Should the Orioles sign Gunnar Henderson or Adley Rutschman to a long-term deal? Weighing Baltimore's options for their star youngsters

The Baltimore Orioles have become one of the most exciting teams in the MLB thanks to their ability to not only draft top-tier prospects but also develop them into stars. After several difficult seasons, the club has amassed a wealth of young talent, some of whom have already established themselves as superstars in the MLB.

"Gunnar Henderson literally does it all #Birdland" - @RoccoDiSangro

Two of these stars are Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman. Thanks to the impressive talent of both Henderson and Rutschman, the Baltimore Orioles have turned into one of the top clubs in the American League. This is not to mention the plethora of other prospects waiting in the wings for their shot to contribute to the team's push for a World Series title.

That being said, like many up-and-coming teams, the financial side of the game will always play a factor in a team's long-term plans. Even though both Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman remain under team control until 2029 and 2028, respectively, the players will be looking to sign long-term, lucrative deals.

"10 players in Orioles history have played 70% or more of their games with the team as a catcher and accumulated an rWAR of 5.0 or higher. Adley Rutschman will soon be in 4th all time on this list. He will someday top this leaderboard by a wide margin. #ExtendAdley" - @OriolesStatist1

Signing both Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman to long-term deals is something that the team must do. Even though the players have yet to enter the arbitration phase of their contracts, we have seen time and time again that prolonged contract negotiations can cause a fracture in the relationship between player and team.

Baltimore Orioles have a number of other contracts that they will need to address

There is no doubt that Baltimore will be looking to extend both Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman to long-term deals, however, it has a number of pending unrestricted free agents who could make things a tad more complicated. The O's could look to wait until next season before addressing the long-term deals of Henderson and Rutschman given some of their other unrestricted free agents.

Baltimore has a number of key players coming off the books at the end of the year whose futures it will need to consider. Corbin Burnes, Anthony Santander, James McCann and John Means are all unrestricted free agents at the end of the year. Not to mention Craig Kimbrel, Ryan O'Hearn, Daniel Coulombe and Cionel Perez with team options for 2025.

Corbin Burnes will be looking for a massive contract, whereas players such as Anthony Santander might not come cheap. Depending on what the Baltimore Orioles decide to do with the players mentioned above, Henderson and Rutschman could see their massive deals agreed to before the beginning of next season.