BALTIMORE — As the beginning of the Winter Meetings rapidly approaches, it’s easy to identify the largest existing need for the Orioles: starting pitching.
Baltimore has its new manager (Craig Albernaz) and most of its coaching staff in place. The O’s have already acquired a slugging corner outfielder (Taylor Ward), a fill-in closer (Ryan Helsley), a setup reliever (Andrew Kittredge) and a depth center fielder (Leody Taveras) — and they could still add more to both the position-player group and bullpen.
But the Orioles have not yet bolstered their rotation. In fact, they lost a pair of starting candidates with the departures of right-handers Grayson Rodriguez (traded to the Angels for Ward) and Albert Suárez (non-tendered).
Baseball executives, agents and more are set to arrive at the Signia by Hilton & Waldorf Astoria in Orlando, Fla., on Sunday, with the Winter Meetings then taking place Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. For the O’s front office, it will be an opportunity to ramp up its pursuit of starting pitching as it continues to build the roster for the 2026 season.
At this juncture of the offseason, here’s where Baltimore’s rotation landscape stands:
Depth options with MLB experience: RHP Brandon Young
Top prospects with Triple-A experience: RHP Trey Gibson (the O’s No. 12 prospect, per MLB Pipeline), RHP Nestor German (No. 14), RHP Levi Wells (No. 22)
President of baseball operations Mike Elias has stated multiple times that the Orioles are pursuing a starter for the top half of the rotation — a frontline arm that can be grouped with Bradish and Rogers to form a potent trio. But Baltimore needs to add more than one starter to a group that has lost Rodriguez, Suárez and free agents Zach Eflin and Tomoyuki Sugano.
“We’ll have to source all types of pitching,” Elias recently said. “You have to go into Spring Training these days with at least eight options, and probably more than that. So we’ll be working all winter.”
Frontline candidates: LHP Framber Valdez, RHP Michael King, LHP Ranger Suárez, RHP Tatsuya Imai
Elias hasn’t signed a starting pitcher to a multiyear deal since arriving in Baltimore in November 2018. That would have to change in order to come away with one of these marquee arms — and there’s a strong argument to be made that it should change, as a starter like this could be the major addition that helps the O’s get over the hump and make a deep postseason run.
Mid-rotation targets: RHP Zac Gallen, RHP Merrill Kelly, RHP Chris Bassitt, RHP Justin Verlander
If the Orioles miss out on each of the top four, they’ll likely need to secure at least one starter from this group to serve as a strong No. 3, then make additional moves. Gallen could be the best fit despite his down 2025 season for the D-backs (a 4.83 ERA in 33 starts), as he was among the National League’s best pitchers from 2022-24.
Kelly (37), Bassitt (36) and Verlander (42) are all older pitchers who would likely get signed to one-year deals. But Baltimore (75-87 last season) is intent on having a quick turnaround and returning to contention in 2026, so one acquisition like that could make sense.
Depth options: RHP Tyler Mahle, RHP Zach Eflin, RHP Nick Martinez, RHP Zack Littell, RHP Max Scherzer and more
The O’s will be shopping in this tier for depth even if they sign a frontline or mid-rotation starter. But let’s make this clear: Their top starting-pitching acquisition should not be somebody from this group, as they need to get stronger in the front half of the staff.
The best-case scenario for Baltimore would be to add one frontline candidate and one/two starters from the mid-rotation/depth groups.
Starters who have featured in rumors and been named as trade candidates include Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta, Washington’s MacKenzie Gore, Kansas City’s Kris Bubic, Minnesota’s Joe Ryan and others. Baltimore should have enough prospect capital to swing a deal for a pitcher of that ilk, if one becomes available at a reasonable asking cost.
