DALLAS — Last year’s winter meetings moved at a glacial pace because of Shohei Ohtani. This year’s could be expedited thanks to Juan Soto.

Ohtani hadn’t signed his contract when the baseball world met in Nashville, Tennessee, last December. As Ohtani mulled his decision, teams and agents waited to conduct business until the biggest domino of the offseason fell.

This December, the big domino fell on the first night of the winter meetings, as Soto reportedly agreed to a record-breaking contract with the New York Mets. Now, the teams that lost out on Soto have free cash to spend on other free agents, and they’re all in one place this week at the Hilton Anatole Hotel.

While Soto was expected to receive a mega-deal, the final dollar figure — $765 million over 15 years — was still shocking, especially since it didn’t include any deferred money. The move will have repercussions throughout the baseball landscape for years to come.

At first glance, the move is a boost to the Orioles — and every other team in the American League East. Why? Well, they won’t have to play the former New York Yankee 13 times a year for the next 15 seasons.

To many, the Soto contract is a gross overpay, a prime example of how free agency can pit teams against each other to reward the player for more than he’s worth.

Will Soto’s on-field contributions be worth $765 million across the next 15 seasons? Probably not. Will the Mets cringe when handing out more than $50 million per year to Soto when he’s in his late 30s and likely far less productive than he is now? Almost certainly yes.

But Mets owner Steve Cohen has more money than one man should have, and he wouldn’t be denied bringing Soto to Queens. Soto is a generational talent, a future Hall of Famer, one of the best hitters through 25 years old in baseball history. The Orioles are fortunate they only have to play him three times a year now instead of 13.

However, the Soto signing isn’t all good news for the Orioles.

It was assumed entering the offseason that slugger Anthony Santander would wait to sign until after the Soto sweepstakes ended, leaving the losers in position to need a power-hitting right fielder such as the former Oriole. Three of those teams reside in the AL East, as the Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays all made a push to sign Soto. Now that Soto has signed, those teams could bid for Santander as the next-best option. The switch-hitter is expected to receive approximately $20 million per year across three to five seasons after he blasted a career-high 44 homers in 2024.

The Orioles could still re-sign Santander, but that appears less likely after the club signed outfielder Tyler O’Neill to a three-year, $49.5 million contract on Saturday — the first multiyear contract handed out to a free agent by Mike Elias in his seven offseasons as Baltimore’s general manager. But it’s quite possible the Orioles and their fans will still see a lot of Santander in the coming years if he signs with the Yankees, Blue Jays or Red Sox.

Those three clubs not sinking $50 million per year into Soto also means they have free cash to spend on the remaining big fish on the market. The top name on that list now: ace Corbin Burnes.

The Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays need starting pitching this offseason and could see Burnes as their next target now that Soto is off the market. The Orioles could bring back the right-hander after his stellar 2024 season in Baltimore, but it could be difficult for them to compete with big-market teams for a pitcher who will likely receive north of $200 million.

The Orioles might not have to worry about Soto anymore. But Santander and Burnes could soon be thorns in their side.

Around the horn

• The Orioles on Friday passed Thaddeus Ward through outright waivers and assigned him to Triple-A Norfolk, clearing a space on their 40-man roster, which now has 37 players.

• The Orioles named Tim Federowicz as the new manager of Triple-A Norfolk on Friday. He replaces Buck Britton, who was promoted to major league coach with the Orioles. Federowicz, who played eight seasons in the major leagues with six teams, managed Triple-A Toledo (Detroit) last year.

• Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser, a Texas native, will announce the MLB draft lottery selections at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the winter meetings. It will be broadcast on MLB Network.

• Minor League Baseball on Monday named the Orioles organization as the recipient of the inaugural MiLB Sportsmanship Award.

• Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins was elected as an alternate representative to the Major League Baseball Players Association’s pension committee. Orioles pitching prospect Ryan Long was elected as the minor league association representative.

• Baseball America recently released an updated list of the Orioles’ top 10 prospects: 1. Catcher Samuel Basallo; 2. Corner infielder Coby Mayo; 3. Outfielder Heston Kjerstad; 4. Outfielder Vance Honeycutt; 5. Right-hander Chayce McDermott; 6. Outfielder Enrique Bradfield; 7. Outfielder Dylan Beavers; 8. Right-hander Michael Forret; 9. Outfielder Jud Fabian; 10. Infielder Griff O’Ferrall

• Earlier this month, the Orioles announced the minor league signings of left-handed pitcher Raul Alcantara, outfielder Franklin Barreto and infielder Jeremiah Jackson. Barreto, 28, is a former top prospect and played in Mexico in 2024.

Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer@baltsun.com, 667-942-3337 and x.com/JCalvinMeyer.