Baltimore Orioles May Not Be Targeting Elite Pitcher After All

It was thought that the Baltimore Orioles could be a major player for one of the elite starters that are available this offseason.

Whether it was opening up their checkbook for free agents like Aaron Nola, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Sonny Gray and Eduardo Rodriguez or acquiring someone like Tyler Glasnow, Dylan Cease and Corbin Burnes, the Orioles were thought to be in play to land one of them.

However, three of those free agents mentioned are now off the market and the other two are expected to receive monster contracts, something that this front office has been hesitant to give out.

General manager Mike Elias also said they're not interested in trading their top prospects just for the sake of trading.

So, where does that leave Baltimore with their offseason plans?

Well, Elias has already started tempering expectations towards them looking to sign a back-of-the-rotation guy instead of an ace.

"I think everybody would rather have a one starter than a two starter and a two starter than a three, generically speaking, but I think we’re in a position where we have two really interesting guys in Grayson [Rodriguez] and [Kyle] Bradish coming back who have the potential to continue pitching like front-line starters. And I think if we’re able to upgrade the third or the fourth spot in the rotation instead, that would just as well present a pretty good upgrade and stability to the rotation," he said.

The Orioles clearly like those two young starters, but in the postseason last year, they didn't have a good enough rotation to compete.

A high-level starting addition would have made them much more complete on paper.

However, it doesn't seem like the front office is willing to spend the money or use their prospects to land one of the best available pitchers this offseason.