Orioles Linked to Mariners Starter as Trade Possibility
The Baltimore Orioles are looking for at least one starting pitcher this offseason. One potential option, Aaron Nola, is off the board. Others, like Sonny Gray, have plenty of suitors.
But there are other way for the Orioles to boost their chances of getting a pitcher that could bolster their young rotation. Trades are an option. And the Orioles have an arsenal of top prospects and young infielders that could be moved — for the right pitcher.
The Orioles are coming off a 101-win season and an AL East title. The team has an upward trajectory, one that could make them contenders for the next several years.
But the holdover rotation, while talented, is also on the young side — Dean Kremer, Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez and Tyler Wells.
So, a talented pitcher with a track record would be of use to Baltimore. But, which one?
What about Seattle’s Logan Gilbert? It sounds far-fetched, but nothing is out of the realm of possibility in the offseason.
CBS Sports recently put together a list of 25 players that could be traded this offseason, and Gilbert was one of them. In that piece, CBS connected the Orioles as a potential landing spot.
The logic, per CBS, is that the Mariners have a wealth of young pitching on its roster and in its system, creating a logjam. There were reported trade rumblings before the deadline. The Orioles need a pitcher that can anchor their rotation, and Gilbert is capable. Best of all, Gilbert is young enough where the team with his rights had three more years of control before free agency.
As CBS Sports puts it:
Every team could use a guy like Gilbert and that is especially true for the Orioles. I mean, if Baltimore won't part with prospects to get a highly effective starter with long-term control like Gilbert, then I have no idea who they are willing to trade prospects to get.
Gilbert has pitched three seasons in the Majors and has back-to-back 13-win seasons in 2022 and 2023. He’s 32-18 with a 3.76 ERA in three seasons, while he struck out nearly nine hitters per nine innings and walking a bit more than two per nine innings.
The Mariners would ask for a bushel of players. The Orioles are one of the few teams that could deliver without hurting their organization overall. It won’t cost them Jackson Holliday because he is basically untouchable as the game’s No. 1 prospect.
But other young players in a package for Gilbert? It feels possible, albeit unlikely.
