MLB insider connects Orioles to two-time World Series champion pitcher

With ace Corbin Burnes testing free agency this winter and star righty Kyle Bradish shelved for at least the beginning of the season, the Orioles have been scouring the free agent market for starting pitching. Max Fried, Blake Snell (who joined the Dodgers this week), and Burnes have been mentioned as fits for the Orioles' rotation. And now we can add Texas Rangers' right hander Nathan Eovaldi to the list.

Jon Morosi of MLB Network has reported that the Orioles and Braves are in on Eovaldi, who spent the past two seasons with the Texas Rangers. Eovaldi was a logical fit for the Orioles two years ago in free agency, and it's good to see the Orioles circle back to him in 2025.

The 34 year-old right-hander won 24 games with the Rangers between 2023-2024, and was an American League All-Star and World Series champion with Texas in 2023. In 2024, he went 12-8 with a 3.80 ERA, striking out 166 batters in 170 innings (2.3 WAR).

He was slightly better in 2023, going 12-5 with a 3.63 ERA (3.1 WAR). Eovaldi shut the Orioles down in Game 3 of the 2023 ALDS, allowing only a Gunnar Henderson RBI single in 7 innings of dominant work. This was a sign of things to come for Eovaldi, as he won five games to help lead the Rangers past the Astros and Diamondbacks to their first World Series Championship in team history.

The Orioles have shown interest in veteran right-hander Nathan Eovaldi

It is unclear if the Orioles view Eovaldi as a fallback option to bigger names such as Burnes and Fried, or if their interest is genuine regardless of what Burnes and Fried do. Realistically speaking, Eovaldi projects to earn significantly less in free agency than the latter two: MLB Trade Rumors predicts a 7 year, $200 million contract for Burnes and a 6 year, $156 million contract for Fried (I previously predicted 6 years, $178 million for Fried). Eovaldi is projected to receive a 2 year, $44 million contract.

As solid as Eovaldi has been, Burnes and Fried are better pitchers and should be the Orioles' preferred targets. Whether signing Eovaldi over Burnes or Fried depends on how -- or whether -- the Orioles spend the rest of their available free agent dollars on a good hitter, as the offense needs help as well. In other words, does signing Eovaldi and one of Tyler O'Neill, Teoscar Hernandez, or Christian Walker make the Orioles better than signing the more expensive Burnes or Fried? I say yes.

In other words, while signing Eovaldi makes sense in a vacuum, he is unlikely to replicate Corbin Burnes' strong 2024. If Burnes is replaced by Eovaldi and Santander is replaced by a question mark such as Heston Kjerstad, the Orioles would theoretically be taking steps back. But if the Orioles can add Eovaldi and use the "savings" to supplement their offense (a clear problem in the playoffs), then an Eovaldi signing would be fine by me.