The Orioles apparently will open spring training next week without adding a top-quality pitcher to their rotation, but time may prove the old baseball adage that some of the best moves are the ones that are never made.
When it became apparent over the winter that the Orioles were not going to get a Blake Snell or get back Corbin Burnes, executive VP/general manager Mike Elias opted for some lesser arms and has kept his options open to trade for someone manager Brandon Hyde can put at or near the top of the rotation.
He could have made a big play for free agent Jack Flaherty, who lingered on the market until just recently, but watched him sign with the Detroit Tigers for a deal that could pay him up to $45 million over the next two seasons.
I think that was the right non-move.
Flaherty is a good pitcher who would have deepened the O’s rotation significantly, but I don’t believe he would have been the right fit for this team, especially at the price and terms of the contract he signed.
He got $25 million (including a $5 million signing bonus) for the upcoming season and a player option worth $10 million that doubles in value if he makes 15 starts next year.
That’s what you can command when you just had a career year, but I’m a huge critic of guaranteed player options and opt-out clauses, like the one that turns Flaherty’s $25 million one-year contract into a $35 million contract no matter what he does this year and jumps up $10 more million even if he comes up with a sore elbow during his 15th start of the ‘26 season.
That’s just me, and I know it’s not my money, but the O’s want someone to play a key role in a World Series run, just as they did when Elias pulled off a midseason trade for Flaherty in 2023. It didn’t work out, and he didn’t seem all that thrilled to be here, so I just couldn’t get excited about the prospect of signing him.
I won’t be surprised if Elias is successful in his ongoing search for rotation help, since he dealt for Burnes at about this time last year. I would be surprised if he brings home a top-of-the-rotation guy, since I don’t believe he wants to put a big dent in his team’s still-solid minor league depth.
The Orioles already have plenty of starters on the roster and hope to get ace-in-development Kyle Bradish and versatile Tyler Wells back from elbow surgery sometime in mid-to-late summer.
They’ll need a lot to go right for the group to be capable of carrying the team deep into the postseason, but it’s not out of the question. Obviously, one more quality starter would make that a lot more likely, so you’ll just have to keep your fingers crossed for the next few weeks.