Despite possessing the American League’s best record, the Orioles have had a quiet deadline. They rolled the dice on Shintaro Fujinami’s recent improvements and triple-digit heater, hoping to deepen an already strong bullpen, but the rotation — arguably their top need — has gone unaddressed. The O’s were linked to multiple starters who have since been traded elsewhere, but other targets (e.g. Michael Lorenzen, Rich Hill) remain available. And, Baltimore clearly hasn’t ruled out a much higher-profile addition. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes that the O’s are “on the periphery” of the Justin Verlander market, and MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweets that the O’s are among the teams with whom the Mets are actively discussing Verlander. Morosi adds that the Orioles and Tigers are also talking — presumably about Lorenzen and/or Eduardo Rodriguez.
At least on paper, it’s hard to find a better fit for Verlander than the Orioles. Baltimore has the American League’s best record, is as deep in young talent as virtually any team in the game, and has a blank slate when it comes to long-term payroll. Perhaps no contending club could more easily accommodate the remaining $14.444MM on Verlander’s 2023 salary and the $43.333MM he’s owed in 2024. His contract also contains a conditional $35MM player option for the 2025 season that would vest if Verlander throws 140 innings next year. That’s been an understandable hurdle in talks with multiple clubs; Verlander will pitch the 2025 season at age 42.
The only guaranteed contract on Baltimore’s books in 2024 is backup catcher James McCann, and the Mets are picking up all but $2.5MM of next year’s salary as part of the trade that sent him to the Orioles. Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander, John Means, Tyler Wells, Austin Hays and Ryan Mountcastle are among the many notable members of the Orioles’ arbitration class, but it’s nonetheless as close to a pristine payroll outlook as you’ll find for a contending club.
Meanwhile, starting pitching has long been reported to be the Orioles’ top need. It’s easy enough to understand why. Good as the team’s overall record is, their rotation’s 4.48 ERA ranks 16th in the Majors. With the exception of veteran innings eater Kyle Gibson, the bulk of the Baltimore staff is approaching or has already exceeded 2023’s innings total. Dean Kremer is just 15 innings shy of last year’s total. Kyle Bradish is 36 innings shy of his own 2023 total. Wells and Grayson Rodriguez have already topped last season’s workloads.
The Mets traded one high-priced, future Hall of Famer over the weekend when they sent Max Scherzer to the Rangers, paid down all but $22.5MM of the salary he was still owed, and acquired top prospect Luisangel Acuna in return. They’re reported to hold Verlander in even higher regard, setting both a higher prospect asking price and showing less willingness to pay down significant money.
The Verlander market is generally thought to be accelerating, and there’s a real chance he’s traded today. SNY’s Andy Martino reports that the Mets’ Verlander talks “picked up steam” late last night with multiple clubs. The Astros, according to Martino, have made a formal offer. At least one other team has done the same, and there are two to three more clubs also involved. Jon Heyman of the New York Post dusted off a time-honored trade deadline favorite this morning, tweeting that there’s at least one “mystery team” beyond the previously reported Astros and Dodgers.
That, of course, could be the Orioles, but given Verlander’s status and the league-wide need for starting pitching, it’s only natural to assume others are involved. The Reds, Angels and D-backs have all been rumored to be in the market for varying levels of rotation help as well, and virtually no major name hits the trade market without the Padres throwing their hat into the ring as well. None of those teams has been directly connected to Verlander, to be clear, but the day is young.