The Baltimore Orioles have been one of the most active teams this winter, trading for Taylor Ward from the Los Angeles Angels and signing Ryan Helsley after a brutal stint with the New York Mets.
With upgrades in the bullpen, specifically at closer, and the outfield with Ward, Mike Elias has a clear next offseason target: starting pitcher. There are a lot of options on the market, including a few top options.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com linked a starting pitcher to the Orioles as their "perfect" free agent target. The starter Feinsand linked is former Houston Astros ace lefty Framber Valdez, who could be a huge addition to the Orioles' rotation this offseason.
Orioles linked to Astros' Framber Valdez as 'perfect' offseason pickup
"Baltimore has already added a bat (Taylor Ward) and a reliever (Ryan Helsley), but the Orioles need starting pitching as badly as any team in the Majors, putting them in the market for the top arms." Feinsand writes. "Valdez is the oldest of the bunch (he's entering his age-32 season), but he has the longest track record, has postseason experience, and could sign for fewer years than some of the others."
Valdez might be older than the rest of the free agent pitching market at 32 years old, but he's one of the best on the market. His 3.66 ERA in 2025 doesn't tell the full story, as he's pitched to a 3.36 ERA in 188 career games in his Astros career.
In 2024, Valdez had a 2.91 ERA in 28 starts and was one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball. And from 2022-2023, Valdez was a two-time All-Star and helped lead Houston to a 2022 World Series title.
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Baltimore needs to upgrade their rotation this winter, and Elias has already expressed his intention to do so. The only question left is when that move would come, and who would be the addition to the rotation.
Valdez might not have as robust a market as other pitchers, especially with Tarik Skubal hitting free agency, Tatsuya Imai drawing a lot of attention, and the Toronto Blue Jays out of the market with their $210 million Dylan Cease signing.
Baltimore won't be able to sign Valdez for cheap, but the Orioles should be more than capable of getting a deal done this offseason with the former Astros lefty ace.
Elias has shown he's aggressively improving the roster this winter, and adding Valdez would be another such move to get back to the postseason after a massively disappointing 2025 season.
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