"The rotation was a natural point of focus, with Elias saying the club wants to add a starter to the front half of its rotation, which could be either a #1, a #2 or a #3. Such distinctions are fairly subjective but the point would be to have another guy capable of slotting in next to Kyle Bradish and Tyler Rogers somewhere in the front half of the rotation."
"What will be interesting to monitor is if the club changes its level of aggressiveness. Throughout Elias's tenure, the club has never given a free agent pitcher a multi-year deal, as shown in MLBTR's Contract Tracker. The only time they've gone beyond one year for any free agent was Tyler O'Neill's three-year pact, which had an opt-out after the first season."
"In November of last year, Elias raised those hopes by saying that the O's were considering "the whole spectrum" of available players, which included "high-end free agent deals over many years." But in the end, their rotation adds were fairly modest. They gave a one-year deal to 41-year-old to Charlie Morton and another one-year deal to 35-year-old Tomoyuki Sugano, who was coming over from Japan and had no major league experience."
The club wants to add a starter to the front half of its rotation, either a #1, #2 or #3, to pair with Kyle Bradish and Tyler Rogers. Baltimore starters finished 24th in MLB with a 4.65 ERA in 2025, making rotation upgrades a priority. The organization has historically avoided multi-year contracts for free-agent pitchers, with only one previous free-agent deal beyond one year including an opt-out. Last offseason featured one-year signings (Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano). The team’s level of aggressiveness in pursuing a top starter for 2026 remains uncertain.
Read at MLB Trade Rumors
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