Insider Hints Baltimore Orioles Won't Add Starting Pitcher
The Baltimore Orioles offseason has been quiet and it's to the point where it could be concerning. It was clear during the 2023 season that the team needed an ace-caliber pitcher and with just a few weeks until Spring Training, they haven't added one to the rotation.
It's tough to say that any arm that's signed at this point, who was a realistic Orioles target, is an ace. The team was never going to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Shohei Ohtani due to the money that they commanded.
The potential targets for Baltimore have been Dylan Cease, Corbin Burnes, and others. Cease looks to be the most logical option for them as the Orioles have more than enough in the farm system to make a deal with the Chicago White Sox.
However, the White Sox have made the right-handed pitcher's asking price too high and don't seem to have an issue keeping him until the trade deadline. That's where Baltimore's front office finds themselves in a strange spot. If none of these arms get moved, they'll head into the 2024 season with the same issues, if not more, since Kyle Gibson signed with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic hinted the Orioles not make a move before the deadline.
"Cease, with two years of control remaining in arbitration, and Luzardo, with three, are more realistic. But with spring training a month away, the Orioles’ efforts to trade for one of those two, or a comparable starter, appear stalled."
Other free agents are available and despite not being at the same level of Cease, they could help this rotation. Those names include James Paxton, Blake Snell, and others.
Either the White Sox will lower their asking price before the season starts or the Orioles will up their offer. If neither of those things happens, Baltimore will enter 2024 with their rotation largely looking the same as last year.
