Orioles Potential Trade Target Seen as Market's Top Target at Deadline

Will the Baltimore Orioles have to make a trade to fix their rotation, and if so will it be this right-hander from the west coast?

Apr 2, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners starter Luis Castillo (58) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at T-Mobile Park. | Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

It’s been a bit of a tough start to the season for the Baltimore Orioles, who have been trying to weather the storm with a couple of injuries to key players. 

While things haven’t started out the way the team might have liked, they have recently started to see some of their top players return. 

Over the weekend, the Orioles were able to activate Gunnar Henderson from the injured list. As the best player on the team, it was crucial to get him back after missing some time early. 

While the lineup has been performing well despite missing players, the starting rotation has been very hit or miss. 

So far, Zach Eflin and Tomoyuki Sugano are off to strong starts, but the other three starters have had a tough go of it. 

Coming into the year, the rotation was a concern for the franchise after losing Corbin Burnes in free agency. So far, those concerns have been warranted, and this is a team that could use Grayson Rodriguez back as soon as possible. 

While the Orioles were rumored and linked to a lot of pitchers in the trade market this winter, the team never got a deal done. However, as the campaign progresses, they might look to revisit that if the rotation doesn’t improve. 

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about a potential trade target for the Orioles to help the rotation being one of the top trade chips this season. 

“Now, whether they'll be able to find a trade partner who A) needs a starting pitcher, B) can afford what's left on Castillo's contract and C) has a surplus bat that would actually help the Mariners is a different story. It probably needs to be a three-team deal to make that happen," he wrote.

Luis Castillo was a name frequently mentioned this winter as a player that could be moved, but ultimately stayed put. 

While it isn’t because of performance, the Seattle Mariners moving Castillo could help them for a couple of different reasons. 

Firstly, the Mariners could use some payroll relief, which moving his large contract would help with. Furthermore, the team has a fairly deep starting rotation, and while the right-hander is talented, the Mariners could use help elsewhere. 

In a potential trade, Seattle would surely be looking to get back some help for their lineup, which makes the Orioles a logical pairing. 

Baltimore has a plethora of depth in the batting order both in the Majors already and on the way up from the minors. 

Castillo would fill a big need for them at the top of the rotation, which is an area of concern. Overall. The two franchises make a lot of sense as a trade partner for each other to get better.