numbers have taken a step back, as he's slashing .280/.345/.461, with the on-base percentage and slugging rate dipping significantly from 2024.

More News: Orioles Top Prospect Expected To Be Breakout Performer in Second Half

Snyder throws out the 11-year, $288.7 million contract extension the Kansas City Royals gave Bobby Witt Jr. as a comparable.

That's interesting because Henderson is a touch below Witt Jr. as a player, at least for now, but an offer competitive with that mark could go a long way toward Boras being more amenable to the idea of a long-term pact despite a difficult year for his client.

For more Orioles news, head over to Orioles On SI.