With a week to go before the trade deadline, Orioles will look everywhere for pitching

There’s only a week before the  July 30^th trade deadline, and the Orioles are among many clubs looking to upgrade their pitching. Let’s look at the key questions as the deadline approaches.

Will the Orioles get pitching help? Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias is focused on adding a starter and a reliever or two.

The Orioles aren’t likely to adequately replace Kyle Bradish, who was lost for the rest of the season and well into 2025 after  Tommy John surgery last month. No one on the market appears to be as good, but they need another starter for the postseason.

A combination of Bradish, Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez would have given the Orioles an outstanding top-of-the rotation for the rest of the season and into the postseason.

Now, they’ll need another starter to slot in after Burnes and Rodriguez, and possibly ahead of Dean Kremer.

The number of teams the Orioles can consider as trade partners could increase soon. Over the weekend, they played last season’s World Series winners, the Texas Rangers, who still aren’t sure of their trade deadline strategy.

Last week, Rangers general manager Chris Young indicated that he hoped to be in a position to buy, but they’re one of several teams that must get hot to be a contender.

While Chicago, Oakland, Los Angeles and Toronto are far our of contention for the division or wild-card berth, Texas, Detroit and Tampa Bay are the AL teams on the fringe of contention.

Only Miami, the Orioles’ opponent for the next three games, and Colorado are out of contention in the National League, Cincinnati, Washington, Chicago and San Francisco are the NL teams on the fringe.

Over the next few days, they’ll decide whether to consider selling, and then the market can solidify.

Who can the Orioles get, and at what cost? Lots of names have been linked to the Orioles, particularly Chicago’s Garrett Crochet and Detroit’s Tarik Skubal, both left-handers.

Crochet and Skubal are under team control for two seasons beyond this one, which would be attractive to the Orioles, especially with Bradish’s absence for at least much of 2025, and the likelihood of losing Burnes after this season.

Crochet’s teammate, Erick Fedde, who is signed through next year, could be of interest as well.

Perhaps after losing twice to Texas’ Andrew Heaney in the last two weeks, the Orioles would consider him. Heaney’s record is 4-10, but his earned-run average is 3.60. He’s been undermined by a lack of support and a poor bullpen.

Maybe the Rangers would consider trading Nathan Eovaldi. Like Heaney, he’s signed only for this season. He’s 6-4 with a 3.36 ERA and has appeared in 17 postseason games with a 3.05 ERA, a factor that could intrigue the Orioles.

Tampa Bay’s Zach Eflin is signed through next season, and he has postseason experience but has started only once and has a 5.17 postseason ERA.

The Orioles have plenty of prospects, but not as many to trade as they did a year ago. They traded infielder César Prieto and pitching prospect Drew Rom to St. Louis for Jack Flaherty, a move that seemed promising at the time but worked out poorly when Flaherty had a 6.75 ERA in nine games.

The Tigers could put Flaherty, who has a 3.13 ERA, on the market again, but would the Orioles consider trading for him again?

Joey Ortiz, a top infield prospect with no job assured for 2024, was the big get for Milwaukee in the Orioles’ deal for Burnes, but the Orioles don’t have many middle infield prospects available.

Connor Norby, their fifth-rated prospect, is a solid hitter and plays second base and the corner outfield. There’s currently no room on the Orioles for him, and they could offer him.

Their top four prospects — Jackson Holliday, Samuel Basallo, Coby Mayo and Enrique Bradfield Jr. — have bright futures, and Elias might not want to part with them.

The Orioles also have outfielders Heston Kjerstad and Kyle Stowers, players who could have a future with the team but could be available in the right deal.

Outfielder Colton Cowser seems to have played himself into a player the Orioles want to keep.

The Orioles don’t have many great young pitching prospects. Chayce McDermott could be recalled soon to replace Cade Povich, who was sent down to Triple-A Norfolk just ahead of the All-Star break.

McDermott, Povich and Seth Johnson, who’s at Double-A Bowie, are their top young pitchers, and all were obtained at the 2022 trade deadline in deals for Jorge López and Trey Mancini.

There are several high-ranking prospects who were recent top draft choices — outfielders Dylan Beavers and Jud Fabian and infielders Mac Horvath and Max Wagner — who could interest some teams.

The market for relievers should be ample, and the Orioles have shown an ability to find quality relief arms at relatively little cost. Some of the Orioles’ best recent relievers — Danny Coulombe, Cionel Pérez and Jacob Webb — were obtained at little cost.

While fans are eager for the Orioles to trade for Oakland’s Mason Miller, the Athletics’ asking price is likely to be too high.  Miller has five years before free agency, but few relief pitchers are consistent enough to dominate for that long a time.

Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com