The Orioles can talk all they want about patching together the rotation, but that approach doesn’t match the moment. If this team is serious about getting back into October, it needs real arms - and not just one. It needs two starting pitchers for 2027, with both ready to matter when the games tighten up.
That’s the part that keeps coming back after talking to people around the industry and watching playoff baseball. Baltimore already has Kyle Bradish, who still needs to find the feel for his slider again, plus Shane Baz as the inning-eating piece and Brandon Young coming off his 2026 breakthrough.
Maybe Trevor Rogers returns and helps the picture. Even so, the need is bigger than a single fix.
One of the names that stands out is the kind of pitcher who can walk into a postseason series and stare down the aces on the other side. He’s a hard-throwing, high-end talent developed by the Rays’ machine, and the local connection doesn’t hurt.
Neither does the fact that he’s been dominant at Camden Yards. In a short series, that kind of starter can steal you a game, especially if the lineup keeps failing to solve real pitching.
He also comes with the kind of résumé the Orioles can’t fake. He has playoff experience, has worked in the AL East, and despite things going sideways with the Mets, he was a No. 1 with the Brewers and got straightened out quickly by the Rays after they picked him up from New York for the stretch run. He’s been durable too, making 30 or more starts in five straight seasons, carrying a sub-3.50 ERA outside that Mets stretch, and he’ll be 31 next season.
The other target would cost a prospect haul, and that matters because he’d be a one-year rental. But this roster needs the front office to choose the present for once, even if that runs against the long-game, prospect-heavy style Elias prefers.
The Orioles don’t need more placeholders. They need a starter who can go toe-to-toe with October’s best.
That urgency also fits the payroll picture. Pete Alonso is expected to be the only hitter on the books with real long-term money, while Tyler O’Neill has just one more year left on the ugly $17 million deal Elias handed out.
Baz is at $13.6 million per year and Bradish at $18 million per year, basically 2026 Chris Bassitt money. None of that leaves room for pretending a bargain rotation will be enough.
Baltimore needs a $25 million-a-year type in the mix somewhere.
And if the Orioles can lock that kind of arm up beyond 2027, that becomes even more important with McClanahan in a walk year.
In Other News...
Mike Elias Keeps Giving Orioles Fans Another Reason To Hate The Rays
The Orioles front office has spent plenty of time chasing the Rays in the standings, but Tampa Bay keeps finding another way to make life harder in Baltimore. Mike Elias, now the clubs chief baseball executive, has become part of that dynamic after dealing away players who have since turned into useful pieces for the Rays, adding another layer to a rivalry that already leaves Orioles fans on edge.
Among the names in that mix are catcher Caden Bodine and closer Bryan Baker, both examples of ex-Oriole talent helping Tampa Bay stay in the conversation while Baltimore fights through its own roster and development issues. It is the kind of contrast that tends to sharpen the criticism around Elias, because every Rays success story seems to send the conversation back to what the Orioles gave up and why the gap between the two clubs still feels so familiar. [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Westburg Suddenly Feels Caught In Baltimore's Infield Squeeze
Jordan Westburgs lost 2026 season changed more than his own timetable. After Tommy John surgery kept him out entirely, the Orioles spent the year sorting out third base and second base without him, and now the club finds itself with a crowded infield picture that looks different from the one Westburg left behind. Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Coby Mayo, Jackson Holliday and Blaze Alexander have all helped fill those spots, giving Baltimore real options and a much less obvious path back for Westburg.
That has put the 25-year-old in an awkward position for a team that still values depth but also has to make the roster fit. The Orioles suddenly have more middle-infield and corner-infield answers than openings, and that kind of surplus tends to force hard choices. Westburgs name is now in the conversation not because of his performance on the field, but because Baltimore may have to decide whether keeping everyone is less realistic than dealing from a position of strength. [Read more 🡒]
Former Orioles Are Giving Birdland Plenty To Track This October
October has a familiar feel around Birdland this year, with a long list of former Orioles scattered across the Division Series and suddenly giving Baltimore fans a few extra teams to monitor. The group includes 13 ex-Orioles now playing key roles for clubs in both leagues, from the Padres and Dodgers to the Rays, Brewers and Indians, a reminder of how much roster turnover has passed through Camden Yards and how many old faces are still very much in the postseason mix.
For Orioles fans, the appeal is part nostalgia and part curiosity. Some of those players spent meaningful stretches in Baltimore before moving on, while others only had brief stops, but all of them now have a stake in October games with real consequences. Even with the Orioles not in the bracket themselves, the presence of so many familiar names gives this round an extra layer of intrigue as Birdland keeps one eye on its own future and another on what its former players do next. [Read more 🡒]