Baltimore Orioles Looking Up at AL East Foes in Spring Training Power Rankings

The Baltimore Orioles were very busy during the offseason looking to fill some voids on their roster.

Their biggest holes were created in free agency when two of their All-Stars, right fielder Anthony Santander and starting pitcher Corbin Burnes, both left.

The Orioles are going to see a lot of Santander over the next few years as he signed a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. Burnes is heading to the desert, landing a contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Baltimore wasted no time replacing the slugging outfielder, as they signed Tyler O’Neill early on, signaling they were okay with losing their best power hitter. If O’Neill can stay healthy, he is a massive upgrade defensively and with on-base ability even if he hits a couple fewer home runs.

Burnes, however, is going to be tough to replace.

There is no ace currently on the staff to step into his role, which could present some problems during the season.

The Orioles took a quantity-over-quality approach in that regard, putting together an impressive amount of starting pitching depth.

Grayson Rodriguez and Zach Eflin are heading the rotation. Veterans Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano, both signed to one-year deals in free agency, will slot in behind them.

Dean Kremer looks to have the inside track to the No. 5 spot in spring training. But he will be holding off Trevor Rogers, Chase McDermott, Cade Povich and Albert Suarez throughout camp and the season. Eventually, Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells will factor into the mix.

The question about whether Baltimore did enough this offseason despite increasing their payroll by $57.4 million is legitimate. Can the team survive without a prototypical ace?

Based on the spring training power rankings shared by Jim Bowden of The Athletic, they will have their work cut out for them.

The former MLB executive has them at No. 9, solid all things considered.

But, that makes them the third-best team in their own division as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are both ahead of them, at No. 2 and No. 8, respectively.

The biggest difference between the American East rivals is the quality of starting pitching.

After winning the American League pennant last year, the Yankees signed Max Fried, one of the top starting pitchers on the market, to a historic eight-year, $215 million contract, the largest for a lefty in baseball history.

He will join Gerrit Cole atop the team’s rotation, giving them two bonafide aces.

The Red Sox won the Garrett Crochet sweepstakes, which the Orioles were supposedly a part of, giving them an ace. They also landed Walker Buehler in free agency to go along with All-Star Tanner Houck.

If Baltimore wants to keep pace with their rivals, they should aggressively pursue one of the top-end starting pitchers on trade market, such as Luis Castillo, Dylan Cease or Michael King.

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