Insider Reports Orioles Will Turn Attention to Other High-Profile Pitchers

After missing out on Blake Snell, it sounds like the Baltimore Orioles are still going to be in the market to land one of the other high-profile pitchers still available.

Nov 7, 2023; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias speaks to the media during the MLB General Manager's Meetings at Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

One of the first major moves of the offseason just took place, and the Baltimore Orioles were directly affected.

Blake Snell signed a lucrative contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in a late-night deal that now takes one of premier starting pitchers off the market.

The Orioles were reportedly in on the two-time Cy Young winner.

That is the most surprising information coming out of the entire Snell free agency since it's not known exactly how Baltimore is going to operate considering this is the first winter under the new ownership group led by control person David Rubenstein.

It's expected at some point that the local billionaire will give this Orioles front office enough financial capital to compete on the open market, but there were some whispers that wouldn't happen this year and they'd have to sit by and watch their own two star free agents, Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander, sign elsewhere.

Based on that information, it seems like that isn't the case.

If Baltimore was willing to hand Snell a luctrative contract, it's hard to imagine they wouldn't be in the running to sign some of the other high-profile pitchers who remain available.

According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, that's exactly what's going to happen.

"Expect those three to remain active on the pitching market, with names like Corbin Burnes, Max Fried and Jack Flaherty among the top arms available," the insider stated when discussing the three teams who missed out on Snell, with the Orioles being among the trio.

That's huge.

Burnes is likely the most expensive out of those three names which is one of the reasons why Baltimore might have been pursuing Snell in the first place.

Despite Snell being completely dominant in the second half of this past year, Burnes was projected by just about everyone around Major League Baseball to get more money from a team this winter, so the less than $200 million contract the star left-hander signed with the Dodgers could be eclipsed.

That might price out the Orioles.

Again, it's not known how much money the front office has at their disposal.

Max Fried would be a great person to pursue after missing out on Snell because he would also give them an elite left-handed starting pitcher which could be something Baltimore is looking for in their rotation.

Jack Flaherty would be an interesting pivot.

He certainly is a much better pitcher right now after posting a 3.17 ERA across his 28 starts this past season compared to when the Orioles acquired him ahead of the deadline in 2023 and he had a 6.75 ERA.

But, he wouldn't be the gamechanger they seemingly are trying to bring in and there's always a chance he regresses back to being just an above average starter instead of an ace.

The Orioles might not be able to land any of these three, either.

Just because they are interested in going after these players doesn't mean they will be able to offer a contract that gets them into town.

Regardless of what happens, though, it sounds like Baltimore is going to be aggressive for some of the top names in the starting pitcher market, a drastic difference from how they operated under the previous ownership group.