The Orioles’ offseason wish list is obvious: help in the outfield, help in the rotation, and maybe a splash if the market breaks their way. But if Mike Elias and this front office stick to the pattern they’ve built, the names worth watching are probably the ones that don’t require winning a bidding war.
That’s why the more realistic targets look a lot more like value plays than headline grabs. Based on the Orioles’ history, the free-agent pool that makes the most sense includes three starters and two outfielders: David Peterson, Nick Martinez, Patrick Sandoval, Daulton Varsho and Tyrone Taylor.
Peterson is the kind of arm Baltimore could talk itself into quickly. His year split into two very different chapters: a rough run with the Mets, where he posted a 6.09 ERA over 68 innings and lost his rotation spot, followed by a rebound after a trade to the Cubs.
In Chicago, he finished with a 3.70 ERA across 80 innings. The underlying numbers with New York were better than the ERA suggested, thanks in part to a shaky defense behind him, and he’s been the same steady type of pitcher for a while now - 148 innings and 168 innings in the last two seasons, a sub-4.00 FIP, and groundball rates above 50% in each of the last four years.
With Jared Banner talking about the need to improve the defense, Peterson fits the idea of a pitcher who could get more out of a better setup. MLB Trade Rumors projects him at two years and $24 million.
Martinez brings a different profile, but the same general appeal. He’s 36, yet he just logged a career-high 180 innings for the Rays and turned in a 3.10 ERA while walking only 3.6% of the hitters he faced.
The tradeoff is a strikeout rate that sat at 15%, continuing a trend of declining whiffs. He’s not a groundball arm, and he gives up contact, but he did a strong job limiting damage, ranking in the 86th percentile in average exit velocity and the 88th percentile in hard-hit rate allowed.
The Orioles have shown they’ll chase pitchers like this, and it’s not hard to see why multiple MLBTR writers think he ends up in Baltimore on a two-year, $44 million deal.
Sandoval is the wild card of the group, but he’s also the one with the clearest bounceback case. MLB’s Mark Feinsand reported that he already has more than a half-dozen suitors, and the appeal is easy to understand.
He missed the 2025 season after Tommy John surgery, then returned in 2026 and struggled to a 5.12 ERA in 15 appearances for the Red Sox. Even so, the strikeout rate was 23%, the walk rate was 10%, and the 3.77 FIP painted a better picture than the ERA did, especially with a .382 batting average on balls in play working against him.
One NL executive told Feinsand, “His fastball plays. Everybody thinks they can fix the rest.”
The Orioles could easily be among those teams trying.
In the outfield, Varsho stands out as the buy-low option with the biggest defensive upside. He’s coming off his worst major league season, hitting .221 with 12 home runs and a 78 wRC+ in 140 games, and the injury history is real.
But he still brings elite glove work, including seven Outs Above Average in center field last season, and that plays well with Camden Yards’ expansive left field. Offensively, his attempt to move away from a pull-heavy approach in 2026 cut into his power - his ISO dropped from .310 to a career-low .134 - even as his strikeout rate, swinging-strike rate and in-zone contact all improved.
If Baltimore is looking for a fourth-outfielder type or depth piece rather than a marquee answer, Varsho makes sense. MLB Trade Rumors projects him at two years and $20 million.
Taylor is a similar fit in a different package. He’s coming off the best offensive season of his career, hit .279 with 11 home runs in 97 games between the Mets and Cubs, and struck out only 17% of the time.
He also brings speed, ranking in the 92nd percentile, and a stronger arm than Varsho. Defensively, he can handle all three outfield spots.
He won’t supply much power, and his walk rate has topped 6% only once in his career, but he puts the ball in play, uses his speed and gives a lineup a different look. That style would fit Baltimore’s needs well.
In Other News...
Orioles Keep Getting Linked To The Kind Of Move Fans Dread
The Orioles are still shopping for starting pitching, and the names surfacing fit a familiar winter pattern for fans who would rather see a younger, higher-upside arm in the mix. Baltimore has shown interest in free agents Nick Martinez and Matthew Boyd, two veteran left- and right-handed options in their mid-30s who could help either in the rotation or as flexible bullpen pieces.
Martinez and Boyd each bring a different kind of appeal, from recent performance to the ability to cover multiple roles, but both also come with the sort of age and injury questions that make this market feel less than ideal. For a club trying to bolster its staff without overcommitting, the Orioles seem to be circling the kind of move that can stabilize a team in the short term while leaving plenty of debate about whether it is the right long-term answer. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Fans Have A New Reason To Watch Vance Honeycutt Closely
The Arizona Fall League handed out its annual awards this week, and for Orioles fans, Vance Honeycutt came away with a notable honor after being named Defensive Player of the Year. The recognition adds another layer of intrigue around one of Baltimores more closely watched young players, especially at a time when the organization is always looking for prospects who can impact the game in more than one way.
The AFLs award list also spotlighted a handful of other standouts from the season, with Welbyn Francisca taking MVP, Tai Peete earning Offensive Player of the Year and Jack ODowd being named Breakout Player of the Year. Kenya Huggins was selected as Reliever of the Year, Teo Banks received the Dernell Stenson Sportsmanship Award and Maddox Long won the leagues new Community Champion Award, but Honeycutts defensive recognition is the one that will keep Baltimore followers paying attention. [Read more 🡒]
Pete Alonso Just Added To A Long Orioles MVP Frustration
Pete Alonsos fifth-place finish in American League MVP voting gave him his best showing yet, but it also served as another reminder of how long the Orioles have gone without a player claiming that award. Baltimores last AL MVP was Cal Ripken Jr. back in 1991, a stretch that has become part of the franchises broader frustration when it comes to the games biggest individual honors.
The Orioles have had plenty of noteworthy seasons and standout players since then, but the MVP hardware has stayed out of reach while other major awards and voting races have played out around the league this year. Alonsos rise in the ballot only sharpened that contrast, underscoring how rare it has been for an Orioles player to even enter that kind of conversation, let alone finish at the top of it. [Read more 🡒]