Orioles Still Have 1 Trade to Make Before Opening Day

Nobody can deny that the Baltimore Orioles impressed the baseball community with how active they were in improving the roster this offseason.

The Orioles started this flurry of activity by trading for outfielder Taylor Ward in a deal that sent Greyson Rodriguez to the Los Angeles Angels. They signed Ryan Helsley to be their new closer shortly after that, and before long, signed Pete Alonso to a five-year, $155 million deal in free agency.

Even if the Orioles only made these three moves, they still would have been in a good spot. But they added infield depth with several free agency signings and also re-signed Zach Eflin, traded for Shane Baz, and signed Chris Bassitt to bolster their starting rotation.

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

While these three starters should help the team's rotation be more stable in 2026, none of them is the ace-caliber arm that President of Baseball Operations Mike Elias said he wanted to acquire heading into the winter.

However, that doesn't mean the Orioles are out of options when it comes to acquiring a potential ace. While there are no such starters around in free agency, they could always hit the trade market.

Expert Sees Sandy Alcántara as 'Win-Win' Trade for Orioles to Make

Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer asserted that the Orioles should trade for Miami Marlins hurler and 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcántara this winter, which he conveyed in a March 4 article.

After coming up with a trade proposal that brings Alcántara to the Orioles in exchange for Dean Kremer and Coby Mayo, Rymer noted that this trade makes sense for Baltimore because doing so is a necessary risk for the club to reach its potential, since Alcántara is high-risk, high-reward at this point (because he has been inconsistent and only has one year left on his contract).

Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

As for the Marlins, this deal makes sense because Mayo could be the sort of prospect that would make Miami's front office pull the trigger on a trade (which they've been very reluctant to do at this point). And Mayo doesn't have a clear spot in Baltimore's infield right now, given how the roster is shaking out and the signing of Alonso.

It will be interesting to see whether the Orioles decide to pursue Alcántara before Opening Day or if they're content to see how their current staff performs in the season's first few months.

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