Starting pitching remains Orioles’ biggest need

The pre-Winter Meetings additions of outfielder Tyler O’Neill and catcher Gary Sánchez didn’t satisfy an impatient Orioles fan base. It made some believe the momentum of two agreements in about three hours on Saturday night would continue into three days of the Winter Meetings.

It didn’t, and the Orioles remain searching for that No. 1 starter.

They could still re-sign last year’s ace, Corbin Burnes, but they’ll need to convince him to pitch for the Orioles again instead of the San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays or Boston Red Sox—or someone else.

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias handed out a $49.5 million, three-year contract to O’Neill with an opt-out after the 2025 season. That’s the first multi-year contract he’s agreed to for a free agent, and the priciest one, too.

Sánchez’s is for $8.5 million in 2025, and that’s a lot of money for a backup catcher.

But fans want Orioles owner David Rubenstein to spend more.

During the Winter Meetings in Dallas, Elias again referred to Rubenstein and the rest of his ownership group as being supportive and allowing the Orioles to be competitive for free agents.

Elias said the Orioles “are in on everybody,” in the market for starting pitcher, but the prices for top—and middling—starters has escalated beyond what was predicted.

Max Fried signed with the New York Yankees for eight years, $218 million. While that may have seemed high, right-hander Luis Severino signed a three-year, $67 million contract with the Athletics, who might play in a minor league ballpark in Sacramento for the duration of Severino’s contract as they await a move to Las Vegas.

Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, who is 41-47 with a 4.57 ERA in six major league seasons, signed a three-year, $63.68 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels.

Nathan Eovaldi, who pitched for three other American League East teams, re-signed with Texas for three years and $75 million.

While there are still a number of recognizable names with records of accomplishment on the market — Walker Buehler, Andrew Heaney, Lance Lynn, Sean Manaea, Charlie Morton, Nick Pivetta and Jose Quintana, among them — Burnes would be the best choice.

There’s also Jack Flaherty, who had a forgettable two months with the Orioles in 2023, and future Hall of Famers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.

The Orioles could go the trade route. Garrett Crochet, who had been linked with them for the past year, went to Boston instead. There’s talk that San Diego’s Dylan Cease and perhaps Pittsburgh’s Mitch Keller are obtainable for the right deal. Seattle could trade away one of its starters, too.

Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki was posted during the Winter Meetings, and while his agent, Joel Wolfe, tried to convince attendees at his press briefing that his client could sign anywhere, it seems hard to imagine Sasaki coming to Baltimore.

The Orioles’ thin history with Japanese players, Baltimore’s lack of a Japanese community and its small size are obstacles, though Wolfe indicated that because the money any of the 30 teams can offer is about the same, market size shouldn’t matter.

There was no real talk about relievers at the Winter Meetings. That market seems to be moving slowly, and the Orioles should be able to add one or two later in the offseason.

With the signings of O’Neill and Sánchez, it’s apparent that two of the most popular Orioles, free agent outfielder Anthony Santander and catcher James McCann, won’t be returning next season. That tempered fans’ excitement for O’Neill and Sánchez.

It appears that Elias’ work on position players is largely done, unless they’re involved in a trade for starting pitching.

Grayson Rodriguez, Zach Eflin, Dean Kremer, Cade Povich and Albert Suárez are the current starters, with Chayce McDermott, Trevor Rogers and Brandon Young adding possible depth.

But the return of Burnes, coupled with another free-agent signing or a trade, would make that rotation much stronger, and provide a true ace.

Couple that with the possible late-season returns of Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells, and the Orioles could be formidable.

According to betonline.ag, the Orioles are 2/1 to win the AL East and 5/1 to win the American League, trailing the Yankees and Astros.

The Orioles have two months until spring training, and the guess here is by then they’ll have made significant additions to their starting staff.

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.