Baltimore Orioles Still Missing a True Ace Despite Active Offseason

Contrary to how the Baltimore Orioles have operated throughout the earlier years of Mike Elias's tenure as executive vice president and general manager, the club has been surprisingly active this offseason.
They have signed Tyler O'Neill, Gary Sanchez, Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano, and Andrew Kittredge, adding $62 million to their payroll ahead of the 2025 season.
New team owner and president David Rubenstein has made it clear that he has no aversion to spending to win, and Elias has gladly handed out Rubenstein's money.
While the spending on free agency has been present this winter, it still feels... empty?
The club did have more deals in place before they either fell through due to failed physicals or the player choosing to sign elsewhere (Jeff Hoffman and Corbin Burnes, respectively) and the signings that they have made feel more like desperation moves than transactions that needed to take place.
Even with the bevy of signings that they have made, the club has still failed to fix the most glaring hole on the roster, not having a true ace.
As things stand, the Orioles' "ace" for 2025 will be Zach Eflin. While Eflin is certainly not a bad pitcher, he is ill-suited to fill the role of an ace.
Bringing Burnes back would have made this offseason feel more complete, but the ace wanted to be close to home and chose the Arizona Diamondbacks instead.
Now, as we quickly approach pitchers and catchers reporting, the options available for the rotation are non-existent as far as "true aces."
Jack Flaherty is the best available option remaining, but he is another guy who is better suited to slot into the middle of a rotation than at the front.
If Baltimore wants to make a real splash this winter and shore up their rotation, Elias needs to bite the bullet and do whatever is necessary to have Luis Castillo on the roster before February.
Elias has proven through the years that he covets prospects and wants to build the team with mostly "home-grown" talent, but parades are cooler than prospects, and adding Castillo to the mix would go a long way to keeping this team in playoff contention while the rest of the American League East continues to improve around them.
The Orioles have proven this offseason that they are capable of being active in free agency. Now, they need to prove that they are capable of making meaningful moves to improve the team.