Baltimore Orioles Named as Great Fit for World Series Hero in MLB Free Agency

The Baltimore Orioles could bring in this former World Series hero in free agency.

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The Baltimore Orioles are staring down the reality that they could lose their superstar ace in free agency this winter in Corbin Burnes.

But whether Baltimore loses Burnes or not, more starting pitching should be added to the rotation with varying levels of urgency depending on what happens with the former Cy Young winner. In an ideal world, the team brings Burnes back and spends some money in order to form a dynamic duo at the top of the rotation, and there are some interesting options out there for who that could be.

Rowan Kavner of Fox Sports named the Orioles as a potential fit for Texas Rangers hurler and two-time World Series champion Nathan Eovaldi as the veteran has declined his $20 million option and chose to become a free agent.

"A vesting player option kicked in this year for Eovaldi when he tallied more than 300 innings over the past two years in Texas," Kavner wrote. "At 34, he's still plenty productive, and his history of postseason success should make him an attractive short-term add for a contender."

Eovaldi is an extremely intriguing option for the Orioles. He has a demonstrated ability to perform on the biggest stage in baseball with heroic performances both for the Rangers and Red Sox to help both teams clinch championships in 2023 and 2018. Even though he will be 35 years old by the time the 2025 season begins, Eovaldi has been tremendously durable over the last two seasons with 314.2 innings thrown and a sub-4.0 ERA.

He has not made less than 20 starts in a full season since 2018 and has been one of the most reliable pitchers in baseball over that period. Nobody is advocating for a serious long-term commitment to be made to an aging veteran with likely his best baseball behind him, but Eovaldi is absolutely still capable of contributing to a rotation and would be a very solid No. 2.

If Burnes does end up walking away, Baltimore probably needs to be better than Eovaldi when it comes to acquiring a replacement. But either way, he would certainly be a nice edition and a building block to a solid rotation.