The Baltimore Orioles made the first significant move of the MLB offseason, trading Grayson Rodriguez to the Los Angeles Angels for Taylor Ward. Bringing in Ward helps fill their need for a power-hitting outfielder. But The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon reported that Ward will not stop the Orioles from targeting Kyle Tucker in free agency.
“Pitching, both starting and relief, remains Baltimore’s top priority, according to sources briefed on the club’s plans. If the Orioles landed Tucker, they possibly could package [Colton] Cowser or [Dylan] Beavers with prospects to satisfy some of their pitching needs. Or, they could pursue other avenues. Their thinking would be: Make Tucker the anchor of a still-mostly youthful lineup, then figure out the rest,” Rosenthal and Sammons reported.
They also reported that the Orioles were not counting on much from Rodriguez in 2026 due to injuries, which maintains their need for a pitcher. The pitching market is not as robust as it was a year ago, however, when the Orioles lost Corbin Burnes to the Arizona Diamondbacks. With Trevor Rogers at the top of the rotation, Baltimore needs more depth.
Tucker is the belle of the free-agency ball and will likely sign the richest deal of the winter. The Orioles have not been in the market for the richest deals in the league in recent years. That is why they traded Manny Machado and lost Burnes, for example. And with Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman needing new contracts soon, they will have to change their business model under new ownership to get Tucker.
The Orioles should prioritize pitching, with Framber Valdez, Dylan Cease, and Tatsuya Imai as the top targets. They tried to solve their pitching with Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano last offseason to no success. They will need to spend this offseason to fix the problem. And Tucker would be the cherry on top.
