Baltimore Orioles Could Be Trade Suitor for New York Yankees Starting Pitcher

The Baltimore Orioles could pull off a trade with a division rival to upgrade their pitching staff.

Mar 2, 2024; Sarasota, Florida, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Marcus Stroman (0) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Easily the biggest need that the Baltimore Orioles had entering the MLB offseason was on their pitching staff.

Injuries certainly hurt, as projected key contributors Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells all went down with season-ending ailments. The bullpen was a mess with the Craig Kimbrel experiment not going according to plan either.

This offseason, the goal was to fix those woes, and some additions have been made, but there could be more moves on the horizon.

It was a major blow to the Orioles when their ace, Corbin Burnes, departed in free agency, signing a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Their starting rotation was already a concern with him; without him, it is a dire situation.

Baltimore is currently lacking the kind of top-end rotation arms to compete with the other contenders in the league.

In their own division, the New York Yankees have Gerrit Cole, Max Fried and Carlos Rodon. The Boston Red Sox won the Garrett Crochet sweepstakes, inserting him atop their rotation with All-Star Tanner Houck.

Free agent signings Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano add quality depth to the mix, but aren’t aces at this stage of their respective careers.

Right now, they are slotting in somewhere behind Zach Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez with Dean Kremer likely factoring into the mix as well. Getting aggressive and landing a player such as Luis Castillo of the Seattle Mariners or Dylan Cease of the San Diego Padres would certainly improve their outlook.

If the Orioles don’t make a move of that magnitude, it wouldn’t hurt to keep adding quality starters to the mix.

One player who could pique their interest as a middle-of-the-rotation upgrade is Marcus Stroman of the Yankees.

The American League East rivals making a trade with each other is rare; the last time they made a swap was in 2018 when Zach Britton was traded to New York in exchange for Cody Carroll, Josh Rogers and Dillon Tate.

Looking to move Stroman to save salary, Baltimore could emerge as a suitor, as they have previously shown interest in him.

As shared by Brendan Kuty of The Athletic, the Orioles were one of the teams who were interested in him before he agreed to his free-agent deal with the Yankees.

Still a quality performer, it would be a low-risk, high-reward move for the franchise to make. It would cost virtually nothing in terms of a trade package, as saving money is the No. 1 priority for their division rivals.

An All-Star in 2023, Stroman is capable of producing at a high level. Stockpiling as many productive arms as possible is certainly one way to build a staff if Baltimore isn’t going to look to make one major splash.