The Baltimore Orioles didn’t do much to improve their pitching rotation last offseason and it came back to haunt them. After letting their pitching staff get worse, the Orioles missed the postseason after their rotation struggled this year.
This offseason, the Orioles need to do everything in their power to add to the starting rotation. They can’t afford to go into another season with a depleted pitching staff.
Ryan Finkelstein of Just Baseball recently projected the Orioles would sign Texas Rangers free agent pitcher Merrill Kelly to a solid two-year, $36 million deal this offseason.
“What team loves old starting pitchers more than the Baltimore Orioles? With Kyle Gibson and Charlie Morton being the last few prominent starting pitchers that the Orioles have signed, the fit for Merrill Kelly makes too much sense here,” Finkelstein wrote. “Now, this is not a knock on Merrill Kelly, who is coming off a great season, and really years of being one of the most dependable starting pitchers in baseball. Kelly would actually be a great addition in Baltimore.”
The Orioles need to add two or three pitchers to their rotation this winter and Kelly would be a solid addition.
Kelly wouldn’t be the headliner for the Orioles, as they should still pursue a pitcher like Framber Valdez or Tatsuya Imai. Either way, adding the veteran on a solid two-year deal would make a lot of sense. It would certainly add some stability to a pitching staff that lacked it last season.
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