Baltimore Orioles Named Landing Spot for Bounce Back Former All-Star

The Baltimore Orioles could add this former All-Star that had a bounce back campaign in free agency.

Oct 16, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets pitcher Luis Severino (40) reacts after an out against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fifth inning during game three of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Citi Field. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles desperately need to add starting pitching this offseason and could target a former All-Star that's headed back to free agency.

Luis Severino's baseball career hasn't reached the heights that it looked like was headed for when he was younger, but he took a step in the right direction this season.

As Jim Bowden of The Athletic examined Severino's free agency prospects, he deemed the Orioles as a team that made perfect sense as a landing spot.

Bowden also projected that the pitcher would command a two-year, $32 million contract, a fair price to pay for a solid starter.

While Severino might not be the guy fill the role of Corbin Burnes, Baltimore needs to focus on getting reliable middle of the rotation guys as well.

The Dominican Republic native burst onto the scene as a rookie with the New York Yankees back in 2015 with a 2.89 ERA over 11 starts.

He didn't become an ace immediately, though, as he did go through some growing pains during his next campaign. 2016 saw him split time between the starting rotation, bullpen unit and the minor leagues.

The flamethrower answered that with his first All-Star nod in each of the next two seasons, which had his hype through the roof.

His fastball was averaging just under 98 miles per hour and he was striking batters out at high rates with great efficiency, not handing out very many free bases.

With the high velocity, though, came plenty of arm issues.

Severino's career was never the same after he signed his big contract extension with the Yankees.

He missed a majority of the 2019 and 2021 seasons due to injury troubles, as well as not participating at all during the pandemic-shortened 2020.

The righty played most of 2022 and 2023, but still missed chunks of injury during that time. His last season in New York as a Yankee also saw him struggle heavily in the mound.

While this doesn't sound like the perfect person to come in to placate an Orioles staff that has struggled with plenty of injury problems, the good news is that he finally came back into form a bit this past season. His market is as high as ever.

The 30-year-old stayed in state and signed with the New York Mets and was a key cog in their feel-good run to the NLCS.

He finally played a full season and posted a solid 3.91 ERA. While his fastball isn't up to 98 MPH on average anymore, he still has plenty of zip and it's a great pitch.

Interested teams will also be happy to see that he had a solid postseason, putting up a 3.24 ERA across 20.2 innings over three starts.