Verlander would be nice Orioles addition, Valdez would be better

Late Friday night, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported that the Orioles were one of a number of teams interested in future Hall of Fame pitcher Justin Verlander.

The Orioles are still focused on the top of the rotation, and if they’re able to sign the top starter on the market, left-hander Framber Valdez, they might still be interested in Verlander.

I hope they are.

While fans might say, “You can never have enough pitching,” I believe as a reporter, “You can never have enough star power,” and Verlander would bring even more attention to a clubhouse that will feature his former teammate with the New York Mets, Pete Alonso, Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday.

Verlander will turn 43 on February 20^th, the day the Orioles play their first Grapefruit League game against the New York Yankees.

At 43, Verlander would be the oldest player in Orioles history, and he’s less than two months older than president of baseball operations Mike Elias and four months older than new manager Craig Albernaz.

There are dozens of other fun facts about Verlander. He pitched against last season’s interim manager, Tony Mansolino, when Vanderbilt played against Verlander at Old Dominion.

Verlander has pitched to 1,298 different batters. He’s faced at least one father-and-son combination, Jackson and Matt Holliday. Verlander began pitching in the major leagues in 2005 when Jackson was a year old and when Samuel Basallo was 10 months old. Matt Holliday had been in the big leagues for only a year when Verlander debuted.

He could help the Orioles. Last August 31^st, Verlander pitched five scoreless innings for the San Francisco Giants against the Orioles at Oracle Park, allowing three hits and striking out 10.

While his won/loss record of 4-11 wasn’t good, the Giants scored two or fewer runs in 13 of his 29 starts, and his 3.85 ERA was barely half a run higher than his career mark.

Verlander would like to win 300 games. The last 300-game winner was Randy Johnson in 2009 and conventional wisdom was that he could be the last one in baseball history.

Verlander enters 2026 with 266, just two fewer than Jim Palmer had, and while Verlander sticking around long enough to win 34 more games seems unlikely, he’d like to continue to try.

The Orioles will need more than five starting pitchers to contend. They already have Kyle Bradish, Trevor Rogers, Shane Baz, Dean Kremer, Tyler Wells and Zach Eflin. Adding Valdez or Verlander could strengthen the staff markedly.

Last season, Verlander started 29 times, his most since 2019. Albernaz and pitching coach Drew French would have to tinker with the rotation with Bradish and Wells entering their first full seasons since right elbow surgeries in June 2024.

We don’t know when Elfin, who had back surgery last August, will be ready.

Verlander has been known to counsel players on the importance of getting enough rest. He says he sleeps 10 hours a night. I’d be curious to find out how he does it. I’m a good sleeper but can’t remember the last time I slept 10 hours.

It’s a positive sign that the Orioles are interested in Verlander. However, Valdez is still the most important target.

SABR Event: I’ll be speaking at the Society for Baseball Research’s event on Monday at the Peabody Heights Brewery (401 East 30^th Street, Baltimore). I’ll discuss the Orioles’ offseason and preview 2026.

The event, which begins at 9 a.m. and runs until 4 p.m., includes talks by Sig Mejdal, the Orioles’ assistant general manager for analytics; best-selling author Jane Leavy, who recently wrote “Make Me Commissioner,” in conversation with MASN broadcaster Melanie Newman; Mark Fine, Orioles chief marketing officer; Tyrone Brooks, senior director of MLB’s front office and field staff diversity pipeline program; Benjamin Weingarten, Canopy team project manager, discussing the evolution of ballpark design; and Tom Hanrahan, discussing the 2025 World Series.

To register, contact Bob Brown: bacbrown@gmail.com.

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