The Orioles spent this season locking in two starters, but the results don’t look equally secure.
Baltimore gave Shane Baz a five-year, $68 million extension shortly before Opening Day, then followed that with a five-year, $90 million deal for Kyle Bradish around the All-Star break. Baz is under contract through 2030. Bradish is now tied to the club through 2031.
Baz arrived from the Rays in an intradivision trade that cost the Orioles four prospects and a draft pick. He came in after a 4.87 ERA in 2025, though the bigger takeaway was that he had shown he could handle a real workload after earlier injury issues. His first season in Baltimore was steady, if not flashy: a 4.11 ERA in 31 starts, backed by a 4.26 xERA and a 4.31 xFIP.
The pitch mix changed some, too. Baz still leaned on his four-seamer, knuckle-curveball, and cutter, and he continued using a changeup against lefties.
Baltimore also had him throw a sinker and drop the slider. That sinker came in only 8.8% of the time, but it helped shape his season.
Baz posted a career-best 0.75 HR/9, and the sinker itself didn’t surrender a home run. The tradeoff was strikeouts: his 20.0% rate was the worst of his career.
Letting go of the slider helped keep the ball in the park, but it also removed a pitch that had been a strong swing-and-miss weapon at times.
Baz still brings a notable track record. He was the 12th overall pick in the 2017 draft and one of Tampa Bay’s top pitching prospects when he reached the majors in 2021. Injuries slowed him down, but he now has 85 MLB starts under his belt and owns a 4.19 ERA with estimators around 4.00.
Bradish’s path in Baltimore has been longer and messier, even if he’s functionally been a homegrown arm. He joined the organization in 2019 in the Dylan Bundy trade with the Angels.
His first full season, 2022, was rough, as he posted a 4.90 ERA in 23 starts. Then came the breakout: a 2.83 ERA across 30 outings in 2023.
The numbers underneath were less dominant - a .270 BABIP helped the ERA, and he sat at 3.76 xERA and 3.53 xFIP - but it still looked like Baltimore had found a keeper.
Then the elbow injury hit in 2024, and surgery followed. From 2024 through 2025, Bradish was limited to 14 starts total. Even in that short stretch, he showed the kind of swing-and-miss stuff that made the organization believe in him, striking out hitters well above 30% of the time.
This year told a different story. Bradish’s strikeout rate fell to a career-low 21.2% in 2026, and his walk rate climbed to 10.5%. He settled things down in the second half, but the season ended early because of a sports hernia in September.
The extensions give Baltimore two long-term starters, but the prices land differently. Baz’s deal looks manageable throughout.
Bradish’s $28 million in 2031 may be a little rich, though it doesn’t cripple the payroll. Even so, after how 2026 unfolded, it’s fair to wonder whether that money might have been better spent somewhere else.
That question gets louder because of Trevor Rogers.
Baltimore acquired Rogers from the Marlins at the 2024 trade deadline, sending Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby the other way. Stowers has since become an All-Star with Miami, and his bat would have helped an Orioles outfield that needed it. But Rogers has made the trade look like a win for Baltimore.
He delivered 18 starts with a 1.81 ERA in 2025, including a run of 15 straight outings in which he allowed two earned runs or fewer. In 2026, he got off to a rough start, carrying an ERA near 7.00 through May while missing time with an illness. After that, he turned it around, finishing with a 2.90 ERA over the final four months.
The Orioles took calls on Rogers at the 2025 deadline and almost certainly heard from clubs again this year. He stayed put, but he’s now headed for free agency.
MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald made the case for Baltimore to pursue an extension with him, though that didn’t happen. Rogers ranked third on the final Free Agent Power Rankings and sits among the top starters available, behind Tarik Skubal and alongside Freddy Peralta and Michael King.
Baltimore can still try to keep him. A qualifying offer is coming, and a reunion remains possible.
It’s also fair to wonder whether Rogers wanted to test the market as he approached free agency for the first time. Either way, he’s been one of the best success stories in recent Orioles history, and if he walks, the rotation takes a real hit.
In Other News...
Orioles Face A Bullpen Puzzle That Could Spark Real Debate
Before the season even settled in, Baltimores bullpen was already operating without two important arms, with Keegan Akin and Andrew Kittredge landing on the injured list before Opening Day. Ryan Helsleys own trip to the injured list only deepened the strain, leaving the Orioles to patch together late innings while also trying to keep one eye on what the group could look like beyond this year.
What makes the situation more interesting is how much of that relief mix appears tied to 2027, with Helsley, Flix Bautista, Yennier Cano, Rico Garcia, Josh Walker and Grant Wolfram all part of that broader picture in one form or another. Some arrived via trade or new contracts, which gives Baltimore options, but it also sets up a real roster debate about how much stability the Orioles can count on and how much turnover they may still have to manage. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Face A Tougher Truth About Colton Cowser
Colton Cowsers place in the Orioles outfield picture has become a little clearer, and not in the way the club once hoped. A former high draft pick with the kind of defensive ability that can play in center field, Cowser has still not logged a AAA game outside of a brief rehab assignment since 2023, and he has already piled up nearly 1,400 big league plate appearances. Even with that level of exposure, the offense has not settled into the kind of production Baltimore needs from a regular outfielder, which helps explain why his playing time has lagged behind other options on the roster.
For the Orioles, the issue is less about whether Cowser can help at all and more about what role he can realistically fill. The organization is heading into a season with a real need for dependable outfield production, and the internal view has increasingly pointed toward Cowser as depth rather than a player to build around. His bat has been too uneven to give the lineup much certainty, leaving Baltimore to sort through a tougher truth about where he fits and how much upside is still left to tap. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Could Finally Land The Rotation Arm This Staff Lacks
The Orioles are heading into an offseason that looks likely to put starting pitching at the center of everything they do. With Trevor Rogers and Chris Bassitt both potentially on the way out in free agency, Baltimores rotation could again need a real infusion of innings and stability, and that search may push the front office toward the trade market rather than waiting for help to develop internally.
There are already a few names being framed as possible fits for the job, all with different levels of team control and different paths to availability. Minnesota, Seattle and Los Angeles each have pitchers who could make sense for Baltimores needs, but the appeal is as much about matching cost and timing as it is about talent, and the Orioles will have to weigh how aggressively they want to chase a starter while trying to build a more dependable staff for next season. [Read more 🡒]