Baltimore Orioles Listed Among Three Suitors for Elite Left-Handed Starter

The Baltimore Orioles could use the potential ace to eat up innings at the front of their rotation.

Oct 20, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; New York Mets pitcher Sean Manaea (59) walks to the dugout after being relieved in the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game six of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Dodger Stadium. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Multiple players around Major League Baseball raised their free agency stock in a big way this year.

For the Baltimore Orioles, that's both a good and bad thing. If they wanted any player before they impressed during the campaign, that likely means they'll have to pay a higher price for their services. If they didn't want a player and one jumped on their radar because of the year they had, the Orioles could've found a player who might help their chances of winning a World Series in the future.

There are a few examples of that, but perhaps none have been bigger than left-hander Sean Manaea.

Manaea has been linked to Baltimore a bit over the past few weeks, as the club could use a starter of his caliber.

The Orioles will certainly add an arm or two this winter, and considering Manaea's price might not be out of their budget, there might not be many better options.

Jim Bowden of The Athletic linked the two last week again and predicted his future contract, which came in at $68 million for three years.

"I don’t think there’s another player who increased his free-agent value more this year than Sean Manaea, who did so thanks to significant mechanical changes that led to a crossfire-type delivery. Manaea went 12-6 with a 3.47 ERA and 184 strikeouts in 181 2/3 innings. He had a .185 batting average against and 0.938 WHIP in the second half of the season, then largely pitched well in three of his four postseason outings, including a dominant NLDS start against the Phillies in which he allowed one run and three hits in seven innings. He has a $13.5 million player option for 2025 that he will decline."

$68 million over three seasons for Manaea would be a fair price to pay, but it remains uncertain how realistic that price is.

The starter, who's represented by super agent Scott Boras, might believe he's worth more than that.

Any Boras client has to be looked at under a different light this winter. The renowned agent had his worst offseason in history last winter and could be trying to recover all the money he lost this time around.

Manaea certainly isn't his top client, but if he could sneak out $100 million for him, it's something he'll be looking for.

If his price were to be around that figure, Baltimore should avoid him. If it were around $70 million, he'd be an excellent acquisition.