The Orioles made one necessary rotation upgrade this week, signing Tomoyuki Sugano to a $13MM deal on Monday. That should be the first of multiple starting pitching acquisitions. Sugano projects as a back-of-the-rotation arm at this stage of his career. The O's need for an ace persists.
Baltimore addressed that last winter via trade. The O's acquired one year of control over Corbin Burnes for Joey Ortiz and DL Hall in what was GM Mike Elias' boldest trade to date. Burnes pitched as well as the O's could've expected, turning in a 2.92 ERA across 32 regular season starts to earn a fifth-place finish in Cy Young balloting. He fired eight innings of one-run ball in his lone postseason appearance. Unfortunately, the offense cratered down the stretch and scored a grand total of one run in their two playoff games. The Royals swept them by respective 1-0 and 2-1 margins.
Burnes is a free agent, leaving Elias and his staff on the hunt for another top-end arm. Where could they turn?
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Any starter on the Padres.
Padres are open for business.
#punting25
#firesale
Except Michael king (and probably yu darvish)
Rent Montgomery for a year. AZ may even pay a little and no prospect capital. He is good and last year’s messed up routine was the outlier.
That thing is not an ace
Jordan Montgomery would be such a Mike Elias TOR pitcher
Miami: Braxton Garrett
Pittsburgh: Mitch Keller
St. Louis: Sonny Gray
Free Agent: Jose Quintana
Obviously, these are not top end, but they could be had.
As a Braves fan, I could see Bryce Elder as a target.buy low and controllable.
But, if Gray waives his no-trade and the cardinals offset some of that crazy salary for the remaining two years (luxury tax is a non issue for BAL now unlike other teams), it would be a perfect get for BAL
Uh, the object is to win games
Idk man. I’m an O’s fan and this is getting exhausting just discussing but if I know my O’s, it will probably be no one on this list just like Sugano. I pray we can just get Corbin on a short term high AAV deal with opt outs. That allows him to come back to a team that treated him well, will win, and while his kids are still young. Then eventually get his deal out west.
There is absolutely no reason for Burnes to take a short term deal. He’s pitched well the last couple years and deserves his money.
The Giants are apparently the only west coast team that’s offering that and what if it’s not the amount of money and years he wants. Then he’s locked into something long term he’s not completely satisfied with. Blue Jays are probably the only ones close to giving him $250m and he clearly doesn’t want to be there long term when he lives in Arizona. Plus, they suck. So you can’t just say for sure that’s there’s “no reason”. There’s a chance if the market isn’t shaping out quite the way he wished it would and could still retry next year with an opt out.
If that’s the case he will sign a long term contract with opt outs after the 1st or 2nd year if he truly doesn’t like the location team. But there is absolutely no reason to risk 50-100MM if he gets hurt or has a down year just cause of location/team.
Scherzer is kind of intriguing. He’s probably cooked but he’ll only be a one year commitment. For a team trying to pinch pennies, there are worse options.
Don’t know who but I do know when: late, real late.
I’m thinking beyond late. As in, they’re done adding SPs this off season. Going with the 3 headed TOR of Eflin, GRod, and Sugano. Plus, overall there’s enough SP to be competitive until Bradish and Wells are back.
Os should focus on another proven league level hitter … and with playoff experience. I like Gleyber Torres. True a down grade defensively but it’s more than worth the risk.
Flaherty? LMAO.
the funniest part of this weird response is that sasaki’s name was mentioned exactly zero times in the piece
Scherzer, Verlander & Sasaki. Instant championship.
@just_thinkin
What if I don’t want to save $3? Remember, people saving money doesn’t help the economy go round. We need people spending all their income and more to keep this economy going…
Go Burnes or go home.
Castillo for Mayo
Dillon Cease San Diego Padres.
AJ Preller is open for business for another blockbuster deal.
Padres need pitching, a MLB catcher, and a LF. What are you proposing? The Orioles have some interesting players that could be available.
Keep in mind that Preller reportedly asked for a steep package when the Red Sox asked him about Cease. A package that included their LF, a top 10 prospect in MLB, and a couple of pitchers.
I doubt he gets that, but that is what he was asking for. So start at least in that vicinity.
Looking at what they have available.
Coby Mayo 3B/1B/DH
Mayo is a poor fielding 3B with a cannon arm and serious power. He has no place to play right now with the Orioles. He might push Westburg or Mountcastle out at some point, but not yet.
Samuel Basallo C
With Rutschmann firmly entrenched behind the plate as one of the best young catchers in the game, Basallo is expendable. He was exposed when facing older pitching at AAA, but he was just about the youngest player at that level.
One of them would be a good headline piece for Cease.
Then you have even more prospects that a tier below. Just out of top 100 range.
Helton Kjerstad LF
They don’t believe Kjerstad is ready nor do they think he will be anytime soon because they signed O’Niell to a 3/50 deal. Kjerstad has 147 PA, so not rookie elligible, but even before getting those last 17 PA, he had fallen out of the top 100 prospects in mid-season updates. Still a great young prospect in my opinion.
Chase McDermott RHP
McDermott got a cup of coffee in the majors and struggled. His control issues followed him from AAA to the Orioles. He has walked 5.6 per 9 at AA and AA over the last 2 seasons. Good stuff. Bad command. At 26 he is not young anymore. The Orioles #5 prospect, but not a top 100 prospect or close.
Brandon Young RHP
Another 26 year old, Young is a 6’6″ pitcher that does not have overwhelming stuff, sitting 92.93 mph. Not what I expected when I saw his size. He is the prototypical back of the rotation type if he makes it to the majors.
Beyond those two, there are no other pitching prospects that are near MLB ready or that are in the upper part of their prospect lists
That leaves major league pitching.
Albert Suarez is 35 in 2025. That is a no.
Kyle Bradish is injured. TJ surgery. And won’t be back until June at the earliest. That is a no.
Not sure who else they have.
3 team trade that sends Mayo or Basallo plus Kjerstad and another SP to the Padres and Cease and another prospect to the Orioles?
Thank you for these prospect write-ups; found them helpful for my own research in case the Mariners decide to do the same for Castillo. Cheers
Castillo is a great option. Halfway through his contract so less commitment. Should also hire away some of the M’s pitching development and training staff, the M’s seem to know how baby their arms and everyone seems to know the M’s are just as skinflint with off-field personnel salaries as on-field contracts.
The O’s just hired away Catie Griggs from the Mariners, so she must know people to hire.
“…everyone seems to know the M’s are just as skinflint with off-field personnel…” well I wasn’t aware of this per se, and it would be a damn shame if it was true…why would they want to shoot themselves in the foot by being cheap in an area that has been such a comparative success for them??? These off-field personnel who have been so great molding our pitchers should not cost excessive amounts. To go cheap in this area would be irrational and I hope it’s not true. Otherwise what’s the point of even trying to compete?
They can trade for Gilbert or Kirby or Miller while not breaking the bank they certainly have the prospects for it.
Stop hoarding prospects dum dums
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