Contemplating trades for Orioles’ starting pitchers

Before the Orioles traded for right-hander Zach Eflin from the Tampa Bay Rays and left-hander Trevor Rogers from the Miami Marlins, there was talk about them being in the hunt for Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet.

Crochet ended up staying put with the White Sox, who finished the season with 121 losses, most in modern baseball history.

The main reason was reports that Crochet, who threw a career-high 146 innings, wanted an extension if his acquiring team wanted him to pitch in the postseason.

Crochet had Tommy John surgery in 2022 and pitched just 12 2/3 innings, all in relief in 2023.

He was the best pitcher on the woeful White Sox, with a 6-12 record, a 3.58 ERA and 209 strikeouts, fourth in the American League, just under 13 per nine innings.

Crochet struck out more than six times as many hitters as he walked. He averaged just two walks per nine innings. Even with a horrible team behind him, Crochet gave up 7.6 hits per nine.

We don’t know if the Orioles made an offer to the White Sox, but he would have elevated their staff.

This week, Chicago hired a new manager, Will Venable, and he’ll have to be patient because not only were the White Sox bad, they’re suddenly playing in a competitive division, the only one in baseball that featured four teams with winning records.

Cleveland, which won the American League Central, was joined in the postseason by Detroit and Kansas City. Minnesota, which finished fourth, was 82-80.

The Orioles have already been linked with some of the top free-agent pitchers since their best starter, Corbin Burnes, the premier free-agent starter available in free agency, could sign elsewhere.

Crochet is listed as the top trade candidate in baseball by MLBTradeRumors.com. He’s most appealing because he still has two years of club control.

The Athletic’s Jim Bowden predicts the Orioles will sign left-hander Blake Snell, who opted out of his deal with San Francisco on Friday.

Bowden also thinks the Orioles should target Mason Miller, the outstanding closer for the Oakland Athletics, trading three top prospects to the Athletics and then turn Miller into a starter.

Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias will join his colleagues at the General Manager’s meetings in San Antonio next week, and perhaps the trade market will heat up.

In the last two years, Elias has traded infield prospects Darrel Hernaiz, Mac Horvath, Connor Norby, Joey Ortiz and César Prieto, left-handed starter Drew Rom, outfielders Matthew Etzel and  Kyle Stowers, minor league starters Jackson Baumeister, Moíses Chace and Seth Johnson for Burnes, Eflin, Rogers, Jack Flaherty, Cole Irvin and reliever Gregory Soto.

Many of those prospects were in MLB Pipeline’s Top 30. In the latest rankings, the Orioles fell from the top spot to third among minor league systems.

Besides corner infielder Coby Mayo and catcher/first baseman Samuel Basallo, both of whom are thought to be considered off limits, much of the latest top 30 are recent draftees and young, inexperienced international prospects.

As a result of the trades, the Orioles don’t have any major league ready middle infielders or outfielders in the rankings, and they’d probably like to hang on to their top pitching prospects — right-hander Chayce McDermott, who started one game for them in July. McDermott is ranked fifth.

Perhaps Elias can acquire another starter via trade, but it will be interesting to see who he’d be willing to surrender.

Notes: The Orioles signed right-handers Yaramil Hiraldo and Rodolfo Martinez and catcher David Bañuelos to minor league contracts.

The 28-year-old Hiraldo was in the Arizona organization from 2018-2021, and played in the independent Atlantic League in 2022 and 2023, and was 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA in the Mexican League in 2024. He’s currently pitching in winter ball in the Dominican Republic.

Gonzalez, who’s 30, played in the San Francisco organization from 2014-2019 and was 0-2 with a 5.79 ERA and a save in the Mexican League in 2024. He’s also playing winter ball in the Dominican.

Bañuelos spent last season with Triple-A Norfolk and served as a taxi squad catcher for the Orioles and was hitless in one at-bat.

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.