With the start of the regular season getting closer for the Baltimore Orioles, the team will be hoping to continue to build upon their success of recent years.
For the last two campaigns, there hasn’t been a team in the American League that has won as many regular season games as the Orioles. After a long rebuild, the young core of Baltimore is in the Majors and flourishing.
However, while they have had a lot of success, this offseason has been a challenging one. Despite spending more money on free agency than they have in a long time, the team might have gotten worse.
The loss of their ace, Corbin Burnes, is a significant blow to the rotation, and the replacements likely aren’t going to cover it. While Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano are fine pitchers, they aren’t an ace like Burnes.
Come postseason time, the Orioles are going to need an ace to go against some of the best teams in the league that will be throwing Cy Young award candidates at them. While achieving that in free agency has come and gone, the trade market could have multiple options for them.
Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report recently wrote about San Diego Padres pitcher Michael King being a player who will likely be traded this season. Furthermore, he highlighted the Orioles as a potential landing spot.
With the likely need for an ace or a front-end of the rotation starter, Baltimore is an excellent fit for King from the Padres.
Due to the surprise signing of Nick Pivetta, San Diego might look to move either King, Dylan Cease, or both.
In 2024, the right-hander had his breakout season as a starting pitcher. He was able to total a 13-9) record, 2.95 ERA and 205 strikeouts in an impressive year.
However, with free agency looming and the Padres looking to save money, King’s name will be mentioned leading up to the trade deadline.
For the Orioles, while King could be their number one starter, they also have the prospects still in the system to pull off a blockbuster trade.
Baltimore has done an excellent job of being able to draft and develop young prospects, resulting in a plethora of talent in their farm system despite calling a bunch up already.
Overall, the Padres and Baltimore certainly make sense as trade partners. However, with a desire to win, it will be interesting to see how available the starting pitchers for the team are.