Trade Hint: Orioles Dive into Free Agency for Starting Pitcher
We may be in for an aggressive offseason from the Baltimore Orioles.
The league leaders are currently in San Antonio, Texas, for the GM Meeting. Teams are preparing to make some moves this offseason after free agency officially opened this past Monday.
According to the Athletic, Orioles general manager Mike Elias has made it clear that they will aggressively add a front-line starter to their rotation this winter. The report stated that Baltimore’s front office would ‘cast a wide net’ when looking to add a top starting pitcher to their roster.
This comes as the Orioles traded for staff ace Corbin Burnes last winter from the Milwaukee Brewers. After the team reaches the postseason for the second straight season, they will be on the hunt for another top arm to lead the staff as Burnes will test free agency for the first time in his career. It’s worth mentioning, however, that a reunion with him has not been ruled out of the question.
The Orioles one change this offseason is the organization’s new ownership. Elias feels that the change will help them be aggressive among the top free agents in the market.
“We just went through a team sale and got a fresh new ownership group that is very well equipped, robust and eager to get going,” Elias said. “They understand that there’s some measurement to how you do business and they are empowering us to look for opportunities that are going to bear out.
Local businessman David Rubenstein now owns Baltimore. After the Orioles were eliminated from the postseason last month, he said in an interview with NPR that he hopes to “speed up the effort” to get the team to a World Series. Adding another top man for the rotation would undoubtedly help the efforts.
