1 lightweight, 1 middleweight, and 1 heavyweight free agent targets for the Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles have been one of the most active teams this winter, leveraging both free agency and the trade market to make improvements to a club that desperately needed them. While some moves, like the signing of Pete Alonso, were instant home runs, other moves, like the trade for Shane Baz, left something to be desired. The Orioles can't stop now.

Baltimore still hasn't solved its need for a front-of-the-rotation starter, and counting on Baz to ascend to that role would be a mistake. There's also a need for more help in the bullpen, with journeymen like Dietrich Enns still projected to have a serious role. And finally, fleshing out the bench should be of concern to Mike Elias as well.

The free-agent market is not yet completely barren, and there are targets at each level that make sense for the Orioles in order to solve the remaining needs.

Utility man Willi Castro would be the perfect lightweight target for the Orioles

Right now, the Orioles' projected bench consists of Ryan Mountcastle, Tyler O'Neill, Leodys Tavarez, and Jeremiah Jackson. Mountcastle doesn't bring much versatility as a first baseman and designated hitter only, and should be on thin ice thanks to his declining performance. Tavarez is a reclamation project who put up a dreadful 47 wRC+ last season. O'Neill is simply here because no one will take that contract. And finally, Jackson showed some promise, but has only 48 games of big league experience under his belt.

Getting a veteran presence who can serve in a super utility role should be of paramount importance, and no one on the free-agent market fits that role better than Willi Castro. Castro logged time at every defensive position except catcher and first base last season, and prior to the deadline deal that sent him to the Cubs, the switch-hitter had been an above-average bat. Castro posted wRC+ numbers of 107 in 2023 and 106 in 2024, had a 109 mark last season in Minnesota before he tanked, given the inconsistent playing time he saw in Chicago.

That poor second half should make him affordable, and the Orioles would be wise to bet on him bouncing back in 2026, giving them an insurance policy all over the diamond.

A reunion with Seranthony Dominguez would be the perfect middleweight target to shore up the Orioles' bullpen

The O's have already reunited with one reliever they dealt at the 2025 trade deadline, bringing back Andrew Kittredge in exchange for cash. Now they should do the same with another arm they had previously dealt, and sign Seranthony Dominguez.

Dominguez would give them another high-strikeout arm and would help by moving the glut of inexperienced relievers like Kade Strowd, Colin Shelby, and Dietrich Enns all down a peg in the pecking order. In doing so, they protect themselves against regression from those arms that showed promise in small samples, and further fortify the bridge to Ryan Helsley in the ninth.

Framber Valdez is the heavyweight free agent the Orioles need atop their rotation

The Orioles' rotation right now is all about potential. There's the potential that Baz can harness his electric stuff to become an ace. There's the potential that Trevor Rogers can take his dominant 1.81 ERA in 109.2 innings last season and extrapolate it out over 30 starts and 175-ish innings. There's a chance that maybe Kyle Bradish can stay both healthy and productive in 2026.

However, there are a lot of ifs and buts. It's certainly a group with a higher ceiling than the Charlie Morton-Tomoyuki Sugano-led rotation of last season, but with Rogers never topping more than 133 innings in a season, Baz only having one year of a full starter's workload in which he posted a 4.87 ERA, and Bradish's injury history, there's a lot that could go wrong.

That's where Framber Valdez comes in. Since 2022, only Logan Webb has thrown more innings than Valdez's 767.2, and in that time period, the veteran lefty is 17th among qualified starters over that time period with a 3.21 ERA.

Valdez brings with him the big game experience that the rest of the rotation lacks, and in conjunction with the younger, high-potential arms, the Orioles could have one of the best rotations in the league on their hands. However, even if some of those arms disappoint, having Valdez in the fold would prevent an outright disaster. The Orioles can't afford to let their rotation derail them, so Valdez is the premium free agent that they must land before the winter is over.