Baltimore Orioles Reportedly 'Eyeing' Veteran Left-Handed Starter
With the offseason continuing to progress, the Baltimore Orioles have a better idea of what they'll be paying in 2024 after reaching deals with the majority of their arbitration eligible players.
As they head into next season with their roster looking very similar to the one that finished last year with an AL East title, there is still some clamoring for them to make an aggressive move and land an ace.
With some of the top arms continuing to come off the board after one of their targets agreed to a deal with their division rival New York Yankees, they either have to ramp up their trade offers or finally open up their checkbook.
The latter is very doubtful to happen, as Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery are looking for contracts ownership says they could not meet, so free agency is unlikely to land them a top-of-the-rotation guy.
In years past, general manager Mike Elias has added back-end starters to eat some innings for them.
Baltimore fans were hoping to avoid that this offseason with so many elite pitching options available.
But Jon Heyman of The New York Post is reporting the Orioles could find themselves dipping back into that market once again.
"Baltimore also has been eying James Paxton," he writes.
The veteran left-hander will be 35 years old this season and is coming off missing all of 2022 after Tommy John surgery in 2021.
James Paxton was a solid starter with the Seattle Mariners, recording six-straight seasons with under a 4.00 ERA across 102 starts.
This continued during his first year of his Yankees tenure in 2019, as he posted a 3.82 ERA over his career-high 29 starts.
However, the COVID-shortened 2020 season was when things changed for him after he underwent a microscopic lumbar discectomy to remove a cyst. This limited him to five starts during his final year with the Yankees as he recorded a 6.64 ERA.
Paxton doesn't fit the innings eater mold like the past signings of Elias.
The most he's pitched in a season is 160 1/3 six years ago.
Settling for someone with the profile of Paxton after seemingly searching for an elite starter all winter would be a major disappointment for a team who has their sites set on making the playoffs once again.
