Baltimore Orioles Reportedly Among Top Landing Spots for Highly Sought After Ace
The Baltimore Orioles will be looking to add to their roster in a significant way this offseason. They must fend off the rest of the American League East and each team, especially the New York Yankees, will be looking to spend a lot of money to reconstruct their roster and return to relevancy.
The Orioles will look to add in a smart manner, their philosophy has not been and likely won't be to spend hundreds of millions to build their roster full of veteran stars.
But they could look to splurge on one.
According to The Athletic, Baltimore is one of the potential top landing spots for ace pitcher Lucas Giolito.
Giolito had a down year in 2023 after having began it with the Chicago White Sox and then being traded to the Los Angeles Angels and then finally released and claimed by the Cleveland Guardians.
His 4.88 ERA over the course of 184.1 innings is likely not indicative of who he is as a pitcher. He is a talented hurler that can flash ace-like stuff. It is perfectly reasonable to assume a bounce back year is on the horizon for the right-hander.
Perhaps playing for organizations that were on a losing path with poor morale explains some of his downturn. Whereas a team like the Orioles, full of youth, talent and on an skyrocket trajectory.
The same article predicts that Giolito will receive a contract in the neighborhood of two-years and $24 million.
That is an affordable sum for the Orioles who could insert him near the top of the rotation and help solidify an already capable unit.
If Baltimore wishes to maintain the dominancy of the AL East it established in 2023, then some dollars will need to be spent on free agents, albeit smartly.
Giolito could be the perfect start and a great fit.
