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The Baltimore Orioles have high expectations coming into the 2025 season. Their Baby Birds core has blossomed into a solid core but there is one flaw fans should be concerned about. They made a big trade for Corbin Burnes before last season but when he hit free agency, he left. They replaced him with Charlie Morton, Kyle Gibson, and Tomoyuki Sugano in the rotation. The Orioles need elite pitching but don't have it after their brutal offseason.
When the Orioles traded for Burnes, they gave the Brewers pitching prospect DL Hall and infielder Joey Ortiz. It was a high price to pay for one year of a Cy Young-caliber pitcher. Their contracts for Morton, Gibson, and Sugano combined to cost as much as one year of Burnes' six-year deal in Arizona. Mike Elias explained it away, saying they are trying to keep the organization's future a top priority.
The flaw on the field is the pitching but it is the Orioles front office mentality that is the true flaw. To quote Dewey of Malcolm in the Middle, “The future is now, old man.” There should be no future planning for the Orioles. Their window is right now and they should be making every move to make the playoffs and finally win some playoff games.
Burnes is not a homegrown Oriole and was a hired gun that always could have left in free agency. Losing him won't look that bad for the organization. But if they lost Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman, fans would be incensed. They must figure out the pitching issues to get a firm grasp on their financials before the two stars hit free agency.
But for 2025, the flaw is pitching. How can the Orioles fix that during the season?
The Orioles need a top-line starter
It is nearly impossible to trade for a top-line starter during the season. The Orioles tried it in 2023, bringing in Jack Flaherty from the St Louis Cardinals. That was a disaster that ended with Flaherty in the bullpen and making only one playoff appearance. The trade market this year will likely run through St Louis as they start a rebuild under Chaim Bloom.
Erick Fedde, Miles Mikolas, and Steven Matz are all pending free agents. The Cardinals should be looking to trade all three of those players. Even with their stars ascending to the majors, the Orioles have a strong prospect pipeline that sellers should be targeting at the deadline.
Morton and Gibson can put up some nice innings for the Orioles this season but won't provide the upper-level talent that Burnes would. While three pitchers will combine for more innings than just one, the Birds have so many pitching prospects that they could have figured something out.
The American League East is not the strongest division by any measurement. But Anthony Santander is in Toronto, Alex Bregman is in Boston, and Cody Bellinger is in New York as offseason additions. And even though the Yankees lost Juan Soto, that Aaron Judge guy isn't half bad either. For the Orioles to win this division they have to pitch well. And that became much harder without Corbin Burnes.
The Orioles should still compete for a playoff spot in a crowded American League field. The Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers are all vying for Wild Card spots. That is assuming the Guardians and Astros repeat as division champions, which is no guarantee. Without a top-line starter, which many of those teams do have, the Orioles will have to slug to make the playoffs in 2025.
