Orioles Notes: Front Office, Rotation

The Orioles’ offseason business is already well underway. The team announced last week that now-former Cubs assistant general manager Jared Banner has been named GM. He’ll work as the No. 2 executive under president of baseball operations Mike Elias, although Elias detailed to the team’s beat that they’ll have a pretty clear division of labor (link via Jake Rill of MLB.com). While the two will collaborate overall, Banner will head up all things pertaining to the team’s in-house players, including “internal players, internal coaches, player development, performance, healthcare,” according to Elias. He added: “I think he’s better than I am in those areas.” For his part, Elias will focus on scouting, player acquisition, contract negotiations and other big-picture aspects of the Orioles’ day-to-day operations. Elias didn’t tip his hand on what sort of personnel additions are still on the horizon, but the O’s will be open to further hires and Banner will spearhead those efforts. Banner noted that Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr., who holds a minority stake in the ownership group and has been working with the team’s player development outfit, will continue to be “very involved” in the organization’s player development efforts (via Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun). With Elias’ focus more firmly shifting to player acquisition, he acknowledged to local reporters that bolstering his starting rotation is “on the menu” this offseason (via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). That’s hardly a surprise, of course, as the O’s are facing the potential losses of Trevor Rogers and Chris Bassitt in free agency. Rogers should receive and reject a qualifying offer, netting the O’s a compensatory pick after the first round if he signs elsewhere for at least $50MM. Even with Rogers and Bassitt on the roster, the 2026 rotation wasn’t a particularly effective one. Baltimore starters ranked sixth in the majors with 863 1/3 innings, but their combined 4.24 earned run average checked in 17th among the league’s 30 teams. Orioles starting pitchers had MLB’s ninth-lowest strikeout rate (20.5%) and tenth-highest walk rate (8.6%). Significant changes are going to be needed. The only established starters Baltimore is welcoming back in 2027 are righties Kyle Bradish and Shane Baz. Fellow right-hander Brandon Young struggled as a rookie in 2025 but took some steps forward this year in his age-27 campaign; he logged a 3.56 ERA over the course of 156 2/3 frames, though his rate stats are all either average or a bit worse (19.9% strikeout rate, 9.1% walk rate, 42.4% ground-ball rate). Metrics like SIERA (4.53) and FIP (4.47) are more bearish. Baltimore’s other rotation options include former top prospects Cade Povich and Trey Gibson. Povich notched an ERA north of 6.00 in Triple-A this year and has a career 5.07 earned run average in 229 major league frames. Gibson ranked among the sport’s top 100 prospects when he was called up for his debut this season, but he was rocked for 27 runs in his first 39 2/3 major league innings (6.13 ERA). Prospects Luis De León, Anthony Eyanson and Michael Forret are well regarded but aren’t major league tested; De Leon is the only of the three to pitch in the majors so far, and he’s tossed all of 9 1/3 innings. Kubatko writes that Elias is aiming fairly high in his rotation search, looking for something more than a back-end or even middle-of-the-rotation arm. With Rogers departing, that’s only natural. He’s been Baltimore’s best starting pitcher dating back to 2025: 279 1/3 innings, 3.16 ERA, 23.2% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate, 41.1% ground-ball rate, 0.81 HR/9. The offseason market is generally thin beyond top free agent Tarik Skubal, who’s all but certain to be out of Baltimore’s price range. Rogers and Freddy Peralta headline the next tier of prime-aged arms, though there are some older veterans who could potentially be had on short-term deals (e.g. Sonny Gray). The trade market will have no shortage of options. Candidates to change hands include Reid Detmers, Drew Rasmussen, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Jacob deGrom, among others.