The rotation is Baltimore’s most urgent roster problem
Baltimore’s starting rotation is the Orioles’ clearest offseason need. President of baseball operations Mike Elias says adding a starter is “on the menu,” and the club’s internal options leave little room to treat that search as a minor upgrade. The question is how much help the club needs: one established arm could raise the rotation’s ceiling, but the current roster also leaves a straightforward depth problem.
The 2026 staff ranked sixth in the majors with 863 1/3 innings, but its 4.24 ERA placed 17th among 30 teams. Orioles starters also posted the ninth-lowest strikeout rate, at 20.5%, and the 10th-highest walk rate, at 8.6%. Taken together, those figures point to a need for better run prevention and more dependable rotation depth, rather than a simple effort to add innings. The workload was there; the results were less convincing.
This is more significant than it looks. A rotation can survive an uneven season when it has several credible starters available, but Baltimore’s projected group has little margin for injuries or disappointing performances. The club needs pitchers who can take regular turns, and it has reason to seek someone who can improve the quality of those turns, too.
Few established starters are set to return
Right-handers Kyle Bradish and Shane Baz are the only established starters expected back in 2027. Baltimore could also lose Trevor Rogers and Chris Bassitt to free agency. That leaves a narrow group of known quantities, with the rest of the staff’s potential coming from players whose major league records are limited or uneven.
Rogers, in particular, would leave a sizable gap. Since 2025, he has recorded a 3.16 ERA across 279 1/3 innings, with a 23.2% strikeout rate and a 6.1% walk rate. That combination of run prevention, strikeouts and control gives the Orioles a clear performance benchmark for any replacement. He is expected to receive and decline a qualifying offer; if he signs elsewhere for at least $50 million, Baltimore would receive a compensatory pick after the first round. A draft pick would have value, but it wouldn’t supply the innings or production Rogers has provided.
Brandon Young offers one possible rotation piece after posting a 3.56 ERA over 156 2/3 innings in his age-27 season. His underlying indicators are less persuasive: a 19.9% strikeout rate, a 9.1% walk rate and a 42.4% ground-ball rate, alongside a 4.53 SIERA and 4.47 FIP. The gap between his ERA and those other measures is a reason to be cautious about treating his results as a settled forecast. He may have earned a chance, but the numbers don’t remove the need for outside help.
Former top prospects Cade Povich and Trey Gibson have more to prove. Povich’s Triple-A ERA topped 6.00, and his major league ERA stands at 5.07 over 229 innings. Gibson, a top-100 prospect when he made his debut, allowed 27 runs in his first 39 2/3 major league innings. Those early results leave open the possibility of improvement, but they don’t give Baltimore the certainty it needs from a leading rotation addition.
Prospects Luis De León, Anthony Eyanson and Michael Forret have reputations to build on, but limited major league experience: De León has pitched just 9 1/3 innings in the majors, while Eyanson and Forret have yet to appear there. Their presence gives the organization options to develop. It doesn’t yet amount to proven rotation coverage. For a front office planning a full season, potential and dependable availability are different things.
Elias is looking for a substantial addition
According to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, Elias is targeting a meaningful rotation upgrade, rather than a back-end or middle-of-the-rotation arm (report). That ambition fits the roster’s needs, though it could make the search harder. The available free-agent pool is relatively thin beyond Tarik Skubal, who is considered likely to be beyond Baltimore’s price range. Rogers and Freddy Peralta are among the next tier of prime-aged starters; veteran Sonny Gray could be a short-term option.
The names represent different kinds of choices: an established starter with a longer-term role, or a veteran who might address a more immediate need. The source doesn’t establish what Baltimore will pursue or what any deal would cost. The constraint is clear, though: if the club wants a pitcher who changes the rotation’s standing, its options may depend on how far it’s willing to go in a thin market.
A trade could widen the field. Potentially available pitchers include Reid Detmers, Drew Rasmussen, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Jacob deGrom. Availability doesn’t guarantee a match, and a trade would require another club to part with a starter it may value highly. If you're working in this space, the key question is whether Baltimore can find a pitcher who fits Elias’ stated ambition while also filling the innings the rotation may lose.
With so few proven starters in line to return, the level of pitcher Baltimore pursues will shape the staff’s outlook for 2027. A high-impact addition could give the rotation a more credible lead option; a lesser move would leave more responsibility with pitchers whose records are still developing. And this is the part most people overlook: the club needs both quality and enough dependable options to get through a season. A name alone won’t solve the depth issue.
Banner takes charge of player development
The rotation search falls within Elias’ side of a newly defined front-office structure. The Orioles named former Cubs assistant general manager Jared Banner their general manager, making him the No. 2 executive under Elias. The two will collaborate, but Elias described a clear division of responsibilities in comments reported by MLB.com’s Jake Rill (report). That split puts the search for outside pitching help in the same executive area as scouting and acquisition, while Banner takes responsibility for the players already in the organization.
Banner will oversee the organization’s internal players and coaches, player development, performance and healthcare. Elias said, “I think he’s better than I am in those areas.” Elias will concentrate on scouting, player acquisition, contract negotiations and broader operational matters. The Orioles remain open to additional hires, with Banner expected to lead that work (via Jake Rill).
The division gives the organization a clearer point of responsibility for two related tasks: improving the major league rotation through acquisitions and developing the talent already in the system. Those jobs can support each other, but they operate on different timelines. Baltimore needs reliable starters for 2027; prospects still need major league experience before the club can count on them.
Cal Ripken Jr., who holds a minority stake in the ownership group and has been working with the player development operation, will remain “very involved” in that area, Banner said (via Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun). For Baltimore, the division of duties gives Banner responsibility for developing the talent on hand while Elias tackles the immediate challenge of adding starting pitching. The structure clarifies who owns each part of the work. The results will depend on whether the roster and the development system can meet their separate demands.
