Baltimore Orioles Predicted To End Season With Seattle Mariners Ace

The Baltimore Orioles were recently predicted to end this season with a current Seattle Mariners ace on their roster.

Aug 28, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Luis Castillo (58) throws against the Tampa Bay Rays during the second inning at T-Mobile Park. | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles have been frequently mentioned as a potential suitor when it comes to pretty much every top pitcher that has become available, but they have yet to pull the trigger.

Could they be waiting to see how their current rotation does before they need add to it?

Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller thinks that a move will eventually come, as he recently predicted that the Orioles will end this season with Seattle Mariners ace Luis Castillo on their roster.

The Mariners aren't trying to ship Castillo away because he is struggling. They just have such an influx of pitching talent that it doesn't make much sense for them to pay a pitcher as much as they are paying Castillo.

This could be the perfect situation for Baltimore to get a new staff ace at a reasonable price.

Castillo is also signed through the end of the 2027 season with a vesting option in 2028. Being able to add him to the top of their rotation alongside the combination of Grayson Rodriguez and Kyle Bradish would be a huge win.

The current Seattle flamethrower has been an All-Star in two of the last three seasons with a 3.34 ERA and 9.7 K/9 in that time.

Castillo is about as consistent and reliable as pitchers can get while also still having the potential to break out into a Cy Young winner.

The 32-year-old doesn't have the same zip on his fastball that he used to, but is forcing much worse contact than he has in the past few years.

Given how much money he is making ($24.15 million a year), the Orioles might not have to trade away too much to get him in one of their uniforms.

A realistic trade offer could include outfield prospect Jud Fabian and pitching prospect Alex Pham.

Fabian, currently the No. 10 prospect in the farm system, would be the top guy given up.

The former second-round pick has been struggling with consistency at the plate, but has serious power potential that a team could still unlock. He has hit at least 20 home runs in both his final two college campaigns and the past two seasons in the minors.

Pham, the No. 24 prospect, is a strikeout machine who would do well pitching for the Mariners.

If the 25-year-old can figure out his control little more, he could still turn into a nice arm at the back end of a staff.

Given that Baltimore is doing fine on young talent and now needs to turn their focus to pro-ready stars, this would be a great swap.