The Orioles Truly Need 2 Starting Pitchers for 2027. Specifically, These Two

It’s hard not to immediately lower your expectation when it comes to anything Orioles related.

The owners really don’t care, and they are already starting to fire business side employes as we suspected with a labor impasse coming, and with attendance down and some of their ballpark upgrades looking like a money pit (Truist Club, anyone?). The chasm between them and real baseball teams, like the Rays and Yankees, is as great as ever and probably growing larger; things certainly feel quite bleak for so early on the offseason.

There should, however, be a standard around here and these owners – multiple billionaires at the helm – should be held to account and the more people I talk to about the Orioles the more clear it is that they need to add multiple starting pitcher. Multiple legit starting pitchers who arrive in Baltimore already with a pedigree beyond the trio of returning starters – Kyle Bradish, who needs to regain the feel for his slider, inning eater Shane Baz, and 2026 revelation Brandon Young.

We already laid out a checklist of 2027 needs and had new No. 1 starter atop that list, but after talking to others throughout the industry and watching playoff baseball, it’s obvious that this team requires multiple starters before Opening Day. Maybe one of them can be Trevor Rogers coming back, but I now have a new plan of action.

They need two.

These would be my preferred two. One would cost more money than they’ve spent on a starter to this point and the other would require a prospect haul, and would be a one-year rental, but this franchise needs to actually prioritize the present for once (it’s counter to the long-term, prospect-laden grift Elias loves to run).

Trade For Shane McClanahan

Jul 8, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Shane McClanahan (18) throws a pitch against the New York Yankees in the first inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

This sticks out more to us now than even when we explored the market for a left-handed starters last week. They need someone who enters the postseason and can go mano-y-mano with the bevvy of aces who will be in October. This kid is a pitbull with elite stuff who was cultivated by the Rays genius development staff.

The local ties and a career where he's dominated at Camden Yards certainly don’t hurt, either. Short series, he steals you a game because the lineup probably won’t hit real pitching (when do Elias’s lineups hit real pitching?). Are we fools for hoping the O’s win a game in October for the first time since 2014? Feels a lot less foolish if you get this ace on your side.

Sign Freddy Peralta

This dude has a playoff resume, and he now has experience in the AL East. The Mets are a mess, so things were ugly there, but he was a No. 1 with the Brewers, who knew what they were doing, and the Rays quicky fixed him after acquiring him from New York for the stretch run.

The Rays have some secret sauce, man. Yeah, not enough of it apparently rubbed off on Baz, but this guy understands pressure and has had to carry a staff before and he has been durable and he’s made 30 or more starts for five straight years and he’s a sub-3.50 ERA guy outside of the stint with the Mets and he’ll only be 31 next season.

The reality for this payroll, in all likelihood next season, is Pete Alonso will have the only real contract among all the hitters with any real term on it (Tyler O’Neill has only one more year at that horrible $17M price Elias paid). Baz ($13.6M/year) and Bradish ($18M/year or essentially 2026 Chris Bassitt money) are not breaking the bank, and you aren’t doing anything in October without a $25M a year guy in that mix somewhere.

Having him locked up for years to come would be vital with McClanahan in a walk year.

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