The Baltimore Orioles split their first four games of the 2025 season against the Toronto Blue Jays, staring 2-2 over Opening weekend.
They won 91 games last year and earned the top American League Wild Card spot, but lost some key pieces, namely Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander. In order to remain a threat in the American League, Baltimore would be smart to add some starting pitching between now and the trade deadline.
They added Tomoyuki Sugano, Kyle Gibson and Charlie Morton, but don’t have a true ace. In addition, Grayson Rodriguez is on the shelf with a shoulder injury.
Caleb Moody of Just Baseball listed five suitors for Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, and among them were the Orioles.
“With a skilled young lineup and a back-end heavy bullpen as deep as theirs, Baltimore could very well be just a high-end rotation piece away from being one of the more promising pennant contenders in an American League that’s arguably as wide-open as it’s been in some time,” Moody wrote.
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“Alcantara could come in and immediately alleviate some of the pressure on the promising youngster Grayson Rodriguez while ultimately giving more structure to that plethora of middle-of-the-rotation arms the team is currently fielding.”
Alcantara won a Cy Young award in 2022 but was injured at the end of the 2023 season. He underwent Tommy John surgery, which kept him out for all of 2024.
However, he is back from the injured list and looked strong in spring training. Also important to note as that the Orioles are loaded with position players, especially in the pipeline.
They are short on pitching, so surrendering a top position player prospect shouldn’t hurt them too much.
Alcantara also has two more years of club control plus a club option for 2027. Unlike the trade for Burnes, Alcantara wouldn’t purely be a one-year rental.
It will be interesting to see what Baltimore decides to do at the deadline.
More MLB: Orioles predicted to acquire $56 million ace at trade deadline
