Baltimore Orioles Urged to Sign Starting Pitchers During Winter Meetings

The Baltimore Orioles are heading into the Winter Meetings with a lot of questions regarding what 2025 will look like yet to be answered.

Coming into the offseason, the Orioles knew that they were going to have some important decisions to make and a challenging winter ahead of them.

When the offseason started, Baltimore knew that two of their best players from 2024 were going to be two of the best free agents available this offseason. Both Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander are going to be highly-sought after free agents, and the Orioles need to figure out if they can bring one or both of these players back.

As seen last year, the addition of Burnes was really beneficial for Baltimore, as he provided them with a true ace. However, while they did finally have their ace on the staff, it didn’t help result in postseason success.

Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com recently spoke about what the Orioles need to accomplish during the Winter Meetings. He highlighted the need for the team to add multiple starting pitchers.

“We could almost imprint this sentence into a Stock Watch template: The Orioles need to add one or more mid-rotation (or better) starters. This is especially true at the moment since they added such a player last year in Burnes, who is currently the best remaining starter on the free agent market. Bringing him back is the best-case scenario, but if Burnes signs elsewhere, Baltimore needs to pivot quickly to someone such as (Max) Fried, Nathan Eovaldi or Max Scherzer -- or all the above.”

Bringing back their ace should certainly be the top priority for Baltimore, but they need some more help as well. If the Orioles are able to bring back the talented right-hander, adding another veteran to help solidify the rotation would be ideal.

However, if Baltimore does lose Burnes in free agency, they will need to have a good backup plan in place. While pivoting to the next best pitcher available like Max Fried could be an option, they will need more as well.

As shown last offseason, the Orioles are willing to make trades and move prospects if it makes sense. Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox will be arguably the best starting pitcher available on the trade market and a name that will likely be mentioned frequently during the Winter Meetings.

While Baltimore will likely stand pat until a decision is made on Burnes, adding pitching should be their top priority during the Winter Meetings.