Baltimore Orioles Starting Pitching Target Signs With Los Angeles Dodgers

The Baltimore Orioles were reportedly in the running to sign one of the top starting pitchers available, but he inked a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers instead.

Sep 22, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Blake Snell (7) pitches during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

How the Baltimore Orioles will operate this offseason is unknown.

With new ownership officially taking over that should give them a better chance of competing on the open market financially, they could be a sneaky team when it comes to landing a high-profile player in free agency.

This comes at a perfect time, too.

Two of their best players, Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander, became free agents and are expected to command expensive contracts from teams around the league.

Based on past history, the Orioles aren't expected to retain both, but there is a chance one of them could be back.

After what just occurred, Burnes likely becomes their priority.

Jeff Passan of ESPN reported Blake Snell signed a five-year, $182 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in a late-night deal to take one of the top free agents off the board, and according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, Baltimore was targeting the two-time Cy Young winner.

"The Yankees, Red Sox and Orioles were all in on Blake Snell before he signed with the Dodgers, per source," the insider reported.

That's a good sign for Orioles fans.

While Snell was not expected to get as much money as Burnes, that's still a high-priced contract they were reportedly interested in handing out before he signed with the Dodgers, something that Baltimore wouldn't even have entertained in the past.

That bodes well for what could potentially come later this winter.

If the Orioles were willing to pay a hefty contract to bring in Snell, it stands to reason they would also be comfortable offering something in that range to bring back Burnes.

It's a disappointing bit of news to see the elite left-hander sign elsewhere since he would have been the ace of their staff going forward alongside Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez, but the fact they were even in the running until the end is a huge step in the right direction.